The secret sauce to highly creative success

Rest.

We talk about it, but do we actually practice it?

I like to think of rest with the #4 definition mostly.

This mainly comes from the fact that I have learned I need to create specific environments to squash my inner diabolical plotter.

Oh yeah, you heard me right.

Just typing that out feels gross, but I don’t know how else to describe to you how easily my brain shifts into anxiety when I have BIG things coming up.

Things that will mean a lot more eyes will be on me.  Watching my every move and undoubtedly playing the comparison and judgement game (it’s human nature, friends).

But yet, this weekend, I found myself resting.  Forcing myself to create peace for my mind and spirit.

Despite the fact that I don’t feel ‘prepared’ for these big things coming up, I still found myself lounging around in an Adirondack chair in the backyard at our cabin.

 But, there's so much to do?!

Lounging usually makes me feel anxious- does it do the same for you?

Do you feel guilty because you have so much to prepare for?

Luckily, I have learned the hard way more than once that I will never actually feel fully prepared when I give a big presentation or put myself out there in front of hundreds of people. 

I have learned that you can’t force yourself to put a bow on a deeply creative project any more than you can will yourself to go into labor.

That doesn’t mean I have given up on the preparation process, it just means I have learned to work with a new timeline.

One that honors the fact that I do my best work under pressure.

One that honors the fact that there are certain times where I’m primed for external creativity and other times that I’m primed for reflection.  

One that forces me to remember 3 solid days of true emotional presence with my kids means a much higher level of mental clarity awarded to my projects tomorrow.

 Baby Steps...

Does this awakening mean I stopped telling Joe all weekend about how nervous I was about all the projects?

Nope…..

but hey, I’m getting there ;)

I preach about creating an ideal schedule to allllll of my clients and team members.  It literally set me free years ago.  But I’m on the verge of creating an entirely new system of cyclical working.  One I’m excited to embark upon because it feels so very aligned with this new chapter of my journey.

I promise to share it with all of you after I have adequately experimented, but in the meantime, when was the last time you asked yourself how you work best?

Does it pay to try to jam in an hour of work right now if you could knock out a higher quality product in 30 minutes tomorrow because you actively chose to quiet yourself today? 

When was the last time you actually stopped to ask yourself about quality over quantity?

Trust me when I say there is no medal for the workaholic (no wonder why my trophy case is empty).

There is, however, a reward for emotional intelligence.  The kind of knowing that comes from evaluating your true self and your most productive times and asking yourself how they were created.

The reward is a higher quality consciousness, higher quality relationships, a more fulfilling career, and yes- more money too.

So on this symbolic weekend I hope you actively chose rest.

And if not, what are you waiting for?

The rewards are waiting.