via Jo Pole

You can achieve more in your life by doing less! Why slave away like all the other chumps out there? You are really special and deserve more than life is giving you. All you have to do is apply my 4-easy-steps program to totally revolutionise your life. It’s virtually effortless! Start TODAY, with 4 easy payments of $29.95 directly to me and by tomorrow you’ll start to feel the difference.

If you think I’m lying, you would be…correct.

Just like all the other scam artists, magicians, hack self-help gurus and attractive informercial hosts out there who want you to believe that you can do as little if not less than what you currently do and have:
Abs
A clean house
Financial security
Nicer hair
A job you love with every inch of your soul
Productive work habits
A smooth hairless body
Complete.and.constant.delirious.happiness.
Instantly!

Sometimes I think the only truly honest product out there is the snuggie. It promises only what it delivers: the ability to watch TV, holding a remote and a baby, while staying warm and fashionable.

Why do so many of us keep buying into this rubbish? Are we so overwhelmed in this crazy world that we’re desperate enough to believe that happiness, peace, sanity and the golden calf of Productivity are just 4 easy steps away? Are all the things you want are just one affirmation session a day away.

The one that blows my mind (and that is grossly misrepresented on the internet) is the idea that you can use subliminal messages to change your behaviour (ie. lose weight, make more money, stop smoking etc). If we are so susceptible to dramatic change purely due to subliminal messages, wouldn’t someone, like say the government or multi-national corporations, use subliminal messages to control our minds? “Look away.” “Vote for me.” “Give all your worldly possession to me.” “Max your credit card out on this luxury car.”  ”Feed your children saturated fat and an obscene amount of sugar packaged in this delightful meal box.” And yet we have the ability to choose… or do we…

We are not robots people, we have free will and no amount of secret messages are going to change the make up of our brains. Lots of people report GREAT outcomes from programs that promise the world in subliminal messages and affirmations. However, people who achieved things through these programs most likely had other things at play; such as a fresh resolve, increased will-power, a clear decision to change things. The “subliminal messages” simply made them more aware of the area that they want to work on. That is, if you are listening to or watching something daily that reminds you that you want to lose weight, you have a good chance of making choices that help you to lose weight – i.e. not rummage through the kitchen like a possessed person until you find that packet of chocolate-chip cookies and then consuming it all, and the bag of chips you found, in a comatose state on your sofa.

I’m not knocking visualisation and affirmations as a practice – I think these habits are a great way to make your mind more productive. However, if you’re just visualising and not doing anything else about it, you are kidding yourself.

It’s not just 4 steps away. That’s just marketing. It takes hard, brutal, sacrificial work to succeed at most things. It’s dozens and hundreds of steps. Everyday.

Okay, okay I admit I have a penchant for melodrama – it’s not that bad. But it’s not easy either. If you expect to achieve results by only doing the things you like when you feel like doing them, you will be disappointed. Talking about it is not enough. Thinking about it is not even hardly close to enough. The greats that went before us and the giants amongst us now work tirelessly doing what they love and doing what we all hate to achieve success.

Now here’s the good news, at last!

You can achieve less than you think you can in 1 month (I know, this is REALLY positive stuff) but you can achieve more than you think in 10 years. Still not impressed? That’s because you’ve been conditioned by our society to believe that if you don’t get it tomorrow or the day after that it’s not worth sticking at.

That belief is what’s making you depressed, it’s what eats away at you, making you feel like you’re not good enough, like you can’t do anything right, like you are potentially the weakest, least talented person on the planet. That’s what’s driving you to quick-fix solutions, that frankly don’t work if you don’t put in the effort and won’t work if you don’t address the deeper mess you’ve got going on.

If you would just lift your head from focussing on all the things you haven’t achieved yet, you would see how unhappy your crazy expectations are making you. Better still, if you gave yourself a break, you could begin to notice what you have achieved so far.

Look at the last 5-10 years of your life. Can you count the good things that have resulted from your decisions and your hard work? Can you remember them? There must be at least one thing you’ve got right. What if you doubled or tripled or quadrupled those achievements in the next 10 years? You don’t even have to work much harder than what you are right now – depending on how much you want to achieve. If you stay consistant, committed, pure hearted and open to improvement, you can and will do so much more than you think is possible.

