Fake Excuses and Real Reasons We Don’t Show Up for Our Creative Work on Stumbling Toward Genius EP 16

Have you ever noticed that the reasons we do or don’t do things have different qualities? We feel some of our reasons in our gut. Other reasons flutter around our heart. For example:

You may want to write your book, but your reasons or excuses look something like this:

I don’t have time right now.

I’m unsure that my book idea is a good one.

I don’t know where to start; I have so many ideas I can’t figure out a path to get going.

If you are on the sidelines of a project now, take a second to jot down the reasons you aren’t actively engaged in it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Now, look over your reasons. See which ones feel ‘true’. Taking the first one, you could say, yes, I truly don’t have time now. I am a caregiver for my parents, my child just moved back home, and I am holding down a full-time job. (Your circumstances don’t have to look anything like these to be true.)

Notice the second reason. Uncertainty about the validity of our projects is absolutely part of the creative process. But it doesn’t have to be a show-stopper.

I try to ‘get real’ about why I’m not doing the things I say matter to me. I believe that when we don’t honor our creative impulses, our gifts and ideas weigh heavy on us. Carrying all those possibilities around is like being Santa, holding a giant bag of gifts but never giving them away. I know I feel the impact of living my unexpressed dreams. Honestly, this is the main reason I coach creatives – to help us all live and give the gifts we’ve been given.

I get real and honest in this new episode of Stumbling Toward Genius. I want you to know that we can survive the honest assessments of why we avoid our creative work. And that taking an honest look only makes you stronger.

In this episode of Stumbling Toward Genius, you’ll hear

• the real reason I stopped recording podcast episodes
• the fake reasons I stopped the podcast
• what made me bring it back
• and more.