Is Your Motivation on Life Support?

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Sometimes my motivation needs to be hooked up to life support.  Do you ever feel like yours has flat lined?

In an effort to breathe a little life into mine, I do what I always do when I need a little motivation or inspiration or knowledge or distraction.  I go to Google.  Google may not have all the answers, but if it doesn’t then try Youtube.  

It was here that I was reminded that the science behind motivation is different than how the world still perceives it to be because of a fascinating book on the subject by Daniel Pink called DRIVE.  I highly recommend reading it.

The carrot and the stick doesn’t work for creative people like you and me.  Promised reward or punishment has little to do with successfully motivating us to do our best work.

Why?  There is a fabulous video that explains it nicely and I have posted it for you here

I hope you enjoyed this video.  I plan on talking more about motivation next week.

Have a creative week,

Hugs, Diana

Aknowledging Your Past Creative Efforts

I was dragging my feet the other day to get started on a creative writing project.  I had already worked my way through two boring jobs that I didn’t want to do as a way of blocking myself to the work I needed to do. (A technique I’ve used before that still doesn’t work for me.)

So instead of forcing myself to sit like a petulant little girl with her arms crossed in front of her computer as if I was being punished, I opened a document that I had already written and read it.

You know what; it was good!  I enjoyed reading it.  I was clearly amazed that I had written it.  What it did for me was quite Blockhead’s yammering that, “Writing is hard,”
“You have nothing to say,” blah, blah, blah, and it energized me enough to move me out of self-banishment in the corner of, “I can’t do anything” to hey, “Look what I did!”

Acknowledging and noticing your past efforts is a good thing.  It will lift you up when you are feeling low and not very creative.

There is nothing wrong with having a little party of appreciation for what you have done.  Too many of us were taught not to brag or get too high and mighty or sing the praises of our own accomplishments.  There is no danger of that here.  You are your own audience. Enjoy the fruits of your labor and see if it doesn’t inspire to do more.

Creativity Energizer:

Select a piece of your work and spend some time with it.  Refuse to be critical. View it with loving eyes.  Let it speak to you.  Admire the craftsmanship and the detail.  Acknowledge the difficulties that were overcome.  Thank the person that created it with all sincerity.  Allow yourself to be inspired to do other work.



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Have a creative week!

Hugs, Diana

“Like sands through the hour glass, these are the CREATIVE days of our lives.”

Do you have issues with time?  My friend and I will be talking about a creative project and one of us will invariably say our time mantra, “Oh, that shouldn’t take too long,” and then we laugh, knowing full well that we are wishing out loud – hoping the words will make it so.

As I’ve gotten older, I want to spend my time more wisely.  As a youngster, the days stretched out in front of me seemingly forever and I thought I could afford to squander hours on end sitting in front of dumb TV or tolerating people I didn’t like.

I am coming to this conclusion with my creativity as well.  I want to spend my creative time on something that makes my heart sing, that invigorates and energizes me or connects me to my spirit.   

There will always people, place and things that threaten our creative time, but what about the time we spend inside our art that is no longer satisfying or necessary?  Maybe you can eliminate steps that you used to do when you weren’t as sure of your abilities as you are now. 

One time waster I have tried to eliminate in my creative process is the “agony hour.”   That’s all the time I waste worrying if this piece is good enough, or if someone will like my work enough to pay for it.  The agony hour is also time spent dreading a difficult project before I get down to business.

I have other creative project time drains that I am deleting.  I used to make tons of gifts to give away.  Untold amounts of time was invested in handmade gifts and the (handmade card to go with it) that often delighted me more than the recipient.  I rather spend my creative time (and energy) in other areas now.  

Creativity Energizer Break:

• Examine how you spend your creative time.  Are you making the best use of what time you do have? 

• Can you let go of unnecessary tasks that no longer interest or challenge you? 

• If you participate in the “agony hour,” see if you can reduce it or eliminate it altogether.

Like sands through the hour glass…

Have a creative week!

Hugs, Diana

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