. via pinger 

So many people want to be great, to drink deeply of life, to achieve their wildest dreams. Sadly, lots of people fail to attain the greatness they were meant for because they freak out and bail on their dreams when life gets complex.

If the word busy comes to mind when you’re asked to recount  your week, then you are like majority of the first world population. The incessant busy-ness of modern society is probably why balance is touted as the holy grail of lifestyle accomplishments. I think balance is a nice idea, but it seems so at odds with ambition.  I think that if you are truly chasing your dreams and the BIG life, you should feel tired at the end of the week. You should feel like you cashed in your allotted time and energy.

The choice is a personal one – some people want balance, some people want to blaze.

The thing is, each of us is given one life. Why are we saving it up, saving up energy, hoarding up time? In withholding these things are we also withholding love and kindness and generosity? You don’t get to spend any of that once your life is over.

On the other hand the more time and energy you give, the more time and energy you have to give. My step-father donates blood every three or so months. He’s done this for the 20 years that I’ve known him. He gives it freely without being reimbursed (unless you count the Red Cross juice and cookies). He can do this because the human body has this incredible ability to replenish it’s supply of blood that is lost (or given). I find the same to be true of time and energy. When you spend or give away from the stores of what you have, you find that you always have more to give. You actually have more than what you would have had (altogether)if you’d just saved it up. And now here’s the truly beautiful thing: not only do you have more time and energy, others have more of your time and energy too.

Of course, rest is important. Of course, blazing can sometimes lead to burn out. Many people think that when they’re tired that they need to stop doing things to save up on their energy. I think burn out happens not because you’re doing a lot, but because you’re not doing enough. Follow me on this one.

When I’m exhausted  or feel like I’m burning out I sometimes have a cry and a big sleep. When I feel a little better I assess what I’m doing in my life that steals my energy and what I’m doing that energises me. Like most normal people I do things for a lot of different reasons. Some things I do are out of duty, some are out of obligation. Some are out of joy and passion, some are for the money and some things are just the straight up boring stuff that is common to all men and women. Most people don’t dump the whole lot as soon as they become unhappy or tired. But most people don’t ever assess what they need to increase their energy and capactiy.

I’ve learned that if I don’t put focussed time into the my “essentials” in any given week I instantly feel the drain. My essentials look like this:

• Quality time alone – to dream, laugh at my own jokes, read, sit, watch at the ocean…
• Quality time with my husband.
• Communing with God – prayer, reading the bible, admiring his creativity…
• Time to write.
• Expressing gratitude – privately and publicly.
• Exercise.
• Quality time with family or close friends.
• Showing love and kindness to others – those close to me and total strangers.

Honestly, sometimes it’s impossible to fit all of that + work + my to-do list into a week. But if I go more than two weeks without just one of these essentials I start to hear VOICES. I’m not kidding. Negative thoughts, whiney complaints, frustration, anguish – it all oozes out of my deflated soul. So I may be doing a lot, but I’m not doing enough to keep myself strong and healthy and sane. The emotional ups and downs do not depend on how much or little I’m “doing” but on how much or little I’m investing into the things that are important to me.

A lot of people use the excuse of “I don’t have the capacity” to shrink back from life. Not having the capacity has little to do with how you’re made, it’s about what you’re willing to change and develop in yourself. If you’re too willing to give up in the heat of the battle, you won’t get very far with your dreams and what you believe in.

Socrates is said to have put it like this:

I would rather die having spoken in my manner, than speak in your manner and live. For neither in war nor yet in law ought any man use every way of escaping death. For often in battle there is no doubt that if a man will throw away his arms, and fall on his knees before his pursuers, he may escape death – if a man is willing to say or do anything. The difficulty is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs deeper than death.

Ouch.

Sometimes we treat living as the most sacred thing, but it’s what we do with life that matters. Really, who wants “She lived” on their tombstone? (Especially if you’re not a female.) 

If you’re doing things that hurt you, that make you miserable or keep you up at night, then yeah go ahead and dump that. But if you care about something, if you want to pursue a dream, if you are called or if you want a life that’s bigger and better than just being comfortable – you will have to learn to increase your capacity for complexity. You will  have to get better at taking care of yourself and investing into the things that energise you.

