Original Impulse HomepageOriginal Impulse

Creativity

by 11 Comments

How I Finally Gave Up Rebelling and Got a Lot Happier

I always believed gratitude was a good thing, and regularly expressed thanks when it was due.
But the ‘gratitude practice’ of writing down daily all the things you’re grateful for – I resisted. Perhaps it was because Oprah encouraged it and anything Oprah recommended was too mainstream for me. Perhaps it was because everyone touted keeping a gratitude journal and I didn’t want to be like everyone else.
Vital Yoga customer party and picnicI have a rebellious streak in me, and for that I am grateful.
Last year, I received some positive psychology training as part of the Good Life Project. We were taught to keep an eye on our mindset through various practices, including, yes, a gratitude practice.
I grumpily tried it. It worked, and for awhile, I did feel happier. Then I stopped, and I became less happy.
I began to see how powerful our internal circumstances are compared to external causes for happiness. This summer, I resumed the gratitude practice.
I finally found something that worked for me – a special Jill Bliss journal by my bedside. Every night I list five things I am grateful for. It’s mysterious, but I do believe this practice makes a difference in my day-to-day well being.
But this is what it takes for something to work for me – I have to experience it. I can’t just believe in it because someone tells me to do it. (I reserve the right to rebel about other things!) More on this in my annual report, coming out next month. For now, my gratitude for you, my reader.

Five thank yous

Thank you for reading my writing. Without you, my writing is nothing.
Thank you for sharing with your friends. Without them, you create in a vacuum.
Thank you for being you. Without you, the world is incomplete.
Thank you for being brave enough to make your art. WIthout it, the world vibrates a little less.
Thank you for sharing your creative work. Without it, we miss out on your essence.
Happy Thanksgiving, Americans.
Do you have a gratitude practice? Have you seen an impact on your happiness? 

by 6 Comments

Discomfort Is Good for Creativity

You attend a panel discussion about change at Samovar Tea Lounge. An athlete, an author and an entrepreneur discuss what it takes to change our lives.

Samovar Tea Lounge, Leo Babauta
Notes from Panel featuring Leo Babauta, Matt Frazier, Jesse Jacobs at Samovar Tea Lounge

With a sparkling view of the nighttime San Francisco skyline, you sip ginger tea, nodding when the panelists remark on something you know to be true. You are a change agent, after all, and you thrive on discussions of what it takes to grow and thrive.
But one topic strikes you more than others, and when one of the panelists brings it up, you pay more attention: Discomfort is a necessary and good part of the creative process.
You know this. Intellectually, you embrace change. But then you get the call to leave your comfort zone. At first, you retract against the hassles of change.
You wrestle with the complex details of the moving into the unknown. Your comfort zone feels pretty good as you enter the hibernation season.
The picture of your new life blooms in your mind, accompanied by the ballast of reality. You know the dream life has as many scuffs and dents as the lived life.
If you answer the call with a yes, you agree to enter a time of intense discomfort and decision making. If you answer no, you stay comfortable, but you’ll live with the question ‘what if’.
You consult your values. Hmmm…, ‘comfort’ is nowhere on the list. Beauty, good food, health, yes, but comfort? No.
You take a deep breath, and leading into your value of adventure, you say yes.
When you get the call to leave your comfort zone – whether it’s a new book idea, a business idea, or a personal move like divorce or moving – what helps you decide to risk the discomfort?

by

Stop Being a Victim of OPA

You’re tooling along, writing your book or making your art. The next thing you know, you’re a victim of OPA – Other People’s Agenda.

OPA shows up in the following ways:

  • emails
  • social media links
  • requests
  • phone calls
  • brainstorming that has nothing to do with your focus
  • opportunities
  • friends and family’s ideas of who, how and what you should be

Often, OPA is disguised as opportunities. Offers for you, invitations to speak or write for others. Sounds great, right?

But these opportunities can pull us away from our own agenda. Away from the things we write, the programs we develop, the art we make. Remember, not every opportunity is your opportunity.
OPA can seem harmless enough. But as our attention gets more dissipated, our time becomes more valuable. Our ability to focus is one of the main factors that contributes to our success. I work on this all the time with my clients – how to stay focused on their agenda over the long haul.

How to fend off OPA

I’m not advising you to shut yourself in a cave and ignore the world. OPA can be incredibly enriching. Unexpected possibilities, new insights, new friends and colleagues all come from OPA.

