5 Cornerstones of My Creative Practice
Purpose - Discipline - Eco System - Opportunities - Community
Now and again, we will post a longer article in addition to your Three Things Weekly. This is one such post, and I hope you find value in it :).
LITTLE INTRO
Over the years of working with people in educational settings, through my business and being a coach at Concord Institute, I have learned and developed some basic but foundational anchors to keep my creative practice alive.
It took me a little time to get this together, but it was a helpful exercise as it allowed me to define a framework and reference point for myself, and I hope that you find it useful in the continued cultivation of your creative work.
Five Cornerstones
1. Discipline
I find it helpful to frame creativity as a discipline, no different than eating well, going to bed on time and moving my body.
Discipline is:
Consistency - Showing up for my creative practice every day.
Focus - Being clear on what I’m going to accomplish for the time that I do show up, and setting myself by-whens.
Accountability - Meeting my by-whens. And when I don’t, honestly review what got in my way.* Was I over-ambitious? Was I distracted? Was I just too tired?
* Note: this doesn’t mean I berate myself - although that in itself takes some discipline.
2. Purpose and Vision
But discipline is hard, especially when you don’t know WHAT you’re doing and WHY you’re doing it.
The key aspect of my brand strategy approach is the ‘discovery session’. Through dialogue, we unearth the purpose and vision of the client’s business. Invariably, this is the same (or extremely close to) the purpose and vision of their life.
The core enquiry is: “What is it that you want your life to be in the service of?”
I emphasise ‘service’, because it’s not about you being famous or ‘the best’ or somehow worthy of congratulations. It’s about making a difference to others.
Purpose: in engaging with this project/task/business, what are you accomplishing in the service of others?
Vision: why do you want to fulfill that purpose?
My purpose is to empower businesses and individuals to access their self-expression because I envision people being who they are.
Without that, I would struggle to maintain any kind of practice.
3. Eco-System
I said earlier that discipline is about showing up. Having a system is about being effective when you do show up.
A system is simply a set of structurs that create the environment in which your work can flow and is as friction-free* as possible.
*Note: friction-free doesn’t mean easy.
Everybody’s creative practice is unique, and I’m sharing with you what mine looks like. I hope it inspires you to try some things, but not everything I say will work for you (or for me, at a different place and time).
Planning and Scheduling - It took a long time, but my Apple calendar and I got real close. Whatever it is I need or want to do, it goes in the calendar. Then I know when I will do it, and for how long.
Partnership - Beth is my partner for Co-Create. We schedule a time to check in every week, and hold each other accountable for what we said we would do. When one of us is in a funk, we pull each other out of whatever hole we invented for ourselves. I also have other partners for other things: Phillipa for all things business, Tom for domestic life, and a myriad of other people who I know will not buy my nonsense and help me get back on track.
Being Well - Everything backfires when I’m sloppy with my basics: sleeping enough, eating well, moving my body and spending quality time with my partner and with myself.
I call it an eco-system because it has to work for my whole life, which includes the people around it and the commitments that I have.
4. Opportunities over Circumstances
It’s important to get clear on circumstances - the basic facts about how my life looks and the things in it that need to get taken care of. But I’m learning that circumstances aren’t what dictates what is and isn’t possible - circumstances only tell you what you have to work with to create opportunities.
Often, things show up in my life like new business projects, volunteering invitations or social/cultural events… and my knee-jerk response is to say ‘no’ because I do really have quite enough on my plate.
And yet, some invitations are true opportunities to forward my purpose and vision. For those, I’m learning to create more space for ‘yes’.
5. Community
I can’t do anything on my own. I fundamentally cannot fulfil my purpose and vision alone - it requires the partnership of others and of the community.
Who are the people who share my vision? Who are the people for whom I am of service?
Those questions are somewhat rhetorical… but my answer is ‘you’.
You are my community. Each one of you said ‘yes’ to this project and thereby this vision by subscribing. So to end this article… thank you for being part of Co-Create :).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Things I read or listened to in writing this post.
How to Discover Your Life Purpose by Steve Pavlina