And if you do things well, if you give to others and give to your passions and give to yourself, you’ll have more energy and capacity than if you’d saved it all up just for yourself. So forget balance. Don’t save up your life; spend it, give it away.  That old fireball Socrates said “a life unexamined is not worth living.” I think a life unspent is no life at all. 

via Tang-Yau-Hoong

You’re blocked. You stare at the blank canvas or page and… nothing. It’s as though somewhere in your mind there’s a huge treasure chest of delicious, sexy, beautiful IDEAS, but it’s locked and you can’t get in. You try to remember where you put the keys, scratching your head like a caricature monkey. You try pleading with the chest to open. You begin to shake it violently until, eventually, you slide down to your knees banging you head on the chest over and over and over and ov… 

Ok, pull yourself out of the fetal position. I’ve got a little trick for you that will guarantee you will never, ever be in this awful awful place again. I’m going to take away all the pain and free you from this eternal suffering. Ok, up you get, take my hand. 

Ready?

Write crap.

Oh, I feel your hand tighten a little. 

Paint rubbish.

You look at me confused, scared.

Design like an amateur.

No, don’t let go just yet. Listen.

Sketch the worst drawings you can. Write a scene for your novel that is so vile, so fake and stiff that the thought of anyone reading it makes you feel a little nauseous. Set a goal to only photograph pugs and awkwardly dressed people for the week. Design a collection to be worn exclusively by David Hasselhoff’s back up dancers in his next comeback tour. Do cliched, do kitsch, oh yes do tacky, corny, repetitious, boring. Create bad, I mean really bad work. If you’re feel ambitious, do the WORST work you are capable of.

I once spent four hours writing a couple of chapters with as many fart metaphors as I could squeeze in (or out, tee hee hee). It’d been a tough week. My favourite was: “He was nothing but a fart on the breeze, vaguely annoying but out of your face soon enough.” You can can use that one for your next narrative if you want. Don’t say I don’t give you nice things.

Yes, I happen to have the mental facilities of a juvenile and I find farting, fart jokes, even the word fart hilarious. No I don’t plan on submitting a manuscript with fifty-six fart jokes (one or two will suffice really). This task, however, kept me on the track with writing and creating when all I really wanted to do was pull my hair out of my skull. Instead of lamenting how little imagination and creativity I had, I was looking for opportunities to insert another reference to farts into the descriptions and dialogue. (Turns out I can bring farts into just about any situation, see this post for examples.)

I tricked myself into writing even when I didn’t want to or felt like I couldn’t. You can trick yourself like this too. Focus all your energy or creating bad work and you’ll be flying in no time. Creating bad work is about liberation. It’s about getting off that hamster wheel of doing better, being better all-the-time and giving yourself a break. It’s about releasing your tight (and somewhat deluded) grip of control.

So if you’re in a slump, take my hand and start to create your worst work because:

- It’ll distract you from thinking about your limitations and get you creating anyway.

- You’ll be exercising your creative muscles, keeping the blood pumping and thus avoiding the atrophy that comes from being stagnant and stuck.

- You’re more likely to find your way out of the “block” by creating (even if it’s rubbish) than by sitting around and mourning the deterioration of your creative soul.

- You will have fun with your work again.

And so I’ll leave you for another week with one last profound story: 

A Japanese man and an Australian are playing golf. The Japanese gentleman is getting ready to tee off but suddenly starts talking to his thumb.

The Australian says: “Whatcha doin?”

“Oh, it’s very advanced Microtechnology. I have a Microphone in my thumb, I’m just recording a memo.”

They get ready to go to the next hole when suddenly a loud, rude sound comes from the Australian gentleman’s pants. The Japanese man looks at him, shocked.

‘Oh, don’t worry,’ says the Australian. ‘I’m just receiving a fax.’

Ahh, that’s good stuff. Hasta luego! 

