What everyone's looking for

If there is one thing that seems to connect everybody, it's that they have the same desire, the same need, the same want, the same longing, to be justified, accepted or validated; To feel what what they have inside them, can be expressed and it can be noticed, appreciated and admired.

So many people feel that they've started working for a boss but not really enjoying the job and not really feeling that what they're doing with their life has any great meaning or purpose and this is what I'm really trying to change.

I really want people to know that they do have potential in them to do something unique. To do something personally meaningful and that they can express something that is creative and wonderful to them. Something that is incredibly enjoyable. Something that they want to do, and yet many people are just so distracted by all the things around them.

All the things outside of them and too often not looking inside themselves and seeing what's happening there and seeing the potential they have.  That they have so much to offer.

This exploring starts inside you. 80% of the process of finding what your truest expression is, comes from taking a look at those things that should be important to you. Your daydreams & the night dreams you have. Your personality, your talents, your interests, your passions & concerns.

Those little things that you may ignore and discount as just silly, are all important. They're all signpost to your ideal future.

Steve Writes on Creative & career development

You can find me at www.ineedtocreate.com

Great Twitter lists descriptions from people who I've inspired.

People on Twitter have put me on 233 follow lists. Here are the great descriptions their have written for those lists. I feel very honoured to be inspiring people so much.

 

•People who encourage the world to think out of the box.

•People who are shaping the face of modern media on the web, tv, art, music, design, radio etc.

•Famous people who passionate about creativity & inspiration and creative ideas.

•Thought leaders in making "ideas" and "creativity" a reality.

•People interested in creativity.

•creative inspiration, innovative ideas.

•Inspiring Creatives: artists, writers, photographers, thinkers, teachers...

•Creativity research.

•People I have been blessed to connect with in the twitterverse

•Ever so much more than "Teachers".

•inspiring thoughts, coaches, events, & other creativity fodder.

•Creative Tweeps, the kind who make things that didn't exist before.

•Fellow treasured travelers of the creative path.

•The art and science of creativity and idea generation. Inspire me!

•So who are the real "Gifted"? This eclectic list.

•Creativity, Psychology of Creativity and those who write about the writing life.

•Some of the greatest minds in writing, editing, publishing and more!

•Thoughts on and about life. Inspirational. Motivational. Sensational.

Comedy at it's simplest: Man verses gravity

         

We all remember those old movies & cartoons where the characters ends up in the air, and starts falling to earth with that typical whistling sound. Or something falls on them, like a Grand piano.

Actually, comedy seemed to involve a lot of falling. And it never gets old, dispute how sophisticated comedy can be. If fact, a lot of comedy happens when the physical meets physics. Once you get anything moving or balancing, then things fall in a heap.

In comedy, there are many forms of falling: The rise & fall in a characters expectations, progress or circumstances. If you look at the effect of gravity on a situation or story, you open up the range of possibilities that your story can go.

I'm not a comic script writer but if I wanted to be one, I would probably explore how 'gravity' can play with a characters hopes & intensions.

It's always funny to see someone who's at war with gravity.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A fractured soul is the inner child left behind. A comedian is someone who left behind his inner adult.

There's a concept that states that if a child suffers a traumatic event, then part of that child's personality fractures away from the rest. That separated part doesn't develop with the rest of the person. Part of them still has the same needs as a child, even though the person has grown into an adult.

I suspect that a comedian is the opposite. He left behind his inner adult. That part of him that was meant to grow into a 'normal', responsible adult.

A comedian seems to possess a child like wonder about the world. They show that personal vulnerability & social sensitivity you see in many comedians.

He's the Man-Child. The big kid. The prankster. The one that's always kidding around. The guy that never grew up.

They ran ahead of the adult they were 'supposed to be'. But we love them for it.

And because of the childhoods some people have had, many comedians are probably living out the childhood they were meant to have.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A comedian is someone who gets payed to have people laugh at his own expense.

There are few professions where you can be payed to have people laugh at you. But in a good way of course. There seems to be two areas of comedy. One where the intent is to have the audience laugh at the adventures of the comedian, or laugh at the things other people do. Political satire does this a lot.

I thinks that a comedian that is happy to divide the focus between his life and the lives of others, had gotta have a lot more material to work with. Assuming you know yourself better than you know anyone or anything else, comedy is mostly about you, –Your life, what bothers you, the observations you make & the things that affect you.

Show them how human you are.

Let them laugh at you and let them laugh with you.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A comedian is a specialist in explaining the things they don't understand.

      

With most professions, you expect people to have some expertise. To know more about a particular subject than everyone else. A comedian, on the other hand, isn't necessarily an expert in any particular area. They are just very good at noticing things that other people live with but don't seem to notice. They see repeated themes. They make funny connections between things. They put things into a new context. They make fun of anything that pretends to be normal. Or shouldn't be normal.

He doesn't have to explain the reasons why things are the way they are, but he loves to express his slanted perspective. He doesn't have to understand everything, but he enjoys the opportunity to offer 'suggestions' on why something happened.

A professional comedian's job is to show he is an amateur in everything else.

A comedian is one of the few people who can start a sentence with, "The thing I don't understand is…."

