In Your Success Zone Blog

Venturing into the Dark Forest - and Back Again

About 4 months ago, I embarked on "discovering my brand" so that I could serve more Creative Entrepreneurs with my services and products. I began working with a brilliant small business and branding consultant named Whitney Greer. Little did I know what a creative and confronting process this would be!

To me "discovering my brand" is another phrase for going into the "Dark Forest of the Unknown". There are reasons that I haven't gone there before.

Thank goodness Whitney HAS been into the Dark Forest with others before and knows how to get me back home at the end of each conversation. She gives me exercises to do each week and helps me see beyond my blind spots into clarity.

She recently described her process as helping people realize what they do well and talk about it clearly so that it communicates effectively to others. What a gift it is to be seen and valued!

Now that we are fairly deep into the branding process and my "core messages" are becoming clearer, I am stepping up to owning them. I have faced challenges of 

• the fear of being seen and known for my true self,
• clinging to limiting definitions of myself from the past, and  
• judging myself for past disappointments.

As I face these challenges through working with Whitney and on my own to reprogram my limiting beliefs, I find that I

• know more about myself and my work,
• feel more confident about sharing my work with others, and
• am developing some good ideas about how to go about doing that sharing. 

My branding journey perfectly describes the process of being a Creative Entrepreneur - setting off on a journey into an unexplored land; facing challenges with creative instincts; experiencing confusion and doubting success, but perservering anyway; and finally seeing the end goal within reach! 

Here's to each of you who uses your creativity every day in your work and life. I salute your courage, strength, and stamina. Journey on, Creative Entrepreneur!

Architects Take Flying Leap of Creativity

 

The principals of DillerScofidio+Renfro, an innovative and "in the news" architecture firm in New York talked recently to Charlie Rose about their creative process. 

They have completed the Instititute for Contemporary Art on Boston Harbor, a redesign of Alice Tully Hall and the Julliard School at Lincoln Center in New York, and a portion of the new Flyway Park on the Hudson River, also in NYC.

When talking about the Blur Building (pictured above) which the firm designed and built in Switzerland in 2002, principals Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio admitted that they wanted to build a cloud. They didn't know how to do that but did their research and eventually built a building "without a skin" (no walls) and 35,000 water jets that disburse fine water spray to create an "inhabitable cloud" on Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland. They also designed a "Braincoat" to help visitors navigate the cloud of fog.

Scofidio explained that they come up with the idea of the space and impact they want to create and then figure out how to execute it. Diller says that it's like jumping off a cliff without a parachute.

Obviously, they are doing something right because not only have they won the first MacArthur (Genius) Award for Architecture, they are becoming well known in international design circles as creative thinkers who use space and building materials to make a statement, create a mood, and invite people into conversation.

In this interview these audacious creatives have described the creative process perfectly - having a vision, taking a leap, figuring out "how" by fits and starts, and landing on your feet in a brand new place. Brava!

Am I a Loser If ... ?

I had a conversation yesterday with an accomplished and brilliant business woman whom I'll call "Mary". She is changing direction from consulting with major corporations to a more entrepreneurial venture of working with individual professionals.

This move is by choice as Mary matures and her interests evolve. She is listening more closely to her passions than to the "have to's" of her younger professional life.

Mary called to discuss a decision about spending money on her new logo and corporate brand. The amount she was talking about is reasonable for professional graphic design. In her past incarnation, the designer's fee would have been a fraction of her anticipated income from corporate clients.

But now her income is not yet certain and her startup resources are finite.In this context the designer's fee represents a big commitment. She said, "In the past, I would have just spent the money. But now I want to make sure this is the best decision for me and my new business. I just don't want to look like a loser." 

What I heard was, "Will I be a loser if I don't spend this money this way?"

In a word, "NO!" 

I responded to Mary that finding another way to get a quality business identity would definitely be in her best interest at this point in her new business. We discussed her options, and she thought of some other options to pursue. 

Our conversation reminded me how easy it is for a Creative Entrepreneur to doubt herself - to take her measure and come up wanting. I find this is a common theme for all the Creative Entrepreneurs I work with, including myself! What's the antidote?

Here are some simple suggestions:

1. Back off the comparisons - with others and with "how it used to be"
2. Remind yourself that you are creative and will find a way to solve the problem in front of you 
3. Realize that business is a progression of challenges - unless you've got them, you aren't in business! 

If you are a Creative, you aren't a loser. You just haven't created the resolution to your present challenge - YET! Get to Creating!

Creating from Nothing

A Man Named Pearl is a documentary film about Pearl Fryar of Bishopsville, SC. For 15 years he has been growing a garden of plants discarded by the local nursery and shaping them into topiary that attract visitors from all over the world.

