Want my biggest, baddest, juiciest, hugest tip for getting shit done and bringing your creative ideas to fruition?
JUST START. Clear the space. Then you will undeniably allow the magic to seep in.
I know. Simple, right? Boring even? Stay with me, I will walk you through my thought process. Because before you can just start, you actually have to clear space for the magic to happen.
Let me explain…
The more I dive into alternative healing modalities like meditation, reiki, kundalini, acupuncture, energy healing, shamanism, crystal readings and more, the more I see a common thread: putting ourselves first is absolutely pertinent. Every modality, no matter the origin or what it’s all about, requires SLOWING down and taking time with ourselves in order to get clear on what requires our attention the most.
Bonus points for meditating, and lots of it.
If spirituality isn’t your thing, take the world of business. Look at some of the most successful people of our time — Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss, Cheryl Strayed… do you know what common thread they all have between them?
They know how to say no.
I listened to a fascinating podcast interview on Oprah learning how to say no in order to stay in her lane and get shit done on Dear Sugars recently, and I thought, “Oprah too?! If she can say no, I can say no.” Homegirl must get asked to do at least ten billion massively important and cool things a DAY, but she still absolutely had to learn how to stay focused in order to keep creating magic.
Tim Ferriss is known for his Four Hour Work Week mentality… which sounds controversial and crazy until you really look into what he’s saying and then it all clicks. What he’s really saying is that you can only do your best work when you are truly in alignment, and the rest of what you do when you think you’re “working” really is not productive at all. It’s not about the QUANTITY of time, it’s all about the quality.
The magic behind the time.
So… let’s cut to the chase.
In order to bring your ideas to life and harness all of that beautiful creative stimulation inside of you to make those ideas happen… you’re going to have to let the magic seep in.
I call that exact type of magic “being in the flow.”
Imagine a moment in your life when you felt REALLY in the flow. To kickstart your thoughts I’ll tell you one of my most in-the-flow types of experiences:
For me, being in the flow usually happens in the morning. I’ve been up for a little while, I have already meditated and set clear goals and intentions for the day, I’ve probably broken a sweat doing some sort of workout, I’ve had my loaded Bulletproof coffee and it’s starting to kick in, there’s nothing on my to-do list that needs my immediate attention, and I have loads of time ahead of me to CREATE.
Creating for me can mean anything from recording a solo podcast interview to banging out a from-the-heart blog post to creating a colorful list or detailed vision board of my manifestations and brand goals. It can even mean getting back to emails that I have been particularly excited to respond to but wanted to save them for when I had my full creative energy flowing so I could craft a deserved response.
It can also mean going on a long, 10,000 step walk in my neighborhood listening to podcasts, running to the ocean and blasting Eminem, or deciding to go to a soul-filling, flowy hot yoga class.
I can also tell you what creating doesn’t mean for me. Taking phone calls, rushing to get to a meeting, interrupting my flow to go to something I committed to weeks prior, starting something but not having time to finish before an event I’ve committed to… on and on.
Are you starting to see a pattern here?
Creating in TRUE flow, for me, means undivided time and attention to do just that! To create.
Sometimes “in the flow” I will decide to make a spontaneous plan with someone. Often, that’s because there is creativity in that spontaneity. It’s fun to do something you feel like doing in that moment. Ultimately, that might be the interaction that stimulates your creativity even deeper to create something you REALLY want.
I am not saying you have to be a shut in in order to create. You can certainly still make plans ahead of time — it’s 2017, and we all live by our Google Calendars. A portion of my week is very mapped out ahead of time, especially so I can see everyone I care about seeing and keep myself organized, but without that important dedicated time to be spontaneous and creative — the magic would never have a chance to happen.
How to make this work in your life:
I know I am lucky in the sense that I have a flexible schedule and I can play around with the “Four Hour Work Week” mentality and the get into alignment first and foremost type of ideology, BUT we all have free time. And we have free will with our free time. Wherever it may fall.
So whether it’s the weekend or if you also have a flexible, work for yourself type of schedule — be sure to schedule in that you-time. That creativity time.
You’ll be amazed at how easily the magic strikes when you’ve set yourself up for true creativity.
Also, make it fun. I don’t believe magic will take place if this feels like a structured, frantic situation where you put tons of pressure on yourself to create and bring your ideas to life because you only have X amount of time to dedicate to working on them.
Trust me, I GET THAT. I was there for a long time. But here’s what I did to combat that… I let go of my expectations. I broke the rules. I “stopped” working so hard to make things happen and when I started taking time for myself — that’s when the real inspiration would strike.
For example, sometimes the time I set aside to write and create actually turns into me laying in bed and reading a book or watching Netflix… because apparently my brain NEEDS that shut off time in order to come back to life and then use the rest of my free time efficiently and wisely.
Or sometimes I will wake up with every intention to write three blog posts but my heart and soul is telling me to go to a yoga class, so I go. Then I am setting myself up for true creativity and flow later in the day, and likely also for the days following.
A few years ago, I never would have laid down in the middle of the work day or broken from my scheduled plan. Or, taken a BATH midday (now one of my favorite things to do!). I have been a certified workaholic ever since I started this blog, and especially ever since it became my full-time job.
Now, I welcome that ish! I know how much more efficiently I can use the timeframe of three hours versus sitting around and forcing myself to work for a full 9 or 10 hour workday.
I allow myself to do a morning workout because it stimulates my brain and jumpstarts my creative juices. I flow through a yoga class and cannot WAIT to get back to my computer with all of my new ideas and the things I want to tackle for the day.
I also allow myself to go to kundalini a few days a week to REALLY get in the zone and lose myself in the breath work and enjoy the beauty of NOT thinking for an hour and a half. Of true moving meditation. I also love it because there I am able to visualize new elements of my business that I’d never be able to see or come up with if I was sitting in front of my computer all day.
Aside from those things, midday walks, chillin’ in bed cranking my LED lights, walking away from emails to kiss and hug Hudson and tell him how important he is to me (it’s crazy how calming it is for me to just do that), taking the time to really nourish myself with home cooked meals and enjoy them WITHOUT a screen in front of my face, all that good jazz… helps so much.
So let’s close out with a list to sum it all up:
In order to get in the flow and find that true magic of creative stimulation, my top tips are…
1. Carve out time in your calendar every week (or every day, if you can) to have undivided you-time for whatever your mind, body and soul needs.
2. During that time and outside of that time, get still. Get clear on the ideas you want to bring to life and how you might do that. Make some lists! Meditate on it.
3. Do what you need to do in order to get into inspiration-zone during that time. (For example, my morning tunes, meditation, streching and Bulletproof coffee pump up time!). For you maybe it’s sunlight, a morning run, or finding your most efficient time of day to tune into you.
4. Let go of expectations, and let the pressure wash away. This is supposed to be fun! If your you-time ends up being you chillin’ on your couch watching a movie, embrace it. You needed it, and you deserve it.
5. Let the magic seep in. Believe in it. There is true magic to being in the flow. You are attracting the magic to you when you simply believe in the flow and let it happen.
There you have it! I hope this helps. I am still figuring it all out myself, because I believe as creative people we definitely go through waves of inspiration, creativity blocks, idea surges, all of it.
I have SO MANY things I want to do it can almost feel stifling sometimes, but I choose to think of those “so many things” as fun, inspiring, and an exciting challenge and then all of the sudden that stifling feeling goes away. Thoughts?! Do you have your own methods?! Would love to hear! Xx