So be confused, be baffled, be honest about the things you don't understand. Your audience will love it.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A comedian is a mime artist who forgets to stay quiet.

If you ever watched a scene in a movie and the character is not talking but is trying to do something. There might be some background noise or music, but the character is doing most of the communicating through expressions and actions. Then he hears an unexpected sound, the character stop. He's realises something just happened that he didn't want or expect. 

You laugh but it also builds the expense. Then the character speaks. I cry of desperation that is designed to emphasis his growing frustration, building the tension in the audience. Then, as the final moment, that tension is released, –The audience fall off their seats.

That shows that comedy is a visual language as much as a way of talking.

And sound, then used sparingly, adds to the comedy. The comedian knows that NOT talking can be just as funny as talking. They use their face, their body language and things around them to tell the story. Words are a comedians best friend but silence, is his silent partner.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A comedian exaggerates what he gives and misunderstands what is gets.

I'm sure a lot of comedians are very sensitive to the human failings they see around them everyday. They see the slip ups, the insecurities & the strange things that can happen when people attempt to communicate & interact with each other.

All you have to do is read or watch the news to see the things people get themselves into.

A comedian must have an internal lie detector. –They can smell something's off before anyone else says anything.

They see the exaggerations and the misunderstandings. So many of these observations can make there way into their work. Their characters and stories explore & exposes the tendency for the average person to exaggerate what they have achieved & understand. But at the same time, they misunderstand what is really going on around them.

So play with exaggeration & misunderstand. Give your characters delusions of grandeur but give them a blindfold as well.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A comedian allows their audience to be surprised by their own common sense

To me, Comedy is a very creative art. It amazes me how agile the comic mind can be.

It's the art of being one step ahead for the audience, but at the same time, giving the audience the idea that they are one step ahead of the character.

Comedy lets the audience sense that the character is going to slip up, yet not able to predict exactly what will happen.

The audience sees the character climbing an old ladder. The audience knows it can't end well. They think he will just fall off, but something unexpected happens. He falls in a way no one predicted.

So allow the audience to imagine solutions before the character figures it out, But NEVER let the audience predict how he manages to escape. It's rarely funny if the audience can predict the outcome.

Keep them surprised but give them plenty of opportunities to imagine ways to surprise themselves by their own common sense.

(For the comedy & Comedians series)

Note: I'm not a Comedian but I wanted to understand what makes good comedy work. So I hope this will help inspire aspiring comedians (& communicators) to develop this very creative craft.

-Your comments are very welcome.

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Your creative life is your story. Critics have their own stories.

Your creative life, is a life dedicated to exploring emotions, memories, observations, images, sounds, ideas and anything else that 's important to you. Creative people make a career from these things.

Your story is why you find these things interesting.  When we stop exploring things that interest us, we loose the very reason we started in the first place.

That gives the inner critic reason to question everything we try to do. They try to provide an alternative story. A story that tries to convince us that we don't know why we're doing what we are doing.

This is what an external critic does. They either don't know your story or their try to project their own stories onto you. A critic has a mental picture about what they expect you to conform to. Of course, it's impossible for you to match what they see in your work with their mental pictures. And so, they will criticise you for it.

This is important because you need to know that their comments are inspired by their own view or picture of the world and they're not necessarily about you.

As long as you know your story, and your audience knows it as well, you can ignore their unfair, un-constructive or negative criticism.

(For the creative content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Which are you... Performer? Image maker? Music maker? Or Story Teller?

There's probably about 14,000 different job descriptions out there. Any one of those will suit you perfectly. Even if you use the process of elimination, you can spent a long time figuring out which is the best for you.

That sounds like a lot of work so I'm just going to focus on just four general areas: Performer, Image maker, Music maker & story teller.

There is some overlap with these terms, but they are distinct enough to point you in the direction that will best suit you best.

A performer is anyone who does something before an audience (For the sake of this article, is not a musician).

An image maker is anyone who create images, be it still or motion graphics.

A Music maker is anyone who creates, plays or sings music. (That isn't primarily a sound technician).

And a Storyteller is anyone who creates and presents stories live or in a recorded form.

Each of these four categories contain a lot of different types of work.

You may well fall into one category quite easily, but becoming highly creative in your area of interest or expertise, you need to combine two or more of these areas.

For example; An image maker can create works that are far more meaningful for the audience if the image contained text that helps to convey a message or story.

Obviously a lot of music includes voice, but a song doesn't always have a clear story.

Even when a song is part of a music video (image making), it seldom provides any visual support for a story.

So if you are a performer, Image maker or music maker, become a Story teller as well.

If you are a Performer (like a Comedian), include visual elements so what you'll be more memorable.

Play with all the wonderful combinations, so that your creativity & your career will become more than any one form can do alone.

The most successful people have always been the best Story Tellers. What is your story?

And how are you going to express it?

(For the creative content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

What is your story?

Your story is probably one of the most important things you can ever discover about yourself. It describes where you came from. Why you do what you do. It reveals your journey. It defines your goals and your story explains why it matters.

Your story keeps you focused, and it give your audience a chance to get to know you. It helps them relate to you. It gives them reason to tell others about you.

