Creative Steps

Take a look at this video from the TED conference.

Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) talks about some of the challenges of the creative life.

She suggests that instead of regarding an exceptionally creative individual as “being” a genius we should adopt a ’safer psychological construct’ and say that these people “have” a genius.

She suggests that each of us has a genius.

Is this really a radical idea?

In my opinion she appears to be using the same ’safe psychological construct’ as Julia Cameron did in The Artists Way (or books like ‘The Secret’, seem to do) – that is a re-framing at the spiritual dimension – that logical level above self.

What do you think of this approach? Could it work for you?

Tags: case studies, NLP
Posted in Case Studies, Creativity Coaching, coaching concepts | 1 Comment »

Our lives are defined by our successes and failures,

but our energy is diminished by the weight of unfinished plans

It was Henry James that noted there was nothing as fatiguing as the hanging on of an uncompleted task. He knew the potential consequences of not achieving goals; the negative impact of our personal goals turning into interminable projects. For example, the proverbial unfinished manuscript, the type of which that surely sits in the drawer of countless writers, artists, intellectuals and other creative people.

Of course, there is nothing wrong in failing to achieve the results for which we are hoping – but beware! Our unfinished plans have weight and this accumulates over time to act like a millstone.

They say that nothing succeeds like success, and surely the corollary of this that nothing diminishes our energies like the disappointment of a de-railed plan and an unfulfilled goal.

But it is more than a simple accumulated loss of momentum that can destroy your creative dreams. Consider the consistent, unrelenting absorption in the lingering creative project that can occupy private thoughts for decades. The internal focus that this brings reduces our abilities to be present and our own internal critic chastises us for the exorbitant waste of time and effort.

In our denial we become embittered as we see people, perhaps less talented, receive the plaudits or lead the life that we had planned for ourselves. Rather than engaging and deriving pleasure from our creativity it becomes a burden and we become taunted by our inability to produce the quantity and quality of creative work that we easily imagine. No amount of positive thinking can overcome the reality of seeing your creative dreams unfulfilled.

Spend time with the elderly and their advice will generally be the same: the regrets of the things they don’t do weigh heavier than any regrets caused by doing.

But we are fooled. Obituaries are filled with stories of successes and achievements, but they never list the longed for things that remained unfulfilled – and we could perhaps learn most about our subject by knowing this.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

Despite all the evidence, we are deluded into believing that we have time. This leads us to believe that the manuscript can wait, but time passes. Perhaps when twenty years have passed and we are able to see that our creative dreams have not substantially progressed we will then know the weight of the uncompleted task. With luck it will not then be too late.

For some thoughts on achieving goals click here.

Tags: Creativity Coaching, Goals, Increasing Creativity
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Conventional Wisdom produces a tyranny of what is accepted over what is true. This can be seen in all areas of knowledge, including creativity coaching.

Within a very large range of ideas, we are able to believe what we please. We are able to hold whatever world view that best fits our tastes. This can lead to a tyranny of ‘what is acceptable’ over what is relevant or useful. Perhaps to call it a tyranny is a little strong, but there is certainly a danger associated with ideas constrained by the boundaries of conventional wisdom.

An audience of any kind is likely to applaud most what they like best.

Even the internet is constrained by conventional wisdom. To a certain degree Google defines the ‘markets’ so ideas tend to be organised around Google’s definitions and conventions. In this way, obscurity is guaranteed to people that do not adhere to theses norms; if you want to be found by people interested in your topic then you must use the keywords that these people are using in their searches with the result that even the most original thinker can soon just be ‘giving them what they want.’ Passion for a subject is soon replaced with finding out what people and offering them more of the same.

It happens in politics too. To Fly a Kite means to raise an idea to gauge the reaction to it. Depending on the reaction, the idea may be implemented (if the reaction was positive) or disowned and denied (if negative).

The test of audience approval influences content much more than the test of truth or utility.

Ideas come to be organised around what the audience as a whole finds ‘acceptable’ and the skill of the internet marketer or political svengali is to identify and reproduce what is acceptable.  Never is this more true than in the case of the speaker that opens his address by stating his intention of telling the hard, shocking truth; inevitably these speeches go on to expound want the audience most wants to hear.

It pays to be on the guard for conventional wisdom; it pays to keep looking for what is right and what gets results and not just resonates with what we want to hear.

What is the conventional wisdom in the field of creativity coaching? Here is one way of looking at it: whatever sounds ‘acceptable’ but doesn’t get you results.

Remember this: performance improvement should always be about results. Selling information is often about peddling conventional wisdom.

Know this: www.creative-steps.com, How to coach yourself to increasing creativity is about performance improvement.  Take a look at my guarantee.

About a year ago a client and I parted company because she wanted to spend more time nurturing her creative child. This is a shame, especially as I am a firm believer in the conventional wisdom of ‘refilling the well’ (as Julia Cameron calls it).

