10 Jul Create Before you Consume
Do you have a creative project you keep putting off?
One strategy to get us on our passionate path of creativity is to create before we consume. This means putting your creative passions first, before listening to or watching what others are doing. For example, draw, learn a new dance, or practice piano before watching the news or scrolling on social media. It’s choosing to be present in your creative pursuits and making them a priority.
Creating before we consume also protects us from information overload. Information overload is a tricky enemy of the creation process. It is hard to not become distracted by all the information we are fed every day through our phones, social media, and other people’s priorities. This content stimulus makes it challenging to sit still, be silent, and listen to our intuition.
In his book The Organized Mind, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin shares his research that information overload “saps us of not only willpower (of which we have a limited store) but creativity as well.”
When we are observing what everyone else is doing instead of focusing on the good in our lives and what we really want, we can feel discouraged. We may start comparing our lives to those who seem to have it all figured out. We may feel like we are not where we should be in life. Plus, constantly consuming leaves little room to create.
Consuming is easy. Creating takes effort.
Consuming more content can leave us feeling inadequate.
Creating makes us feel alive.
What will you make time to create this week?
Ideas to Inspire
1. Discover how to build your personal brand and become the CEO of your life on this episode of Create For No Reason with my guest Ramon Ray.
2. If you’re looking for great books about leadership, try these.
3. Inspiring Quote: “Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.” – Stephen King
4. Book Recommendation: This week I started reading Steven Kotler’s book The Art of Impossible and it is so interesting. The core message is that we are capable of so much more than we know.
5. Journaling Prompt: What is stopping you from pursuing your dreams?
For more journaling prompts, check out my Create For No Reason Journal.