It's your Bio. It's your elevator speech. It's your introduction. It's you in a nutshell.

It isn't just what you do. It's why you do it and why it gives value to others.

You are the embodiment of that story. That way, every project makes sense to you and to your fans.

If you ever walked around an Art Gallery, you may have noticed that people can spend almost as much time reading the small painting descriptions on the wall, as they do looking at the art. Because people want to know who painted it, when and what the story behind the art is.

You have a story. It's more interesting than you think, and it grows over time, as you do. 

(For the creative content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Some write the story of their life when they are old. Some write it in advance.

If you were asked to write the story of your life before you feel you have started to live it, would you know were to begin?

An easier question would be; If you would have written any book ever published, which book would it be, and why?

When I first asked myself that question, the first book that came into my mind was 'The Agony and the ecstasy', about the life of Michelagelo. Of course, he didn't write that book, but it was about his life and work. But what still impresses me about him is his work & the dedication, scale and how prolific he was. I admire that.

If I was to write the story of what I want my life to look like, I'm not sure I could imagine doing as much as he did. But in many ways, I am write my story in advance. I have a clear vision on what I want my life to look like in the future. I want to enjoy the process of creating everything I'm doing now and in the future.

I'm writing my story in advance. Each day is another page. That's why each day matters.

Don't wait till you're old to write you story. If you do, you'll probably have little to say. Write it now and you'll have a great story to share with the world.

(For the content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Ownership equals Choice. Be a content creator & you own the content.

When I as a young designer, I was focused on getting all the techniques right. I read the how-to magazines and the software manuals. If I didn't know how to do something, I would find out. I enjoyed leaning how to do new things. Everyone I knew was doing pretty much the same thing. When ever I talked to other designers, that was the things we talked about.

But I became aware that just knowing HOW to do something wasn't enough.

I knew I didn't own the design, I didn't own any of it. All I had were the printouts of the work for my portfolio.

The clients would give great feedback, so I knew my designs were doing the job. But I wanted to own what I did. I wanted to create things that were from me, and I could choose where, when and why they were used.

I didn't want to just be technically skilled. Learning new skills are very important, but I also wanted to be a Content Creator. Like a Songwriter or a Painter or a maker of wonderful things. Something I could put my name to.

So I discovered the concept that; 'Ownership equals choice'.

So being a Content Creator gives you a lot more choices that you wouldn't have otherwise.

Choice is a freedom. Freedom to decide which direction your life should take. What projects to pursue, what times to work & how you want your work to be used.

There's nothing wrong with working for others, but if you want more creative freedom to choose what projects interest you, then you need to focus on YOUR content. What do you want to express? What medium do you want to use to say those things that are important to you?

If you want to have more creative control of what you do, you need to be more than skilled, you need to create your own content.

(For the content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Every story is a journey, every face a story.

To a storyteller, every story is a journey. To a journalist, every face has a story.

We live in a world that has changed so much since the early storytellers sat at the campfires and told their family about the days hunt, or old story passed down from earlier generations.

But the power of a story hasn't changed, and the basic components of a good story haven't changes either. So the modern day storytellers haven't changed too much. The way we tell and receive stories have become more sophisticated, but the need to tell them & receive them hasn't changed. People are inherently curious about other places and people. We love the ways a storyteller takes his audience on a journey they haven't taken and to be introduced to people we haven't met.

We are transported and introduced to the world. I remember watching TV one day, and later counting that I had 'visited' seven regions of the world, thought seven documentaries (Some of them being Docu-dramas about animals). I endured the long winter with Emperor Penguins. I visited archaeological ruins of places I never heard of before. I was told the story of these places. Why they flourished and what were their challenges. I learnt something about their journeys & the stories that went with the faces.

(For the creative content & story telling series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Your inner creative voice speaks to you. The inner critic tends to interrupt.

You inner creative voice has lots of ways to speak to you. Through connective thoughts, daydreams, imagination, night dreams and remembrances. This 'voice' actually uses words, images and moving pictures to convey messages to our conscious mind. It's very efficient in the way it times & sends these messages. If one line of communication is busy or ignores, it will try another line. If you're busy, it will try and get your attention some other way.

Unfortunately, most people become very good at ignoring all messages,(even though most of the messages never stop coming). Daydreams seem to be the most efficient way to get the attention of the conscious mind for any length of time. Even if the person just dismisses the daydream as wishful thinking, unrealistic or just plain silly.

Many of us also have an inner critic that can become very good at screening these messages. Like having your grandma as a secretary. She will look at the message and say, "You might get hurt if you try that". Or "Better safe than sorry". Or if she is having a really bad day, she might say, "Don't be so stupid, who do you think you are?"

So, your inner critic may be just trying to protect you from risk. Her motto is, "You need to survive, don't draw attention to yourself & look out for number one".

But creativity is about trying new things. New things require some risk, and risk is part of the package if you want the good things as well.

One moment please, you have a new message…

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

You must give yourself permission to be creative.

We never think to give ourselves permission to be creative. We think its just something we do in our spare time. Something we try and do, only if we have done everything else. Something we do when no one wants as to do something.