We really do need to nurture our creative selves; we need time and space and inspiration for growth. But we need other things too. We need to do the work now and again and any coaching that tells you differently is not doing you any favours. I was calling my client to account. I guarantee results and don’t like time wasters.

This client subsequently re-contacted me and we again started worked together. After a period of self-nurture she realised that she was no closer to her goal. Being commended by her support group did not bring her the same satisfaction as actually completing her exhibition. When she was ready she got down to the work.

In any field success is most likely to be driven by doing the work: accountability and follow up are universally useful. You must nurture your creative child but you must also remember that your creative child needs to get off its creative arse now and again.

“Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.” Jack Kerouac

Tags: Coach Yourself, Creativity Coaching
Posted in Creative Steps Coaching Course, Creativity Coaching | 1 Comment »

I was having dinner with a friend who had worked on Leonard Cohen’ s 2009 UK tour. She told me something that may or may not be true but is a provocative story that can help with creativity coaching…

But first a question; have you ever wanted to pursue a creative dream but didn’t because you believed you could not afford to?

If you had the choice, what would you choose? Money or creative fulfilment?

Financial worries are a common creative block. Is this something that hinders your creative work?

Consider that question as you peruse this story…

Leonard Cohen was famously ripped off by his ex-manager Kelley Lynch, who not only misappropriated over US $5million from Cohen’s retirement fund but also sold the publishing rights to his music.

A certain Simon Cowell bought the rights to this body of work and fed arguably Cohen’s most popular song, Hallelujah, to a hungry public via his X-Factor TV Show.

In some quarters there was uproar. How could Cowell ruin such a classic by making it Saturday night muzac?

“I hate ‘Hallelujah’ now. It’s mawkish, mewling, so earnest it’d make Halfwit cringe and, worst of all, it’s too damn religious. It makes me want to vomit up my own kidneys so I can ram them down the throat of anyone singing it.”

“Perhaps Cowell actually thinks the song is about him. After all, a key line is “you don’t really care for music, do ya?””

Others thought Cowell was bringing good music to popular attention; noting that Jeff Buckley’s version and the original were also charting.

But I doubt Simon Cowell paid much attention to this debate. Why should he? He owned the rights to all three versions!

My friend told me that Cowell was making £250,000 per day from the three tracks during the period that they all charted. Leonard Cohen was making some money, but nowhere near as much.

So what did the great man think about that? I asked her.

She said, ‘you know Leonard!’ (I don’t) ‘He was resigned and relaxed about it…’

Was he really I wondered? When asked about having his fortune stolen by his manager the Zen Buddhist, Cohen, was quoted as saying: “You know, God gave me a strong inner core, so I wasn’t shattered. But I was deeply concerned.”

So who would you rather be Cowell or Cohen?

Money or creative talent: what would you do if the choice was yours?

If we imagine looking back on our lives then many of us would want to be remembered as great people. Living forward (as we have to) most of us want to be comfortable. How do we get both? When is enough enough? What is the thing we want to be remembered for?

Some interesting themes for coaching and, as always, there are no right answers. Coaching is an ongoing enquiry; it is about getting more of what you want.

What did Leonard Cohen really want – money or creative fulfilment?

In an interview in The Guardian Newspaper, Cohen was asked if he had been fearful of starting a career in the music industry, especially at the relatively old age of 33 (he had previous made his living as a writer).

It may surprise you that, like Paul McCartney, Cohen did it for the cash!

Leonard Cohen: “I’ve been generally fearful about everything, so this just fits in with the general sense of anxiety that I always experienced in my early life. When you say I had a career as a writer or a poet, that hardly begins to describe the modesty of the enterprise in Canada at that time – an edition of 200 was considered a bestseller in poems. At a certain point I realised that I’m going to have to buckle down and make a living. I’d written a couple of novels, and they’d been well received, but they’d sold about 3,000 copies. So I really had to do something, and the other thing I knew how to do was play guitar. So I was on my way down to Nashville – I thought maybe I could get a job. I love country music, maybe I’d get a job playing guitar. When I hit New York, I bumped into what later was called the folk-song renaissance. There were people like Dylan and Judy Collins and Joan Baez. And I hadn’t heard their work. So that touched me very much. I’d always been writing little songs myself, too, but I never thought there was any marketplace for them.”

The interviewer then commented: “Some people would think it’s ironic to go into music to make money, given that it’s not necessarily the most lucrative of professions for most artists.”

Leonard Cohen: “Yeah, I know. In hindsight it seems to be the height of folly. You had to resolve your economic crisis by becoming a folk singer. And I had not much of a voice. I didn’t play that great guitar either. I don’t know how these things happen in life – luck has so much to do with success and failure.”

I am still not sure if Simon Cowell did make that much money from Hallelujah and there are lots of conflicting stories online, but I did find this from England’s Daily Mail which supports her claim. If anyone knows anymore, post a reply; I’d love to learn more.

Tags: case studies, Creativity Coaching
Posted in Case Studies, Creativity Coaching, Curio | 1 Comment »