Are you so comfortable in your job that you could do it in your sleep. In fact you have done it in your sleep, that one time you  dozed off at your desk, and no-one really noticed. You took the job because it pays okay: you’ve got bills and other responsible adult things to take care of I’m sure…

Let me just interrupt you as you cruise the internet, making memes with Angelina Jolie’s right leg – do you think that maybe you could do more with your life?

Didn’t you used to paint? Didn’t you write some okay poetry (the kind that wooed an admirable number of doe-eyed lovers)? Didn’t you only take this lame job so you could do the stand up comedy circuit at night? Why did you stop auditioning? What did you do with the beginnings of your handmade soap business? Where did you put the perfected recipe for the superfood truffles that were gonna fund your holiday to Toulouse?

What HAPPENED to you?

You used to laugh, you used to be full of energy and ambition. Surely all these people in your office dressed in tight black coloured things haven’t crushed that essential part of you. The you that you always thought you’d be.
Maybe it’s time? You’ve been so responsible for so long, maybe now’s your time?

Here are the options:

If you stay, you will continue to be paid to be average.
If you leave you will have to work harder and increase your capacity.

If you stay you will have structure and routine and security. You will continue to feel like your life is on a slow conveyer belt to a rest home.
If you leave you have to back yourself despite the circumstances, reminding yourself that you can achieve your goals and your dreams are within you reach if you’d only s-t-r-e-t-c-h a little further.

If you stay you can take long service leave after just five more of years slow cooking your brain into a grey spongy matter.
If you leave you have to face uncertainty and the fear of (oh the horror) potential failure.

If you stay, you can continue to develop a ‘sort of’ career that only vaguely reflects the years you’ve invest in the industry.
If you leave, you may have to start over, at the bottom.

If you stay, you know that the embers of your spirit will be extinguished
If you leave, you could see your passion stoked to a raging fire once again.

If you stay you will face guaranteed mediocrity.
If you leave, oh the possibilities.

It’s not an easy decision. Yes it’s dangerous, yes you could fail. You could also succeed and (maybe, possibly) be happy. So make your decision and make a plan. You could look for a part time job that will free up some time to pursue the Dream. You could start applying for the jobs that may be the step in the right direction. Whatever happens, do something with that beautiful talent of yours.

 Art by Andre Petterson

How do you keep showing up when you hate your writing or art?

When there’s no evidence to suggest that you will ever “make it” (what ever that means) or that anyone other than your mum and that one loving, kind hearted friend of yours will read or admire the damn thing?

I think it takes belief. Not self-esteem, or feeling good about yourself. It’s a deeper more gritty belief. Belief in the possibilities, in the importance of your story, in the honesty of what you’re doing, in your ability to make it work and your commitment to do the work.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been indulging in psychology and neuroscience reading at my leisure. So what, I have nothing better to do than hide from the world read my sweet-as books – don’t hate. I’m sure all the serious psychologists and neuroscientists will be horrified by anything I say from this point onward, but I think it’s safe to say that serious psychologists and neuroscientists have better things to do than trawl the Internet to attack haphazard *at best* explanations by enthusiastic *though potentially misguided* psychologosophy (more philosophical than psychological) thinkers.

So, on that unnecessarily defensive note…

Cognitive dissonance! It’s the feeling of discomfort when a one of your core beliefs (that is linked to your identity) is in conflict with your behaviour or circumstances. For example:

An artist has a core belief that she is not really that good at her craft, but she is offered the opportunity to exhibit her work.

She must either:

- Change her belief in order to gain the confidence to exhibit.
or
- Turn down the opportunity to exhibit due to an overwhelming fear of having her work panned.

Cognitive dissonance requires something to change [either the belief or the circumstance] in order for the discomfort to be alleviated. The core belief can be negative or positive. That is, it can be believing that you are not good enough, which makes you shy away from opportunities or it can be believing that you are good enough, which makes you more eager to hunt down opportunities in order to align your circumstances with your belief. (Phew!)

Here’s an example of cognitive dissonance working in the positive:

I’m currently working on three major projects. A novel, novella and my mother’s biography. All are very important to me for different reasons. Right now my novella has taken over because I’m entering it into a competition. I’ve convinced myself that my novella is going to win because I have a core belief that I am good enough to win. So I know that I have to finish it because it’s due at the end of April and if it’s not finished I definitely won’t win. 