We all function differently; some are task/time orientated. Some are more people/needs orientated. Either way, the expectations & responsibilities of daily life can make it seem impossible to have a more creative life.

We can find it so difficult to find enough creative time because we give everything a higher priority. There are things that are voluntary as well. There are things we feel we should enjoy, like leisure, relaxation or entertainment. We give ourselves permission to do those things because we believe we need or deserve it.

We feel a need to be creative but we don't always believe we deserve to enjoy it. Particularly if people in your past have made you feel a little guilty for the time you had spent in creative activity. Particularly the task/time people. It you didn't say to yourself that you should be doing other things, I guarantee there has been others who have said it to you: "You need to get going". "You'll run late". "I thought you was going to help me".

We're trained to expect too much from ourselves because others have expected too much from us.

So, give yourself permission to create. Give yourself time to be creative. Give yourself permission to loose track of time. Give yourself permission to do creative things. Not to finish quickly or do it as it 'should be', but just for the pure joy of doing it.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

You have faith in your creativity when you know the solution will come. Even when you still don't understand the problem.

One of the traits of a predominately creative personality is a Tolerance for Ambiguity.

They don't feel the need to understand everything before they start a project they haven't done before. They just have a fascination with the problem. They know they don't understand it but they know that its a challenge worthy of their curiosity and time.

This 'Not knowing' is too much for some people. They may have an Intelligent Guy reputation to maintain. They can't be seen getting involved in something they don't understand. The right people might thing they're crazy.

Creative personalities don't base their self worth on what is already known, but on knowing the unknown.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

We rise & fall with the level of courage & expectation we have in us.

We all want good things to happen in our lives, but do we expect it to happen, or just wish it will?

It's when we start to do things, that we begin to move to a different level. We go from wishing to hoping. We hope that what we are trying to achieve will happen, but to make it happen we must finish what we started. And to finish, we must expect to finish, no matter what. It's that "No matter what" that elevates us to a higher level.

You can't feel courage. You can only DO courage. Prolonged action makes us courageous.

People wait for enough courage before they attempt anything new, but it's the attempt that 'encourages' courage.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

We have many truly great thinkers from history. But they would prefer we share our own thoughts.

f you ever read books about great people from history. Or read quotes from them, you would have been impressed with their insight and wisdom. For this reason we like to quote them.

People aren't always famous because of what they said, but by what they had accomplished. That is that impresses us. That is often what inspires us to read about them.

I notice that a lot people today are quoting these historical figures. In there own books and online. But what would these historical figures encourage us to do? I would suggest they prefer we think for ourselves, because that is what many of them did. They probably had an opinion on almost everything (like we do). But they often confined their opinions to their subject choices.

There isn't any reason why everyone can't have an opinion or point of view that others would be interested in. But people don't express constructive opinions because they don't believe they have any. And that's because they haven't focused on a subject they're intensely interested in. Or they don't have the confidence to share that interest with others. Or maybe they're afraid people will steal their ideas.

Taking quotes from famous (successful) people is the same as taking ideas from anyone. But ideas and opinions are meant to be shared. Thats what makes people successful. Even the secret genius will never be remembered, because he didn't share what he thought.

My encouragement; If you have a subject that you want to be known for, begin to share your opinions. If you do it enough, maybe people will be quoting you in the future. But I hope you will encourage them to trust what they think too.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Negative creativity: Creating reasons not to create regularly.

"I wish I could find the time to create".

Have you ever said that. I have many times, but I don't say that as much as I used to. And not because I have more time now. I just decided that its one of my main priorities now.

People tend to put create time into the, "When I've finished everything else, then I'll start that project". What they don't realise, they have just made it their lowest priority. They're waiting until they have nothing else to do. Of course, that hardly ever happens. And when there is nothing urgent to do, then it's relaxation time. "After all, I deserve it". This is what Negative Creativity is. You create reasons not to create what you actually love doing, but fear or subtle guilt tries to justify the endless delay.

We can also let the world create extra resistance for us as well. Some one asks us to help out with something and we say yes. Then we say yes to the next thing, and so on it goes.

Sometimes its as easy as turning on the TV, or checking your phone.

You may still think that you don't have the time to create like you used to, but you have 168 hours a week, just like everyone else that ever lived. All those great innovator had jobs and families. They didn't have a lot of the modern (time saving) conveniences that you have. But they structured their life so they could have daily or regular times specifically set aside for the work that fascinated them.

Your time is very valuable. Its the stuff of life.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Most people are waiting for something good to happen. I don't know why.

People waiting to win a lottery, to get a promotion, to inherit something, to move to a better place, to get a better computer, to get a better job or to retire. But how many of these things happen regularly?

It seems the longer I live, the more I realise that there isn't many reasons to wait (and the more I need to be patient with people).

People are waiting for the perfect idea, the perfect time, the perfect plan, but it's not a perfect world and circumstances are never ideal. You can never be sure you know everything you need to do a new project. Just start. Just create. Learn as you go, and don't wait.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Many do only what they believe they can do. Some do what they believe they can learn to do.

How many time have we not done something just because we didn't know how to do it?