Living at the mercy of OPA dissipates our already-scattered focus. It prevents us from doing our best work.

This is a complex issue. We don’t want to create rigid rules that shut us away from the world. We do want to maintain our focus and stay in relationship with the world.

My focus became much easier to hold when I drafted some policies around requests. These policies clarified my focus and reduced the amount of time I spent responding to OPA.
I recommend developing some boundaries so OPA doesn’t override your agenda. Some include:

  • Clear agenda for the year, quarter, month, day
  • Timed social media and online wandering sessions
  • Focused, offline creating sessions
  • Written policies to easily respond to requests

Take stock of the kinds of OPA that regularly show up in your life. For each kind of OPA, write a strategy for managing it.

What helps you avoid being a victim of OPA? Please share your thoughts below. This is a topic I think we all need help with, so your input is appreciated.

by 5 Comments

Don't Go It Alone: Connect with Groups for Creative Success

In his book Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam laments a plight common to many people today: we’re disconnected from others and lack a sense of community. As a creative person, you may feel this more acutely. While we need to have solitude to generate our next creative genius, we also need support of peers. If you’re feeling isolated, take the initiative to participate in groups.
Connecting in groups can enhance our lives immeasurably. Here are some reasons why you should consider being a groupie:

  • share the journey: writers, artists, investors, entrepreneurs can learn and grow more with others
  • glean tips and ideas you would not find on your own
  • be inspired by others’ boldness and successes
  • get support from your peers
  • have regular accountability.

The inroads I’ve made on all my goals are largely due to the conversations I have with my groups: my Rich Women group, my writing group, and my book group. Without regular gatherings, I would still be looking for a retirement account, and would still be eking out chapter one of my novel.

How to start your own empowerment groups

One of my writing groups in Paris
One of my writing groups in Paris

Ready to commune with others? You may consider starting a group. There are several steps to initiating groups, whether they be writing groups, art support groups, financial empowerment groups, investment clubs or whatever tribe you need to move forward in life.
First, figure out what you want. Write down the characteristics of your ideal group. Include:

  • regularity of meeting
  • size of group
  • group focus
  • qualities you want to see in the group members
  • where you meet and how long the sessions are.

Your ideal vision of your group might look like this:

“My Rich Women group meets once a month. In the summer, we meet outdoors at a park, and in winter months, we meet at a café. Once a year we go out for happy hour to celebrate our successes. There are no more than five women in the group. These women are pro-active, have a lot to contribute and are willing to share information. They are also kind and supportive and listen to each other. Our focus is personal and professional finance. We talk about: saving, investing, retirement accounts, managing our finances, how we bill for our time, best business practices, wills, insurance and anything that relates to financial empowerment.

“We meet for 1-2 hours and stay focused on the money. Each person has 15-30 minutes to share her wins and challenges. Each woman has homework that she assigns to herself. This helps the members to make progress – knowing that the group is holding her accountable.”

Secret sauce for creative success
Okay, I’ll admit that my creativity is also fueled by caffeine – yummy tea like this!

Once you have your vision of your group, start seeking members. Make a list of people you know who may want to join. When you contact them, you’ll be able to describe exactly what you want to create. They’ll be able to tell if this is something they want to join or not.
Set your first meeting and use some of the meeting time to come to agreement on how you want to operate. Setting up your group will take a little time, but it is worth it.
Not into initiating? No problem. Check out Meetup – an international organization that connects like-minded people in your area. Look for writers’ groups, business groups, philosophy groups, whatever you’re into, there’s likely a group for you. Most Meetup groups connect online and meet in person.
Whether you start or join a group, I think you’ll find the benefits can be huge. Your life will be richer for it.

by 7 Comments

Reveal Your Original Impulse with Your Adventure Resume

I’ve been working for myself since 1999. Let me tell you, it hasn’t always been easy. In the early years, I wasn’t sure Original Impulse was going to make it.

This fear usually arose when I needed to do something difficult in the business. Among these challenges:

  • writing marketing copy
  • going through the process to sell my first e-book online (Create Your Writer’s Life, 2003)
  • becoming a corporation and dealing with all the paperwork to manage that

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, I am so glad I stuck with it. What helped me get over my fear and resistance?

Pulling out my resume to apply for a job.