My expectation, nay conviction, of winning the competition is the major driver for me at this point. So much so, that the thought of being unable to submit it because it’s incomplete makes me feel sick. Which means that I spend hours working on it – even when I hate it and feel like I’m losing control of the narrative, losing control of the research or whatever it is that I’m struggling with at any given moment. Winning is not everything (I’ll be very disappointed if it doesn’t win, but I have back up plans for it – so winning’s not the only thing I see) but it’s what is keeping me committed to finishing by the deadline.

The point is: Self-belief is can keep you going long after inspiration has abandoned you. Do you want to increase your self belief? Well here are my tips (in order of importance):

1. Begin to speak and think highly of yourself and your work. This is the hardest part, but the most important. The other things will improve your ability to complete this step and this step will fuel your ability to complete the following steps.

2. Share your journey. Talk about it, blog about it. You have something to say, so say it. Don’t worry about who loves it or loathes it. You can focus on  building a following if you want. Or you can just put your junk out there and let it be what it will be.

3. Switch off the negativity. It’s not helping and yes you do have a choice. Stop being a baby and shut down that annoying naysaying voice in your head. If that means that you actually have to physically stop talking for a while to avoid negativity coming out of your mouth – for the love of everything good in the world, DO IT. I speak of what I know my friends.

4. Get feedback. Put your work out there. Take a class and share your work in a safe place where you know  you’ll get constructive and honest feedback. Implement changes if you believe they are warranted. Organise an exhibition of your work. Submit your stories to competitions or publications and try to get some feedback from the editor if they have the time. Positive feedback will increase your self-belief. Criticism will give you specific areas of improvement to work on, which as you improve will increase your self-belief.

5. Constantly improve. Don’t expect to ever arrive. There is always, ALWAYS room for improvement. I think that anyone that is satisfied with their art will never be truly great. The greatest artists are those who kept pushing the limits of what they or anyone else can do. This requires passion maybe even a little bit of obsession. Invest.

6. Read intelligent inspirational stories. I’m not talking about the human interest feature in your local newspaper – I’m talking about the hung on by the skin of their teeth, clawed their way to the top, sacrificed, gave everything stories that light a fire in your belly and make you release guttural  cries of understanding, anguish and joy.

So ask yourself, what do you believe? 

Tang Yau Hoong illustration

Tired, miserable, full of creative anguish – welcome to the artist’s torment of feeling uninspired. You may find yourself in this place every so often or very often. The good news is it’s very common (well that’s not that helpful) the better news is that you don’t have to pitch a tent and camp there! Creative dryness is a normal part of life, but if you have been dwelling in the desert for far too long it’s time to shake of the sand out of your ears and move forward.

Sometimes the light of inspiration just flickers on and it is glorious. I’ve learned, however, that if you want to be consistant with creativity, you have to be proactive and switch on your own lights.

In my opinion, a genuine sense of wonder and gratitude can lift you out of any slump. It illuminates everything you see, so that the ordinary becomes inspiring. 

Some people spend their time waiting around for that flicker of inspiration before they start creating (aka working). But while we wait for inspiration we procrastinate until we make ourselves sick with self-loathing. It’s a wonder that we’re surprised that we got nothing done yesterday, considering we know that inspiration is not going to come from our inbox, or our Twitter stream and certainly not our ex’s Facebook photos. So how about we close all those browsers and try a few of these ideas to light up our world and grab inspiration by the proverbials.

1. Change your attitude. Hey, being miserable may work creatively for you in the short term, but… you’re still miserable. I’m just going to hazard a guess that this is not fun for you or the people who have to put up with you. Having a healthy perspective is far better long term both for your health and your art. You don’t have to conform to what everyone expects of you and you don’t have to start spurting affirmations like a glass-eyed doll. In your own way be happy. It’s better for you and it’s better for the world you touch. I still get cynical, cranky at times, full of it, bitterly disappointed, self-pitying…(ok you get the point) but I’m really happy with myself and with my life. I want more, but I’m happy. Being happy means that your work does not define you, it adds to the good life you already have.