Probably the biggest destinction between people who have accomplished many things and those who haven't, is the willingness to learn alone the way.

At the very least, people who accomplished things thought they knew how to do something, only to discover that the project required things they didn't know. But since they had pasted the point of no return, they learnt it anyway.

But its the "Just start and work out how to do it as I go" people that actually accomplish the most.

Creativity is often about trying things that you haven't done before. Maybe something that no one has done before.

So to be highly creative, you need to believe that there is always a way, always a solution, always an answer just waiting to be found. And often its just like that. Often people don't find the answer until they go looking for it. Often, I find multiple options.

So never say, "I can't do it because I don't know how". Say instead, "I don't know how to do it but I know I'll find a way". You might even find a way that no one has ever discovered.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Don't let a creative project get too big. You might see yourself too small to finish it.

It's easy to imagine yourself doing a major work. To make a grand statement. An idea so big, it's sure to capture attention.

We look at the Eiffel Tower or Mt Rushmore or the Sistine Chapel and wonder if we could ever accomplish something as big as that.

An Architect who dreams of doing a building that will be the icon building of a whole city.

An inventor who dreams of presenting an innovation that will change the way the world works.

Or a Composer or Artist who hopes to complete a project that becomes the defining work of their generation.

Call it ambition. Call it Vision. We all have something in us that dares to dream of doing something big.

But even projects that seem modest in comparison can end up becoming a huge commitment. Sometimes we just didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.

If we understand better how our relationship to a project changes from it's beginning to the end, we might look at the creative process more clearly.

We typically begin with an idea that excites us. We're keen to get started. We do some basic planning. We organise what we think we need. Then we begin. Everything is going along smoothly. We're making good progress. Then we're two thirds finished, we discover that we needed to think about things that we hadn't anticipated, or we decide that we need to add something extra. Either an extension to the original design or some details we think the project needs.

But this time, ideas for other projects are making their impatient voices heard. But the project itself is presenting some technical challenges, (since most projects typically begin creative and become more technical towards the end).

Then what can happen, people can loose sight of the end. As the saying goes, "People fail because they gave up not knowing how close they were to the end".

I also read that it can take half the time to finish the last 5% of a project. This is often something that people don't allow for. Creating a new website can be like that. Getting every link to work as it should took me half the time it took to design the whole website.

Another thing that can happen is, a project rarely turns out exactly like the original vision. Even though it looks great, it still looks different than expected. This can be a problem if you expect real life to match your imagination every time. But just enjoy the process of creating, and most of all, enjoy the final result. Remember, what looks less than perfect to you will look fantastic to everyone else.

I'm not saying you should forget your grand plans. Just plan them better. Keep each step clear and as simple as possible. Get help with the technical details, that other people are naturally good at. And keep sight on the end.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Creative heros followed their ideas into unknown territory.

We all start off with an idea worth exploring. Over the years we realise that these ideas almost always lead to things that weren't planned. A lot of happy accidents, unexpected results and serendipity.

But almost always, those ideas lead us into unknown territory. This isn't a place that most people are prepared to go. It wasn't part of the plan. It requires knowledge, skills, effort & time that wasn't budgeted for.

This is often the point where people are tempted to abandon an idea, even if they believe it had some potential. But like all good ideas; they're not the easy option.

Those creative heroes that did achieve great things, where prepared to follow their ideas where ever they would lead, because they showed a glimpse of promise. A promise of something better. I theory that had to be tested, no matter if the theory was accurate or not. They knew that an interesting but unintended result was as good as the result first imagined. Imagination is so important, but sometimes it's the things they didn't imagine that became their biggest ideas.

(For the confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Creative courage begins when you fear mediocrity.

Courage is seen as a strength, but often it can be just avoiding the things we fear.

Those things we want no part of. For me, it's the fear of Mediocrity. The fear of just being average. Of being just like a lot of people I've meet or worked with. The one's that want a safe, predictable life but always fear they will loose their job.

Mediocrity doesn't think for itself. It wants to look better than the next guy, by making you look bad. It has a standard pattern of responses to everything. It complains endlessly about who got more crumbs than them & why they should get more. They want to be defined by the way they look rather by what they do. Mediocrity hopes for a more comfortable version of average.

These are the things that I'm afraid of. I don't want to be that. I want to be more, even if I have to rely on myself more. Instead of relying on being liked for beginning more alike.

Mediocrity is average, average is predictable, predictable is boring. I want life to be full of surprises. I want to surprise myself sometimes. I want to be surprised by unexpected success in every area of my life.

(For confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

"COUUURAGE, YARRRRHH" Ah, I feel better now.

Creativity is another word for courage.

I can understand that, because a creative person who attempts untried things on a regular basis, wouldn't do it if he didn't have some courage. Particularly if he's sensitive to things around him and in him, like many creative people are.

What is considered courageous? The willingness to fight for an idea despite your fears. Doing something you haven't done before. Doing something no one has done before. Proceeding despite getting hurt or being hurt in the past. Risking the resources that an untried project requires. Facing the prospect people won't encourage or understand what you're trying to do. Or just believing that you may not have what it takes to make it a reality.

