Yesterday I heard a sad statistic: by the end of January more than half of us will have dropped our New Year resolutions. Sigh.
I get it. Change is hard.
So how do you support yourself in holding to your goals? Especially, when your goals are in the creative realm–perhaps more discretionary than goals such as ‘manage my money’ or ‘lose weight so I don’t get diabetes’.
First, I recommend accepting the fact that change is difficult and you may take a few runs at it. So what? Each repeated effort does increase learning and the likelihood of change over time.
Second, accept that working with your creativity requires structure. Here are some ways to create structure for yourself:
Make an external commitment. Writing in your journal or telling a friend is good. But what if you book a commission or commit to a presentation? I’ve promised a weekly newsletter and you can bet I won’t be backing off that. When you promise something to others it’s somehow more compelling than an internal promise.
Get a coach. Of course, I would love for you to hire me as your Kaizen-Muse coach (specialized coaching for the creatively rebellious–see Building Blocks). But you can also find a peer coach. I have a dear friend who is my peer coach. She and I have worked together and she knows how to keep me focused. Best of all, she does it with gentleness and imagination (love you Arden!). For starters, meet every other week and alternate roles.
Track yourself. They used to say at Intel that everything can be measured. I used to say, “Whatever.” But over time, I came to appreciate the value of noticing progress. Today, take a little census of your status quo. Measure your body, your mood, your bank account. Because, the Intel engineers were right: what gets measured gets done. Then review your progress with your coach 
Finally, if you haven’t made any resolutions (you Rebel) you may enjoy this charming workbook. I downloaded it over the weekend and it’s much more fun than a spreadsheet.
So pursue your creative goals.
Pursue your mundane goals with creativity.
Go Tiger! You can do it! I’m rooting for you!
Dateline: January 2, 2010
01022010
Notice anything? That’s right–today’s date is a palindrome!
The New Year brings a little fun for math fans besides calculating bowl game odds, with Jan. 2, 2010 being a “palindrome” date.
Palindrome words read the same backwards and forwards, such as “racecar” or “kayak.” Palindrome dates, such as 01-02-2010, 01022010, are reversible too, says engineering professor Aziz Inan of the University of Portland (Ore.)
“Palindrome dates are a fascinating subject for those who have (an) interest in popular or recreational mathematics,” says Inan, a noted collector of numerical dates. The last palindrome date was October 2, 2001 (10022001), and the next one falls November 2, 2011 (11022011), with a total of 12 such dates falling in this century. (source)
Anyone for some ‘recreational mathematics’?
I wish all of you the happiest of years in 2010. Let’s have fun, do some good and take notice more often.
Ta Ta 2009
Last night we said adieu to the passing year with a yummy meal at Ned Ludd and dancing with the Fun Gals. That’s right, 80’s dancing at the Wonder Ballroom. Oh, I did love the 80’s (thanks for the disco beret K!). We walked home under a lush, full moon (a blue moon–very auspicious) and I was happy.
If you haven’t appreciated the past year I encourage you to take a couple of minutes. Good work to do.
Begin as You Mean to Go
By now you may have a good idea of what you most would like to see come true in 2010. I recommend beginning this first day with a literal or symbolic step toward each goal. For instance:
- if you want to watch less TV–watch less TV
- if you want to spend more time with friends and family, go spend some time with some dear
- if you want world peace, say a prayer and make a contribution
- if you want to be healthier take a short walk
- if you want to be more organized, clean a drawer or recycle some files
- if you want to draw more make a tiny drawing or order some yummy art supplies
Explore how you can fit a tiny step of each of your top ten into this day. It is a powerful gesture.
And now, I’m off to make some Hoppin’ John for good luck.
By now you’ve created your mindmap or lists or whatever you wanted to do to capture 1) accomplishments of the past year and 2) the aspirations for the new year. If not, here’s a handy little Planning Booklet I used a few years ago.
Now it’s time to ANALYZE.
The notion of ‘analysis’ sometimes sets off alarm bells in the creative person. Analysis doesn’t sound creative! Ah, but it is My Friend. Evaluating and Choosing are central to the creative process.
Here’s one method to create some focus:
- Look at everything you’ve written on your Past Year map. Circle 5 that bring you the most satisfaction. You can use any criteria you like…the most difficult/breakthrough. the most fun, the ones that connect to your deepest values. Anything. Just choose FIVE.
- Then look at these five. What do you notice? How might these top five inform your choices for the coming year?
- Now look at everything on your New Year map. Choose TEN. Again, apply any criteria you like to choose your ten.