2. Go outside. Honestly. If you’re sleeping till 12pm you are missing out on the best part of the day. Warm golden sunshine. Curious comical animals, smiling faces, couples in love, the ocean, the bush, there is so much to enjoy. It’s all good and it’s waiting for someone just like you to see (I mean really see), interpret and use in your work.

3. Talk to children. Probably stick to kids you know. Get down to their level and talk to them like they are adults. Ask them deep questions about life and about their favourite things. Start a philosophical conversation about the shapes of clouds, or what makes a good friend. You may be surprised at how wise they can be. Try to imagine the world from their vantage point, it may lighten up your own view.

4. Contemplate something terribly small and insignificant. Like a bug going about it’s business in the garden. Like a speck if glitter sparkling in the light. Like the worst word in the dictionary (am I the only one that feels really uncomfortable with the word “smear”?) Like your life as one among seven billion on the planet.

5. Spend time with someone that makes you laugh until you cry. If you don’t know anyone like that… you need new friends. I laugh a lot, but the person I laugh the hardest with is my mother. We get each other and we have known all of each others’ most embarrassing moments. I don’t know how or why, but laughing together makes you feel connected and understood.

6. Forgive someone. Forgive THAT person – you know who I’m talking about. It will change your life, trust me.

7. Be kind to strangers. Pay for a stranger’s coffee or fuel. Tip the waitress a lot. Write a short encouraging letter or note and slip in under someone’s door in your apartment block. Yes thinking about the recipient’s reaction will give you warm and fuzzies, but kindness also opens your eyes to the fact that there is a world full of people other than yourself. Kindness decreases selfishness, self-centredness, bitterness and more. So do it. Start today.

8. Hug someone. I hugged the “Free Hugs” guy in Sydney years ago. I was working in retail (while at university) in Pitt Street and having a pretty hard day/week/year. I saw Mr “Free Hugs” and walked straight into the middle of the circle around him. He opened his arms and held me, with my head resting on his chest. I still think it was a strange experience being held like that by a total stranger, but it made the most incredible difference to my day. That moment gave me a feeling of significance, in the throngs of people I mattered. Now when I hug someone, or even just touch someone, I make sure that I focus on the person. Physical touch is powerful, it can communicate compassion, love, reassurance, confidence and it lets you and others know that we’re not alone.

9. Engage your senses. Smell the change in seasons in the air. Watch the sky as it changes colour, taste new flavours, spend time in a spice shop or a florist. Listen to classical music. Sample the textures of the creations at a craft market. Take your time buying your fruit and vegetables, smell the mangoes, gently squeeze the tomatoes – don’t get too saucy about it, just engage in what you’re doing.

10. Stop shopping for six months or more. No new clothes, accessories, gadgets, stationary, magazines, or stuff. Also try to avoid the middle aisles of the supermarket – no good will come of cruising the sweets aisle. You may be surprised at how difficult it is to stop. You may also be surprised at how much clarity and space this gives you.

11. Stop consuming media geared toward advertising to you – fashion magazines, car magazines, online retailers, television programs. If you can stop thinking about the next thing you have to have you have more space and energy to actually create.

12. While you’re at it clean your space. Make your bed every morning, put things away, create cleaning routines that work for you. A clean space promotes a clear mind.

13. De-junk your world. Empty the spare room full of exercise equipment that you will never use. Get rid of every useless thing in your garage. Purge ugly clothes from your wardrobe. I am by no means a minimalist – but I like the idea of slowly parring back to the essentials. Every weekend I try to get rid of one to five items (clothes, odds and ends, old stuff, piles of paper) I also try not to buy more stuff to fill the space I’ve made.

14. Do something to the best of your ability. Cook an extravagant and delicious meal for people you love. Give 100% to the next project at work. Craft a scene or an artwork or a dance to your personal best standard. If you’re lacking in confidence it’s important to prove to yourself what you’re really capable of.

Will you try any of these ideas? What do you do when you’re feeling creatively dry?

“There are no secrets or tricks, it’s just hard work.”

This quote was probably my favourite from a podcast by Paulo Coelho. Coelho writes one book every two years, so I kinda think I wanna listen to what he has to say about writing.