The important thing to remember is, most of these things are imagined fears. Often the opposite things happen; You idea will be accepted somewhere, You will learn a lot in the process. Your investment in time, money & resources have a better chance of paying off, than if you just did the safe thing. If you share your enthusiasm about your vision with others, some will want to help you.

No one knows their own future but those who have the courage to create the future they want, will most likely enjoy just that.

(For confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Believe in your potential, then it can be revealed to you.

It's very hard to see a potential you don't believe you have.

I've been fortunate enough to have always believed I had potential. Even when I was very young, and despite some difficult years. I had a believe in my own potential, even though I didn't know how it would look. Sometimes I thought I knew, then I would go in another direction. I would try something new and I'd have to re-imagine what my future might look like. Maybe that's what potential is; The ability to keep moving. But the nature of my potential is being revealed to me all the time. With every new medium I try, I learn something about myself.

When I draw, I'm imaginative. When I'm curious about I new subject, I'm persistent. When I write, I'm conceptual. Different activities bring out different aspects of who I enjoy being.

But our true & highest potential is revealed when we combine those things we enjoy. When talents, ideas, & dreams combine.

(For confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

A house fire can stop your progress for a year, self doubt can stop you for a decade.

Self doubt is the triumph of the inner critic.

I've watch many movies were the hero is battling with his arch enemy. The hero is winning a few battles then there's that common scene when the hero is stopped in his tracks; He's experiencing a moment of self doubt. Something he has ignored up till then has finally hit him in his moment of trial.

These moments of self doubt can be triggered by many things:

Seeds of doubt sown:

Some one had said or done something that has caused you to doubt your abilities, motivations or potential.

Doubt of comparison:

You've looked at the accomplishments of others & thought that you could never equal or exceed what they have done.

Doubts about doing new things:

Life is (or should be) about learning new things, trying new things and experiencing new things. With that comes the thoughts that you may not be able to learn what you feel you need to learn. Or, if you attempt new things, you might fail or be hurt in some way. Or a new experience won't be pleasant or beneficial.

Doubts are mainly about survival. Surviving a situation or a process. Doubts are the way we question the possibility that we may be worse off if we try something new. We reason that trying something could make us vulnerable professionally, socially, financially or physically.

This survival instinct is there for our benefit but past experiences can distort it to the point that it actually makes survival difficult. As the old saying goes, "You have to take the good with the bad". Meaning, there's a lot of good things out there, but we need to accept that experiencing some of the bad is just a normal part of life. For every good thing, there's also a fear (no matter how small) that the same thing might not work out as first hoped. Even if later that fear proved to be unnecessary.

When we realise that doing new things are critical for our physical, emotional, psychological, relational, professional and financial survival, we will be more likely to make the attempt.

(For confidence & courage series)

Steve writes & coaches about Creative & Career Development

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Your only duty is to do what you are uniquely made to do.

Many times I wanted to do two completely opposite things at the same time. I had the enthusiasm but no process for making decisions. The only constant I had, was my desire to be creative, but again, doing what? So many options, so little time to explore them. The real problem was, I didn't know how I was made.

Plus I had responsibilities to be at places at certain times, and to do things I didn't care for. I needed to work.

'Duty' is a concept that can take over your whole life if you let it. At least, having a sense of duty.

The Chinese seem to have a strong concept of Duty built into their culture. Many children have a duty to go and work in a factory hundreds of kilometres aways so they can send some money back to help support their parents. Often only seeing there family once a year. Its hard for me to imagine having this expectation places on me.

I watched a documentary about a chinese family where the adult children organised a birthday party for their mother at a restaurant. The mother didn't smile once the whole night. She probably thought that it was her children's duty to honour her as a thank you for raising them.

I went to a Chinese wedding like that. The new mother in law didn't smile all day.

I went to a chinese restaurant once. After the meal I told the waiter that the food was excellent. He look at me and said. "Thank you, It's our duty".

In a western culture, we have a different relationship to Duty. Its more of a volunteer thing. We give ourselves in duty to the country or serve as a trained protector of the community.

We all have a duty of care to our family & people who need our help, but apart from that, our main duty is to do what we are uniquely made to do. To use our talents that we have to the best standard we can. To only work in areas that are compatible with our personality, and to make the dream in us come true. Anything more than that just complicates life.

For the choices series(decisions & wisdom)

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

You don't really expect to get it, if you resent people who already got it.

It's interesting to listen to people talking about rich, famous or successful people. Especially hearing there theories on what they must have done to get where they are. Some say they are just lucky. Or had the right education, had family connections, must have been the boys club, must have lied & cheated their way to the top, must have been power hungry or greedy, must have stolen that idea, must have ripped people off, must have made a secret deal, or must have squashed the competition.

In all these theories, they assume that the person didn't deserve to be successful on a professional level for some reason. So they resent the fact that those people made it & they haven't.

But everyone hopes to find success in their life. They probably want the same things for themselves.

If you believe that success isn't deserved by people who have it, then how can you expect to be successful yourself?

The truth is, a lot of successful people got to where they are through years of hard work, sacrifice and dedication to their role in life. You can too.