It always seemed that the difficulties of running a business paled in comparison to fitting my skills onto one sheet of paper. And it seemed the things that go on a resume are not the things that make me me.

Use your experiences to know yourself better and empower your future

One of my favorite exercises for my coaching clients is the Adventure Resume©. This process helps them recognize themselves on a deep level. With this awareness comes a greater power to access their original impulse to make better choices.

I created this process years ago when I was at a crossroads in my life. I mapped all the things I’d done on paper. When I was finished, I was astounded to see that I felt much different about my seemingly random experiences. My values were clearly outlined in the choices I had made. Astonishingly, I felt okay about dying; I felt I’d lived an adventurous life.

Plus, it’s fun to look back and see all your adventures chronicled in one place.

 

 

by 8 Comments

Stop Letting Money Squelch Your Creativity

Like many creative types, I used to be really inept with money. I mean ostrich-like, avoiding the realities of finance. In the early days of building my business, I’d put things on credit cards. I had no financial plan. I had no financial sense at all.
Every time I thought, “I should do something about my money situation” a cloud of righteous anger would rise up. I’d huff and puff that someone should have taught me about personal finance. We all should be taught about personal finance.
And then I’d do nothing. This hiding from money was squelching my creativity, coloring my relationships, and holding me back.
Does this happen to you regarding money (or any issue) – you want to change, and then an emotional cloud overcomes you and paralyzes you?
I say it’s time to start using our emotions instead of letting them stop us.

How I changed my financial life

I love money painting by Cynthia Morris
Finally, I changed my mind about money. I decided that I am smart and that I love to learn. I decided to teach myself how to be financially empowered.
I set out on a self-directed course I called Financial Empowerment. I used two things to change my relationship with money:

  • Books
  • Conversation

Now, books and conversations may not seem like strong enough tools to change my outlook with money, but they were. Here’s what I did.
I read every book on money I could get my hands on. I did the exercises. I learned new terms and saw where I needed help.
But reading wasn’t enough. I needed to talk about this. In other areas of my life, I’d benefited from peer-led mastermind groups. Regular meetings to discuss a specific topic and to hold each other accountable can be incredibly strong.

Gather a Rich Women Group of Your Own

So I rallied several friends who also wanted to be better with money. Four of us met monthly for several years. We called ourselves Rich Women. We:

  • read a book each month and discussed it.
  • used an exercise in Smart Women Finish Rich to identify our financial goals
  • held each other accountable to make progress on our goals.
  • kept our own money journals where we tracked our processes.
  • kept track of the unexpected boons that came our way as a result of our efforts.

Those conversations – real, honest, full of numbers conversations – changed the way I thought, felt and acted around money. The shame over my financial mismanagement dissolved.
Over the course of several years, I:

  • cleared $24,000 in debt
  • got health insurance
  • opened a health savings account
  • opened two retirement accounts
  • increased my income

Lessons from Money

DSCN0654-37One of the biggest things I learned about money management is that every step is accompanied by a powerful emotion. This emotional cloud threatens to halt our efforts. But when I realized that emotions were part of the empowerment process, I didn’t let fear or shame stop me.
The other big thing I learned is that my relationship with money is an ongoing one. Money is a game we all get to play, every day of our lives, until we die.
Because I needed a financial tune-up, I recently worked with Luna Jaffe, author of Wild Money. Her combination of financial planner and artist helped me get past some issues that had crept back into my life.
Another new book, Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup, is on my shelf and I can’t wait to read it.
That’s the biggest change I’ve experienced since getting financially empowered: I no longer dread money. I love money and money loves me. We’re having a great time together.
Here’s the best thing about being empowered around money: when I realized I could make this kind of change in an icky area of my life, I knew I could make change anywhere. The ’empowerment’ in ‘financial empowerment’ has changed how I live my whole life.
I invite you to rally your own Financial Empowerment Group. Because you deserve to be empowered here and everywhere in your life.

Books for your financial empowerment

cover-papercut-final1-copy-232x300There are a lot of books out there, but these are the ones I recommend the most:
Overcoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny – Exercises to deal with the emotions and beliefs that keep you stuck in a money rut.
Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach Nuts and bolts of how to manage your finances.
 Secrets of Six-Figure Women by Barbara Stanny – Inspiring stories of how women can earn a lot of money, but at the end we discover they don’t manage their money well.
The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth – Similar to Overcoming Underearning but a bit longer and more complex.
New books I recommend:
Wild Money by Luna Jaffe
Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup
How have you empowered yourself around money? Share in a comment below, because we’re here to get rich together! 
In an upcoming post I’ll share some tips for how to have a peer group that works, for money or any other topic.

by 5 Comments

What Kind of Transformation Do You Want?

