I don’t know about you, but I’m experiencing some serious spring fever. Longer days, my garden in bloom, and an unusual sunny streak (for Seattle) has something to do with it, as I’m sure does the fact that I spent last week in NYC where I lived during my twenties and still feels very much like home to me. (That’s a pic of me and my boy at the Bronx Zoo.)
Since last week, I’ve been overcome by excitement about the many things I want to do and create. Even better, I feel like I might just have the energy to get (half of) them done.
But I’ve been here before — I get all pumped up about new possibilities and new projects and then one little thing happens (or more appropriately, doesn’t happen) and I get completely derailed.
I have a bad day with my son or a rainy cold front blows in or something I’m developing gets quashed and suddenly I’m back to square one, my energy and momentum gone and my mindset ripe for thoughts of insecurity and doubt.
I know it’s part of the cycle for creative entrepreneurs, but it still takes getting through.
But during this bout of spring fever, I’m going to try doing things a little differently…see if I can make some genuine shifts in my work and energy that can weather me through all the seasons. Here’s my plan:
- More action now, less To Do lists: I love to organize my work and desk and often that means spending time going through my pile and making detailed lists and notes outlining what has to be done for each task. Meanwhile, I could probably just do it in about 5 minutes and be done with it. So I’m going to do more of that.
- Spend less time on Facebook: Now, I love me some Facebook and the community I interact with online is important to me, but I’m going to try and strike a better balance. I’m a research junkie and a five-minute check-in on Facebook can turn into a long trip down the rabbit hole reading articles and following links that are of interest, so setting my timer will be key.
- Focus on gratitude: I’ve been taking a 30-day gratitude course that Florence Moyer created to help people nurture a more intentional gratitude practice. I’m a week in and enjoying the daily reminder to notice all that I’m grateful for, and I can see shifts in keeping me in the present and not so focused on the outcome of what I’m creating.This is a good thing.
- Be curious: A curiosity mindset is so, so, so powerful. Curiosity means a desire to know or learn something. Curiosity makes everything — every project, every risk, every idea — about growth and evolving, not about money or jobs or sure things. There are no good or bad outcomes when focusing on curiosity — there’s only information.
- Think less: Thinking gets me into trouble. Thinking reminds me of what could go wrong, or why something isn’t going to work out, or why my idea might be a bad one. Thinking keeps me from taking creative risks and pursuing opportunities that could be amazing because I might create something that completely sucks. Which leads me to….
- Be willing to suck: There’s nothing wrong with sucking. We’ve just dust ourselves off, look at what we learned from what happened, and move on. Without being willing to suck, we’ll never create the really good stuff.
- Play more: I know I need to do things I love to stay energized, so I’m going to protect my personal self-care routines more than ever. That includes running, gardening, spazzing out, and napping when the urge strikes.
So, that’s the plan. I’ll let you know how it goes. And in the meantime, I’d love to hear from you: How do you maintain your creative spring fever?