For the choices series(decisions & wisdom)

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

You can't create your own truth, but you can create from what is true about you.

There are a lot of philosophies out there. It's been like that since the ancient Greeks.

To make things more complicated, there are many mixtures of these philosophies. Then you get trends & cycles where similar philosophies reappear every few years or so.

Some people probably say to themselves, "I don't know what the truth is, I'm just going to create my own truth". So they take the position that truth is relative, my truth is true for me and your truth is true for you. (That in it's self is a philosophy).

Truth is a sensitive subject for some people, because truth has become 'my truth' and 'your truth'. And who's to say that 'your truth' is better than 'my truth'. You see the problem?

But there's a big difference between 'creating your truth', and 'Creating a life from what is true about you'.

 There are things that are true about you that you didn't create. You didn't decide on a lot of things that make up who you are. We are a combination of natural ability, personality & education. We live in an environment that is a combination of economy, climate and culture. How we choose to combine these internal and external factors, becomes the life we create for ourselves. We create from what is true about us.

For the choices series(decisions & wisdom)

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

Never let admiration turn into envy.

We live in a society that admires only a few professions more than all the others, and admires only the top 5% of people working in those professions.

They're easy to admire. Everyone else does. They're the actors & musicians and other entertainers. We admire their work. We admire their popularity. We admire their success. We admire their wealth. So most people only admire 25% of who they are.

Then we look at our life. We find ourselves in the "Everyone else" basket.

But when we start to admire the success more than their work, envy creeps in. We know they are ridiculously over payed for what they do, but we still can't help comparing ourslives to theres.

We can start to resent the grossly uneven distribution of rewards that are given.

But envy is a barrier to self-discovery and work satisfaction. If we know the work we love to do, & we can see it going somewhere, then that is the real success.

For the choices series (decisions & wisdom)

You can find Steve at: www.ineedtocreate.com

You wouldn't criticise or ignore a child that shows you his artwork. But we do that to the artist within

Many time one of my children would come up to me with a piece of artwork they had just done. Every time I would take the time to say how beautiful it is. I would never criticise it or ignore them. Even when I was busy, I would still stop what I was doing and admire their work.

We all have an inner child, who is also an artist. But when our inner child brings us a picture in the form of an idea or concept, we often totally ignore it. Or we are too quick to criticise it.

We can wound ourselves in that way by being too hard on ourselves. We can think, "That can't be any good because I thought of it".

So eventually our inner child stops bring our conscious, rational, adult mind those very ideas that might actually benefit us. You need to see your "childish" ideas as something that can often lead to something much better. We need to be like a good parent to the part of us that needs our protection and attention.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

We're not born with choices but some continue to believe they don't have any.

"We can't choose the life we're born into but eventually we can choose to create the life we want".

None of us got to choose which family we were born into.

Some people are luckier than others when it comes to the circumstances of their birth.

For most people, they remember their humble beginnings. You can only hope that you were loved and provided for as best as was possible.

My own childhood was less than ideal. But it is safe to say, I was at a distinct disadvantage from day one. I was healthy but beyond that, I had a lot of hard lessons to learn about this world.

Of course, I'm not alone in this. Many grow up knowing they have little or no choice about how they were raised.

If you are lucky enough to survive your childhood in one piece, you may well look back and think that IS life. Many people grow into adults, believing that they still have no choices about their life.

For a long time I believed this as well.

Many young adults either haven't learnt to make good decisions or they made decisions that actually made it harder to make other decisions that would give them a better future.

What I want everyone to know is, they have more choices to do the work they love than in any time in history. We all have more choices than we realise. The world is a big place, but its big in a good way. It's full of opportunities for those that choose to look for them or create them.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

Yes, we are all born creative. It's just that we are all creative in different ways.

So many people look at creativity as a very narrow definition. They say to themselves that they aren't creative. Meaning, they can't draw, can't sing, can't play music, can't write books and can't act.

Firstly, I believe that most people can do at least one of these with a little direction. Most people have a hidden talent for something, even if they think they don't.

People don't think they have a natural talent for something, generally they look at well known creative people and think they aren't like them. So they assume they don't have any talent at all.

But we are all born creative. Often the most creative thing anyone has ever done is to combine two things that they were interested in. That way they became creative in a highly original way.

Our different  personalities define the different ways we choose to create, and the different areas we are attracted to. People approach problems and tasks differently. Some focus on every detail. Some focus on multiple solutions. Some focus on how best to meet the needs of people. Some work best in groups and some like to do most of their work in solitude.

When you know your personality better, you will know that you are creative, just creative in your own way.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

We're not born with choices but some continue to believe they don't have any.

"We can't choose the life we're born into but eventually we can choose to create the life we want".

None of us got to choose which family we were born into.

Some people are luckier than others when it comes to the circumstances of their birth.

For most people, they remember their humble beginnings. You can only hope that you were loved and provided for as best as was possible.

My own childhood was less than ideal. But it is safe to say, I was at a distinct disadvantage from day one. I was healthy but beyond that, I had a lot of hard lessons to learn about this world.

Of course, I'm not alone in this. Many grow up knowing they have little or no choice about how they were raised.