TulipWowBy Cynthia Morris
Justine Musk, one of my favorite bloggers, wrote an article about how the reader, not the blogger, is the heroine of her blog. She encouraged us to consider what we want our readers to become. I love this way of thinking of the writer/reader relationship.
This sparked me to write an article for Alyson Stanfield’s Art Biz Blog. In today’s article, I offer ten kinds of transformation I’d like to see for you.

I want these ten things and more for you:

  1. You recognize yourself deeply.
  2. You embrace, celebrate and nurture your quirkiness.
  3. You are inspired to make your life your own creative adventure.
  4. All the inner and outer obstacles to your creative satisfaction dissipate.
  5. The process of dissolving your excuses is one of challenge and delight and victory.
  6. You feel seen, heard and appreciated.
  7. You finish the creative projects that are most meaningful to you.
  8. You find people who recognize you and who want to join in the fun that is your life.
  9. You feel as creative, resourceful and whole as I believe you are.
  10. You have the time and space to bring your most titillating creative ideas into form.

If any of these ring true for you, feel free to turn them into blessings. Copy them into your journal. Hand letter them and place them on your shrine.
Better yet, commit to being and having the full creative expression that is you.
What about you? What do you, my heroine, want for yourself? If you’re a blogger, what do you want for your readers?
Share your thoughts below. Feel free to offer thoughts on what you’d like to see me write for you.

by 1 Comment

Just Keep Showing Up

Every morning, I leave the comfort of bed, make a visit to the bathroom and then take a seat on a cushion. I set a timer for 15 minutes, offer a brief prayer, and try to sit still until the timer goes off.

I’ve been doing this since November 6th, 2012. On the advice of my mentor Jonathan Fields and my friend Kristoffer Carter, I took up meditation. I can’t point to any specific results of this practice. I can’t say I’m a better, more calm person. But I can say that I keep showing up for myself, and that feels good.

Meditation instructor Susan Piver helped guide my practice. She insists that sitting meditation isn’t about quieting the mind. It’s about being with ourselves, being with our mind as it is. With compassion and attention.

This no-judgement practice has allowed me to keep showing up. The only goal: sit down and show up. Even a year into it, I haven’t applied any specific goals other than that. I don’t demand quiet. I don’t deride myself for thinking about episodes of Breaking Bad. I just show up.
The best thing about this meditation practice is that it’s become a habit. A habit is something you do almost without choosing. You just do. The relief and pleasure I feel from this routine that starts my day is great. I don’t have to decide. I don’t have to worry about missing it or forgetting it. It’s as much a part of the day as visiting the bathroom – I just do it.

What does this have to do with the creative life? This is the kind of practice I want my students and clients to cultivate. I urge them to keep showing up, without judgement, without an agenda that chokes the vitality of the work.

I’m not concerned about a good meditation session or a bad one. It’s almost as if every session is the same. The only thing that counts is that I show up.

The same is true for writing or art making. Keep showing up. Let what happens in the session have its own vitality, its own say.

I kept showing up for my novel, draft after draft. It took 12 years, but finally all my efforts culminated in something worth publishing.

How do you keep showing up for your writing or art making? How often can you leave the judge behind to simply and humbly bear witness to your creative impulses? Share your experience in a comment below of the practices that guide your creative life.

Practice with us

Starting today, I’m leading a group of writers around the world in a daily practice. We write every day for 15 minutes, using a verbal and visual prompt. This online writing class, The Devoted Writer, is one of my favorite things to lead.

It’s not too late to join this writing class. Your new writing friends are waiting to welcome you to this practice of showing up for your words.

by 24 Comments

Creative People: Are You Clinging to an Asset That's Really a Liability?

By Cynthia Morris
Recently, I was with a group of creative adventurers, and we were sharing our dreams with each other. One person’s story showed me the truth of something I’d suspected for a long time: what we consider an asset is actually a liability. Here’s what I mean.