I pin a lot of my hopes and dreams on hard work. Hard work trumps talent. Hard work trumps positive thinking and anything else that you can use to stoke the flames of creativity.

In our instant culture we’re always looking for quick and dirty tricks to make our writing better, to finish a novel, to launch our artist studio, to break into the publishing industry, to market and sell our art.

But it always has and always will take hard work.

As writers and artists part of our lot in life is to struggle. I know I’m not really lifting your spirits here, but forget all the hype and the Kumbaya singing around the camp fire. Truth is on Saturday I slept and wrote. I didn’t see friends, I didn’t cook anything delicious to eat, I didn’t even have any inspiration for my story, but I wrote. Because that’s what we do.

We show up for work that no-one sees, no-one understands really and absolutely no-one appreciates. That takes a certain kind of crazy and a lot of the following four traits:

Discipline – Coming back to the work again and again even when you don’t feel like it.

Dedication – Treating the work like the precious thing that it is, giving it attention. Loving and nurturing it, even when it misbehaves.

Devotion – Having great enthusiasm for the work. Speaking highly of it. Looking for the good in it, the essence that you started with, the heart of the story you’re trying to tell.

Determination – Fighting for the work. Fighting yourself, fighting the nay-sayers (trying not to actually punch anyone out), fighting distractions and disappointment.

Not everyone is going to be on the bestsellers lists and not everyone is going to sell out at their exhibition. But having a drive and passion for your work may make you more likely to be one of those people.

Good old Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it like this: “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

So keep going, your work is waiting.

*The full podcast How I write: Paulo Coelho is on Tim Ferriss’ blog. Go to Tim’s blog and listen the full podcast – it’s good stuff.

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I admit that I have many obsessions – let’s call them “quirks” – and making my brain more awesome is one of these.

Lately I’ve been getting excited about psychology and brain development. (May have lost some of you there, but this will get interesting. Maybe.) I’ve been reading The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, which is about neuroplasticity and let me tell you, it is fascinating!

Now if I’m being totally honest my whole intention in reading this book is to figure out ways that I can make my own brain more robust and intimidating, which I don’t believe was the intended purpose of the book, but you know…

I’ve always felt that our brains have so much more potential than we currently use. I felt that if I could unlock that potential I could create more, understand more and generally dominate at life.

Unfortunately, finding the keys to unlocking that potential is not so easy. During my undergraduate degree I used to feel frustrated and limited when I tried to figure out what on earth my lectures were on about when they discussed postmodernism, poststructuralism et cetera and trying to read Derrida, Foucault, Bathes et cetera was virtually impossible. I used to think that perhaps that sort of knowledge was only accessible to the brilliant or those people who pronounce homage with a silent “h”.

It’s only in recent years, by broadening my reading to areas outside of my original studies and my usual interests that I’ve started to think that my original fantasies – let’s call them “ideas” – about increasing my brain’s capacity were in fact possible.

I’m now re-convinced that reading, practise and continued learning not only keep you sharp and ALIVE but improves your ability to comprehend, contribute and create excellent art and work. And so I’m on (yet another) mission with the following brain exercises to unlock my brain’s creative potential.

1. I’ve started to memorise stuff like Shakespearean poems and whole verses of scripture from the bible. Shakespeare because my husband loves the stuff and is willing to listen to me recite it. Scripture because it’s good for the soul and good for writing. Apparently memorising epic poems used to be part of school curriculum back in ye old days and apparently it helps your brain to grow. Also I’m pretty sure Norm reckons it’ll make my brain 5% bigger than the average non-memoriser by the time I die – mwah ha ha!
2. I’ve committed my down time to reading instead of watching TV or staring at white walls. I have an ever extending list of novels and non-fiction books to read. I’ve included books that are a delight to read, popular genres and difficult classic literature that will take me several reads to fully understand.
3. I’m prioritising and training myself in quiet time. Time that I spend on my own, without thinking too much about anything important. This is actually really difficult, but I’m working on it.
4. I’m experimenting with drawing and painting purely for my own enjoyment. I’ve always wished that I could create artworks, so I’m just going for it. The great thing about this is that it forces me to slow down and really see things, whether they are tangible or in my imagination.