If you are lucky enough to survive your childhood in one piece, you may well look back and think that IS life. Many people grow into adults, believing that they still have no choices about their life.

For a long time I believed this as well.

Many young adults either haven't learnt to make good decisions or they made decisions that actually made it harder to make other decisions that would give them a better future.

What I want everyone to know is, they have more choices to do the work they love than in any time in history. We all have more choices than we realise. The world is a big place, but its big in a good way. It's full of opportunities for those that choose to look for them or create them.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

We all have personal highlights, things we have done that are signposts to an ideal future

Everyone can look back into their childhood and remember something they did that they wouldn't mind doing again in some form now.

Too often people grow up and quickly lose their way. They vaguely remember those good days when they created something that made it a personal highlight. But too few people look at those early highlights as sign-posts for the future.

In those events, were a good clue to a great future. If you had parents that recorded these highlights, it makes it easier to remember what they all were. But they may be the same things you daydream about today.

Thats why it's always good to record your own highlights, because they are some of the signposts that reveal your personality, talents and dreams.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

A successful artist remembers their child-like play & curiosity.

It's a good exercise to look back at your childhood and remember the things you loved to do. Was it visual art or music or acting or writing?  Was it organising or helping others?

There was something you did naturally and willingly.

How you played tells you something about yourself. What you were most curious about tells you something about the way you're wired.

Some of the most fundamental things about yourself reveal themselves at an early age. Too often those things are left far behind, never given another thought. But if you rewind to those early times, you find a few surprises.

Once you've been there, bring back what you've learnt. Use it as a foundation on which to plan your ideal work. You can draw a lot of inspiration from your past, without wishing you were back their again. Create your future. Imagining what future you want is as powerful as remembering the things that revealed who you are today.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

So many of the worlds children are victims of an early adulthood.

It's hard to imagine from a western perspective how quickly many childhoods are finished before they are even a teenager. So many children have to work to survive. Carry wood, carry water or carry rubbish just so they have a chance to have their one meal for the day.

So many get married off early, or have to work in factories or on farms. They are lucky if they get to go to school for a few years. They are victims of an early adulthood.

It's generally not as bad in advanced economies but that doesn't mean that kids don't get to be kids.

There are many kids that don't have time to play. Meaning that they can't explore roles that they might love. Some get a part time job after school, and end up leaving school early.

Every child that stays in school is a child that will be more prepared for a life as an adult. And they can be more prepared to look after the next generation.

You may not have been prepared for adulthood either, but you can prepared yourself for the next stage of your adult life. Stay in the school of life. Stay curious. Learn what interests you. Become an expert in one area. Even if you dropped out of school, you don't have to drop out in life.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

School kids already telling my kids, "You can't really do that". No wonder people don't trust their talents.

I child seems to be born believing that they can either do something, or they can do it when they grow up.

Every young child believe they can draw. According to a survey, as they get older, the kids that believe they can draw becomes less and less. Which is okay if that belief is replaced with a belief that they are good at something else. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

Instead, they begin to believe, they can't really do anything. This can continue for the rest of their life.

It seems that to be great at anything, people have to ignore the seeds of doubt that other people sown into their lives.

If your love to make or play or design or organise. Or help or run or understand, then that is what you're really meant do.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

People think, "I used to be creative", but it's still there, sleeping.

The most common thing people say about creativity is, "I used to be creative, but not any more".

Or, "I'm not creative, not like other people".

It widely accepted now that we are all born creative. It part of being human. It's how we make sense of world. Even normal conversation is a creative activity.

But over time we are subjected to a steady flow of social messages that encourage us to think less for ourselves, to go along with what the group wants, or to imitate someone else so you can be more popular. All the opposites of creativity.

People also think that creativity is just artistic. They're not an artist, singer or musician, so they "not creative".

After a while creativity goes into an uneasy sleep. It doesn't die. It just retreats inside us and dreams. Those dreams show themselves as our daydreams. We actually daydream all the time. Most people just don't take any notice of them. But that is our creative identity communicating with us.

When we begin to take our daydreams seriously, our creativity wakes up again and helps us to make it real.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com

My daughter told a kid at school she's learning the clarinet. Kid said, "You don't look like a clarinet player".

When my daughter told me this, I laughed, but then I thought about it a bit. Then I was a little disturbed.

It turned out that this kid wasn't getting alone with my daughter so he wanted her to feel like she wasn't the type to play the clarinet (what ever that is).

But this often subtle social influence to blend in, conform, or go with the crowd, becomes the normal thing to do at a curtain age. The very opposite of being creative. Instead of enjoying the challenge of trying new and interesting things, kids are encouraged to become normalised & socialised to the point that they don't know who they are anymore.

This starts early but it doesn't really stop. Adults can find themselves doing work that is totally unfulfilling just because they were 'encouraged' to follow the more well worn paths. Even if they are earning a good income, they still feel trapped by their profession.

My daughter's biggest fear is playing her clarinet in front of the other school kids. It will happen one day, but I'll need to help her to do what she loves doing, even if others think she shouldn't.

For the 'being born creative' series (childhood creativity)

You can find Steve at www.ineedtocreate.com