Cynthia Morris Paris cheese shop
Too many choices leads to despair

As he described one project idea after another, I clearly saw his energy drain away from him. A film, a book, a new business, blog ideas…all these great ideas buzzed around his head. We listened and I know I wasn’t the only one who was initially excited, then drained by all the possibility.
He confessed that he wasn’t making satisfying progress with any of his ideas. Yet he still clung to the notion that having all these ideas was a good thing.
It struck me like a gong and I had to speak. “Your wealth of ideas is actually a liability,” I said. “Thinking that an abundance of inspiration is a good thing is actually holding you back.”
An abundance of ideas is only an asset if you consistently make and ship them.
No one wants to hear this. We love or precious and brilliant notions. You’ve probably said, “If only I could be paid for all my great ideas!”
But here’s the truth: ideas by themselves are worthless. The thing that makes a creative idea valuable is the sweat and tears and work that goes into making it real. Our creative ideas are nothing without the commitment and labor we bring to them.
Here’s where the true gold lies: our creative projects work us. Your great ideas are not going to make you happy perched in the attic of your imagination.
No. Your idea is going to make you happy because it’s going to demand the best that you’ve got to give and more. Because once your great idea is an actual reality, you’re going to be a different person. A better person.
This is why I spend my precious life coaching people to create their great work: we’re given these great ideas not so we can get our jollies from looking at them and talking about them. We’re given these flights of imagination so we can get on board, one idea after another, and pilot our way to best selves through the work they demand from us.
If you’re guilty of hoarding your ideas as a precious asset, drop it. Instead, commit to one asset at a time and build true creative wealth.
How about you? Have you turned the corner from thinking of your ideas as an asset only if you execute on them? I’d love to hear what you think about this. Please comment below.

by 4 Comments

Get Ready to Feel More Sane and Creatively Rich

I got a lot of great feedback from this article I posted in last week’s Impulses, my private newsletter for creative dynamos. (Not a subscriber? Get in here, you! Sign up over there to the right.)

One simple practice has become one of my best allies for work and creative satisfaction. In all the years I’ve been coaching creative people, I’ve learned that bringing this simple yet vital missing piece makes all the difference.

What’s the trick? It’s a little bit of space/time on a regular basis. 

Raise your hand if you pack your days with more than you can actually handle. Don’t worry, I won’t judge. I call this misplaced optimism. Given our exuberant natures, we want to do so much. We think we can squeeze one more thing in between tasks.

But this doesn’t work so well, does it? We end up feeling rushed and scattered and often late.
I propose something else: take time back by giving yourself 15 minutes a day for something that actually fuels you. Some possibilities for fifteen minute pauses:

  • meditate to start the day or as a transition between activities
  • play with your art supplies, sketching, coloring or collaging
  • visualize what you want to manifest, either in your mind or on paper
  • leave early so you don’t rush and arrive like the richest person in the world – with time to spare
  • spend some time in nature, even if it’s just with a houseplant
  • free write on your current state of mind or on a project you’re working on.

I’ve found answers, insights, calm, contentedness and more in these fifteen minutes.

You may be shaking your head, oh, no, I don’t have fifteen extra minutes. But if you can’t slow down a bit every day, what are you missing? What are you avoiding?

I assert we don’t have to be constantly running and going and doing. If you are an artist or writer or entrepreneur, it’s ESSENTIAL to take space. If you’re like me, you know that when we have space, our best ideas can bloom. And we feel more sane and creatively abundant.

Do you do this practice or a similar one? Leave a comment below and let us know how this impacts your happiness and creativity.

by 9 Comments

Yes! I Respect!

We’ve made countless dates and I stand you up every time. Sometimes I bother with a lame excuse – I had to do the laundry, or I got engrossed in online surfing – and sometimes I don’t even give a reason. I rarely apologize and yet I insist that our relationship is important. And then I do it again. I blow you off.
With good reason, you’re not so happy with me. Sometimes you even tell me off. I’m afraid that you will abandon me altogether and find people who show you respect.
Is this how your relationship with your creativity looks? Might your Muse feel disrespected and abandoned?
I sincerely hope not. I hope you’re heeding the call to create and showing up consistently to practice, play and finish your creative projects. If so, you can stop reading and head back to your writing or art making.
It’s time to live like you respect your creative impulses. Say YES to your creativity and build trust and self-respect. And be a lot happier. If you’re feeling guilty about the lack of respect you’ve shown your Muse, read on.