I used to think that I wanted to use more of my brain because I wanted to be the best at things. Now I think it’s because I perceive how much wonder our world contains and I don’t want to miss a thing. I don’t know if all the things I’m doing are going to actually make my brain better than yours, but I know it’ll keep me in an attitude of awe at the mysteries of life and the human condition, which ain’t too bad either.

I have had an awakening people. It’s been a long time coming, but I’m finally getting there.

I’ve spent a lot of time these last few years worrying about working hard to make as much money as possible in the short term. This worry has caused me to make short term decisions to squeeze as much as I could out of my limited time. All because you never know, this could be my last year to earn as much as possible, to use all the time I’ve got, because who knows everything could change tomorrow and then where will I be? WHERE??

Clearly I have the rationalising skills of a crazy person. But take a look at yourself. How often do you put yourself under the pump in order to secure the present or immediate future. Bills, nice shiny things, impressing people…these can all be the competitors for your valuable productivity.

Well I’ve realised that short term living is not the only way to go through life. And even though most of us live with short term thinking and agendas, this is in fact the dumbest way to live!

You know what. Our value is not the sum total of our past or even our present. Our ultimate value is infinite because it is unwritten. So instead of making this year or next year my focus when approaching my priorities, I’m going to focus on the long term.

For me that means instead of prioritising busy-ness and work that bores or depresses me (but pays), I’m going to focus on what I love (which may not pay). I will focus on what I know will matter most to me at the end of my life. My legacy will not include a detailed breakdown of the number of hours per day that I spent  doing uninspired work nor will it include my net worth. It will, however, tell of the beauty I let out into the world. My legacy will be my marriage to my wonderful husband, my work in the community, my love for people, my leadership, my hard decisions, my craft, my great works (both published and unpublished). That’s what matters most.

And so my biggest challenge for you and myself is to stop being afraid to close the door on “opportunities”. Keeping all the options open is playing it safe. Doing everything is playing it safe. Saying no is a risk. Focusing is a risk. I’m still scared and maybe you can relate, because the things that I ache to do are not stable or particularly financially viable.

But I can’t do anything else and that’s a relief in a way. My soul has confirmed what my head (and it’s indecision) could never conclude.

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The Art of Nonconformity by Chris Guillebeau is a good book to read if you’re exploring ideas like these. Visit Chris’s blog for resources on chasing dreams and world domination.

!Hola y Feliz Ano Neuve! As my excellent command of the Spanish language may imply, I have indeed spent the last month exploring parts of South America!

I hiked the Inca trail, I camped in the mountains and drank suss water. I danced in the middle of a crowd of thousands without restraint. I caught LONG bus rides on terrifying roads and I sat in a cage with twenty women and children on the border of Chile. I haggled in markets and ate every inch of street food that entered my peripheral vision.

But most gloriously of all, I rested. I slept. I read literature for hours. I walked without agenda or direction. And after everything it’s been these experiences that made me realise how much I’d been missing in my life at home.

Like many of you I had a great, full, productive year. As you can imagine, my life was completely devoid of “empty” time by the end of this kind of year. We all get so swept up with work and commitments that we lose time for the pure joy it is to do nothing. It took a month of no agenda for me to realise just how important blank space really is.

I started last year knowing that everything would be in a state of flux. I believed that I could push myself harder and harder without rest and remain unchanged. I was so wrong.

There were times last year where anxiety became a constant, where previously it was only a very rare occurrence. There were weekends where I’d planned to work but slept without refreshment or stared blankly at white walls while my body tried to remember what being a human felt like. Melodramatic as it is, I now see that pushing hard without rest not only wears you down, but it changes who you are.

Where you once had bundles of energy and passion, you are left with fatigue and stress. Robbing yourself of down-time means that you don’t give your brain and emotions a chance to breathe and re-charge. The paradox is that by stopping and doing less, you can actually do more in the long term. You can also be a lot happier.

So I’m changing some things to give myself more space. I’m starting with waking up earlier each morning to read and run, cutting TV out of my life completely, limiting social media, email and online shopping. May not seem like much, but I’m taking baby steps in the hopes that I can slowly make lasting changes to my life.

Do you need to take back your time and space too? What will you or have you done to get your sanity back?