- Write each of these aspirations on a notecard or a slip of paper. Ten pieces of paper.
- Array them and take a deep breath. This is a good time to tap your intuition and follow those ideas that have the most juice for you. As you read each one, what raises your energy a little more?
- Next you’re going to pile them up. Of these ten, which is at the bottom of the list? Which is at the top? Which is second from the bottom? Second from the top? And so on.
You now have a prioritized list of your top goals for the coming year.
What Next?
Incubate on this list for a couple of nights. Reread your notecards before you go to sleep tonight and let your unconscious play with the ideas. In my next post I’ll discuss how to support the process of actually DOING something with your dreams.
Last week I posted an exercise to do a quick temperature check on the level of Enjoyment in your Life. This week is all about Diverging in order to get to the things you REALLY want to do in 2010.
Looking Back
For the past few weeks I have been making mindmaps as part of my year-end creative planning. Check out this post if you haven’t used mindmaps before.
As I think about the past year I start with some categories to help me generate the items. This year I am working with:
- Fun
- Health
- Home
- Work
- Friends and Family
- Personal Development
- Creative Projects
I simply draw the stems and note accomplishments or events that fit in the bucket.
Now, you may ask, “Why bother? The year is over. Why look back?” And here is how I would answer:
1) Take Credit. Some years, I have come to the end of the year with the feeling that I haven’t done much. When I begin listing I notice that, in fact, every year is full of something. I like to give myself credit for what I did–even when the accomplishments weren’t foreseen.
2) Notice the Buckets. Some years my buckets are really uneven. For a few years I neglected my Health. Other years the Fun bucket has been really jammed while the Work bucket was a little light. This activity helps me to recalibrate.
3) The Power of Reflection. If you are a person with a ‘bias-for-action’ it is useful to spend a little time in reflection. Does this map reflect how you want to spend your time?
4) Remember the Good Times. I just like the simple snapshot that this activity gives me.
Looking Forward
At the same time I am building my mindmap for the past year I am generating ideas for the coming year. Notice I wrote, “Ideas”. This is a Brainwriting activity…not The Plan. These are things I might do. So go for it! List anything you might choose to do. Use the same categories or build up some new ones. Maybe you want to take some risks in 2010. Create a stem for Daring Deeds. Or maybe you want to Get Organized–add that to your map. Remember it’s your map and it’s just another step along the way.
In my next post I’ll describe some ways to Converge on The Plan. Until then, have fun imagining a great 2010!
Just look at the words: a map….of your mind. Awesome!
Mindmapping is a tool to get your ideas out, organize your thinking and get visual with your thoughts. Wikipedia has an excellent page about this technique so I encourage you to enjoy a much broader explanation here.
Why Map?
Maps help me to capture a lot of ideas quickly. When I am designing a workshop or client engagement I always begin with a mindmap. The process tends to expand my thinking in a way that simple listing does not.
MindMap Formats
I tend not to get fancy on my own maps. I keep them in my journal and add to them as thoughts occur. However, I do occasionally use mindmapping software. There are two I like:
Inspiration. This company has been around for years and they keep improving the software. They are based in Oregon so I can support the local economy. My favorite feature is the toggle between the mindmap graphic format to the Outline format. Very efficient.
FreeMind. The best thing about FreeMind is that is actually is free. Yup. Open source and free. I have less experience with it but I am playing with it now because it has some sophisticated features such as ‘folding’ and easy linking. I’m planning on running a FreeMind Map for my 2010 Business Plan.
If mindmapping intrigues you I encourage you to explore the tool. There are MANY resources online. The learning curve on new software is probably worth it for more complex tracking. And good old-fashioned paper is instant and satisfying–especially if you use colored markers!
If you have not completed Creative Planning Activity #1 you might want to do that first. Once you’ve listed your twenty things download this worksheet to complete the exercise: TwentyThings part two
After you’ve answered the questions look for patterns.
- Are you indulging in your favorite activities often enough?
- Do all your favorites require enormous planning that can stall you?
- Do you need others to have fun?
The first time I did this exercise I was quite smug. I had a nice variety in all the columns and I was enjoying myself regularly. Then I got to the last column–all my favorites were OLD standbys. I hadn’t picked up a new activity in years. Which kind of surprised me. It gave me some insight to patterns that were keeping me in a rut, creatively speaking.
From this activity you might come to a few new goals to add to the fodder of your Creative Planning for 2010.
“An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young” -Oscar Wilde
Here is a simple exercise to get you started on your 2010 creative planning process.
In the next post I’ll tell you what to do with it….