Six ways to say yes and repair your relationship with your Muse

BelleHortense3Yes to creating first. You have a lot of other obligations. Try creating first and see how it fuels your relationships with yourself and others, your work, your other pursuits. If your other relationships are based on respect, your loved ones will be happy that you’re creating.
Yes to prioritizing. Recognize where creating stands on your list of priorities and honor that. Your priority list may look like this: family, health, writing. Honor the place writing has in your life by making time to write and then filling that time in with nothing other than writing – not researching, not talking about writing.
Yes to focus. Create muscular goals. Muscular goals challenge you to your edge. They give heft to the impulse and commitment to create and help you to move past obstacles.
Yes to progress. Respect all and any minor or major accomplishments. This is vital to building trust and momentum for your art making. We often gloss over our achievements and focus on what isn’t happening. Respect your progress and let it fuel more creating.
Yes to completing. Respect your ideas by following them through to their natural end. This will mean different things for different people and different projects.
Yes to confidence. Enjoy the confidence you build in yourself by respecting your creative impulses.
If you’re not feeling the love between you and your Muse, try saying yes more. You’ll both be happier!
How else do you show respect for your creative life? Share your respect in a comment below.

by Leave a Comment

Focus & Inspiration: How to Respect Both to Get Your Creative Work Done

Inspiration and focus: two constantly battling siblings.

Inspiration is the fickle sister in the creative process. She shows up often, demanding attention, then flits off, rarely staying to see her inspiration to completion.

No doubt you have felt the heady breath of inspiration in your ear. You may hurry toward the vision that she showered upon you only to lose interest, tickled perhaps by another visit from inspiration.

How to harness the thrill of a new idea and carry it to completion?

Focus is the responsible sister in the creative process. She requires that we shut out distractions. She shuns worry and fears. With a firm hand, she invites us to step into the magical act of creating.

We don’t really like her until we’re deep into the writing. Then we love her, call her flow, and never want to leave her.

How to stay committed to the one that gives so much?

Are you often torn between these two siblings of the creative process? Does this battle make it hard to get anything done?
My clients and students struggle to find the focus to sit down and do their best creative work. It’s getting more and more difficult for all of us to focus our attention. Our focus is pulled in hundreds of directions every day. E-mails, social media, work, creative projects, food, relationships, all demand our attention.

Doing big work like writing a book or completing a body of art work demands tremendous focus. I’ve helped my clients discover what works to wrangle their attention to what matters. Here’s what we practice that helps us get our important work done.

1. Capture inspiration. When other ideas show up demanding your attention, make note of them in a separate notebook or file. Appreciate your enthusiasm and return to your main project. If you capture them, your ideas will be there later.

2. Get regular. Dedicate a specific time and place to work on your project. If a regular routine isn’t possible, make consistency your goal. Consistently put the important work first on your agenda.

3. Announce your intention. Let your people know what you are up to. Request that they honor your intention to focus and complete your book, giving you what space and time you need. Telling them “I’m on deadline,” helps you stay on track and lets them know you’re serious about your book.

4. Know your truth. Stay connected to your motivation for writing the book. This will help you make choices to honor your long-term commitment.

5. Get support. Who else has done what you want to do? Who is doing it now? A buddy, a friend in the same boat, or a coach (or all three!) can help you stay aligned with your vision.

6. Pay attention to your attention. Notice the impact different acts have on your focus. Social media time or internet wandering dissipates our focus. When we start our day turned out to the world, wrestling our focus back to our projects can be difficult.

What helps you develop a good working relationship between these two siblings in the creative process? Leave a comment below and share what works for you.

And if you found this article useful, share it with your friends so they can create more easily, too!

by 8 Comments

Friday Art: Olive Huddle

Over coffee with encaustic artist and friend Alix Christian, I had an aha. Thank goodness for conversations with people who recognize where you are and see where you could be. And who say one small thing to nudge you there.
Looking at my journals, Alix pointed out a jar of pickles I’d illustrated. “See this?” she said. “Do things like this, by themselves, on a page.”
Ding, ding, ding! Of course I should have seen this myself. I’d been feeling that my journal pages were too crowded for my taste. I craved a simpler expression.
I rushed home and got my small Hand Book journal off the shelf. Now I am happily filling the pages with one thing at a time. Here’s the first one – Olive Huddle.
olives watercolor illustration Cynthia Morris

by Leave a Comment

Commitment Points Pave the Way to Completion

Our finished projects – books, business launches, bodies of artwork – are all paved with commitment points.
coaching books author Cynthia Morris illustration
You can see that many of my commitment points involved me realizing I needed help or a new approach. If you’re stuck with the book you’re writing – non-fiction or a novel – I can help.
Join me and other committed authors in my Finish Your Book Coaching Group. We begin on September 11th. You will love how this group helps you focus on what’s important to you – finishing your book.
Early registration discount ends on September 1st, so snag your spot today. 

