Being More Creative: What's YOUR Story About Why You Don't Create More?

Storytelling has a wonderful, rich tradition in most cultures and young children all over the world are thrilled, excited, terrified and amazed by the stories their parents and friends tell them.

We all have our own stories about our lives, and each of has plenty to tell about the adventures and experiences we’ve had – creative and otherwise.

But each of us also holds dear another kind of story.

Or more accurately, a collection of stories, our own little pocket anthology.

These aren’t stories based on our own past exploits, events that have actually happened and we can recollect.

These are the stories we’ve carefully constructed and now carry around, about who we are and what we can achieve.

One of the most powerful and memorable things a Coaching Mentor of mine ever said to me was this:

"The only thing that's stopping you from having the life you want is your story about why you can't have the life you want..."

Its meaning didn’t quite sink in with me at first. I didn't get it.

I played it over in my head a few times.

The only thing stopping me is my story about why I can’t have what I want…

It seemed overly-simplistic and all too neat a summary of what are complex and multi-layered issues.

Hold on a second. It started to click.

Complex and multi-layered issues…

Is it that I can’t move on because these issues are too complex and multi-layered? Or, I can’t move on because I’m telling myself these issues are too complex and multi-layered?

I thought about a coach training course I wanted to do. I’d been frustrated up to now about it because although I desperately wanted to go on the course, my thinking had been:

It’s too expensive, I can’t possibly afford to go with my current income.

And I SO wanted to go on it.

I thought back to my mentor’s words, and my perspective started to change.

It is expensive. But it’s going to be worth it and it’s something I really want to do. So how could I make it happen? I could take out a personal loan, find some extra part time work, borrow some money from a friend, sell my car and get a cheaper one…

Crucially, I’d recognised the story.

My story about why I couldn’t go on that course was “because I can’t afford it.” Because before I’d seen this as set-in-stone unquestionable and immovable reality, I hadn’t even thought about possible alternative options and solutions.

But once I’d seen this as just a story – a story of my own making - and not reality, I was able to put my creativity to work and start thinking of alternatives solutions.

What stories do you have about why you don’t create more?

What do you tell yourself about why you’re not writing 500 words a day? Or why you’re not painting for 3 hours every weekend? Or making calls to arrange gigs for your new band? Or joining that art course that begins next month?

Take the time to write down the answers, to reveal the story. For example if you ask:

“Why aren’t I writing 500 words a day?”

One of your stories about this may be –

“I don’t have anywhere peaceful to create. I always get disturbed and lose concentration so I don’t even bother starting to write now.”

Now shift your perspective so you see this as a story. And, as it’s a story, how can you re-write it. What other ways are open to you? How would you like it to be different?

Maybe you could arrange with your family to have half an hour to yourself undisturbed every day to write? Maybe you could write each day on the train journey to work and put some music on earphones to block out outside distractions? Maybe you could go to a local library or café to write each day?

Maybe you could get up half an hour before everyone else or go to bed half an hour later than everyone else and write then? The only limit to the options available to you is your story.

Remember, the only reason you can’t have what you want in your creative life is your story about why you can’t have it.

Once you accept this, and make that adjustment in your thinking, you’ll find the alternatives just flow into to your mind. And then you can pick one or two and start putting them into action...

Learn how to Explode YOUR Creativity today... Get your FREE copy of Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin’s powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook when you sign up to the FREE “Create Create!” ezine. Visit the website now: http://www.CoachCreative.com