When he began, Pearl was not a gardener, horticulturist, or trained in topiary sculpture, yet this is what he has become through his vision and his passion for his garden.

Pearl came from humble beginnings. He is African-American and the son of sharecroppers. He wanted his garden to be awarded "Garden of the Month" by the local garden club. No black gardener had ever won "Garden of the Month" in Bishopville before. 

That didn't stop Pearl. He worked tirelessly after work every night to train and clip his shrubbery and trees into beautiful sculptural shapes. It took 2 years before one bush had grown enough to be shaped into his first topiary. Today his 3 acres is a lush, peaceful garden of sculptured plants born from his creative imagination. 

Bus tours and school groups come to visit Pearl and his garden. He has been in national magazines and on 60 Minutes, the SC Museum of Art owns one of his topiaries, and the town of Bishopville has planted the downtown traffic median with 8 of his topiary to draw more tourists to the small town. Horticulurists wonder at what he has accomplished because they have never seen anything like Pearl's garden before. 

Pearl continues creating his living sculptures and remembers where he came from. He is particularly committed to encouraging young people to believe in themselves and live into their dreams. He has seen what a vision and committed action has done in his garden. That's what he shares with the world. To learn more visit his website HERE.

Can Pearl Fryar inspire you? What will you are envisioning for 2009? What can you "create from nothing" this year? 

Resolutions or Intentions to Create?

 

It's that time again! Making up the list of Resolutions for the New Year is as much a part of the holiday  season as parties, gifts, and reconnecting with family and friends.

Well, I'm not doing it. I'm not making a Resolutions list any more - it's too durn much like going on a diet - which is almost always on everyone's Resolutions list and gets shuttled by the end of January. 

Nope, I'm making a "What I Intend to Create in 2009" list. It just is more fun and inviting. And I know I will actually do what is on that list.

As I look back on my Intentions to Create list from 2008, I find I have achieved everyone of my intentions. On my (very short on purpose) list were

1. I write daily
2. I love myself and others 
3. I actively engage in my life  

I didn't know how these intentions would show up or what I would have to do to become the person that does these things. But this year Life has offered my opportunities to grow in each of the areas listed. And I have found ways to respond so that I am writing, loving, and engaging more now than a year ago.

So I'm upping the ante for 2009 and going bigger. Here's my list of what I Intend to Create in 2009:

1. I am powerful and prosperous 
2. I create and contribute 
3. I love life fully  

Yep, it'll be a stretch, but I know that Life and I will work it out.

How about you? What do you intend to create in 2009? 

Do You Have to Be in Crisis to Be Creative and Productive?

I spoke recently with a client who says she does her best work in a crisis. And she's generated some in her life:

• a major illness (from which she has recovered :),
• an office she reports is so full of books and papers that it distracts her from her work, and 
• avoidance of some business activities that would bring her more income and give her a greater sense of security.

She is not alone in responding mightily to crisis. For myself and many Creative Entrepreneurs I talk with, I find that the drama of crisis can be a great motivator when dreams and aspirations alone cannot. I operated this way for many years, so much so that I often felt I was "running on empty" energetically and emotionally. I'm sure I wasn't always doing my best work.

As I have begun to dismantle FEAR as a primary driver of my actions, I find that certain habits helpful in enhancing my feeling of calm and encouraging my creativity:

• I schedule Laundry Day, Grocery Day, and Exercise Days throughout my week so that my health is taken care of, and I have the strength and stamina to work.I have begun to think of these activities as part of my work instead of distractions I can put off. If I don't feel good, I don't work well. 
• I schedule a time to talk to my Virtual Assistant & Technology Savant weekly so that I keep going on my work on projects and don't let them languish. 
• I schedule in some fun and inspiration every week. Again, I see this as part of my work to manage my energy so I can do and give my best.
• I play with "Time Zones" during my day so that I write, work with clients, respond to email, and attend to business when my energy is most appropriate for each of these tasks. 
• I have said "no" to some activities that I enjoy but have were distracting me from more important things. I know that I can add them back in when my priorities shift.
• I try to do something on my projects, even if it is a small action, every day. This keeps me moving and sometimes helps me get started when the "mountain" of a project seems to big to begin climbing. I am amazed how an action a day adds up!

I admit that managing time and energy as a Creative is a work in progress. I'm often distracted by the next "shiny object" as I love learning and exploring. I do respond to crisis. I let FEAR drive me.

But I'm learning that habits, structured time, and calm can be wonderful foundations for productive creativity. 

How about you? How are you managing your time and energy to serve your creativity?