by Leave a Comment

The “F” Word Isn’t So Bad. Really.

Finish.
Oh, the dreaded ‘F’ word. ‘Finish’, along with ‘focus’ and ‘follow through’ are words that make creative types cringe.

Focus? Why? Living in the land of possibility is so much fun! I have so many great ideas, it’s really impossible to focus on only one.

Follow through? Groan. It’s much easier to entertain new and energizing ideas! I can’t get organized enough to follow through on project ideas.

Finish? Death! If I finish something, then I have to face the reality of whether it’s any good or not – will anyone want my work?

If you’re familiar with these obstacles to completing projects, you’re probably less familiar with the boons on the other side of the finish line. Deep satisfaction, pride, recognition, and yes, possibly cash money await you if you can bring your creative baby to completion.

Quit being a cringer and become a finisher. Here are the five essential steps to carry your brilliant ideas all the way home.

One: Identify Your Motivation

Start becoming a great finisher by doing some soul-searching. In a notebook or computer file, write out an answer to this question:

What is important about becoming someone who finishes?

Understanding your unique motivation for staying through the entire process is an essential piece of the puzzle. Get clear on what’s important about finishing. You may come back and add more as your motivation becomes more apparent to you.

Craft that motivation into one sentence that you keep nearby when you’re creating. A single affirmation or reminder of your commitment can do a lot toward achieving the finishing line. Develop your own version of the Little Red Engine’s mantra: “I think I can, I think I can!”

Two: Commit to a Project

You most likely have a number of projects in various stages of completion. These ideas marinate in your mind, spoiling as you become overwhelmed and distracted by your creative inspiration. It becomes easier to let them fall to the side rather than make choices to commit to one project after another.

When you decide to be a completer, you need to choose where you will focus your time and energy. You will be tempted to work on several projects at once. This is fine, if you manage to follow through and finish at least some of them. (I don’t recommend this until you can call yourself a serial finisher.)

Three: Build Structure

External structures help you stay organized and focused. You will need to learn what works for you, but you’ll have to commit to structures like deadlines, timelines and accountability. Your inner saboteur will pipe in with notions like “I’m not a deadline person,” or “Lists don’t work for me.”
Take this as normal resistance that surfaces when you try something different. Sometimes creative people think they need to be free and flexible, but the truth is that structure allows creativity to flow. Creative people actually like structure, for it gives them the needed focus to bring their ideas into form.

Four: Stay on Track

Getting clear on your motivation, committing to a project and developing a plan of action are the first three crucial steps. Staying with your project to completion is critical to becoming a completer. As Molly Ivins wrote, you need to “dance with them that brought you.”

Don’t flirt with your other ideas once you’ve committed to go all the way with one. You’ll need to develop your creative stamina, hone your emotional intelligence, and stay connected to all the previous reminders about why you’re doing your project and what’s your payoff for finishing.

Five: Acknowledge and Celebrate Completion

This final step is often overlooked. After all that work, we skip the fun part! But it’s important to put this into the creative cycle. Too often, we rush to the next thing, overriding the need to acknowledge our efforts.

Before you pop the cork on the champagne bottle, take some time to acknowledge what it took to get here. Take the opportunity to learn about your creative style and what it takes to bring your projects to fruition. Acknowledging and celebrating will help you build confidence to complete future projects.

Most of us want to finish. The work required to finish is nothing compared to the real cringer when we think about all those once-wonderful projects that are now abandoned on the back burner, hidden in the bottom drawer, or lurking on the garage shelf, gathering dust and silently mocking us and our supposedly brilliant ideas.

Knowing the five steps is one thing. Taking them is another. Do yourself a favor: stop cringing and start finishing.

Check out my book, Cross the Finish Line and let go of cringing about the ‘F’ word.