Start Growing, Stop Stressing

I finally had lunch with an old friend who had been out of touch during the pandemic. He gave a long sigh when we talked about returning to corporate life. Then, he winced, “Frankly, I’m not ready to flip the switch. My world is bigger than work.”

Does your jaw also clench when you think about going back to competing, gaming others, or forcing? Then here’s a radical idea: Instead of using your creativity to play a zero-sum game, play a new game fueled by fun.

Think of all the activities that sprang up during lockdown that made your world bigger than work: Perfecting your sourdough starter, baking with your kids, picking up an instrument you used to play, or boning up on a language before your next trip abroad. Those activities didn’t just pass the time. They brought two essential qualities to life: Fun and flow. And approaching life with an adventurous, fun vibe is definitely worth having in your back pocket as you return to the real world!

Let me tell you how a famous author’s life eased when he shifted his creative focus from winning at everything to growing.

Vonnegut Changes Failure to Flourishing with a Life-Changing Choice

Here is Kurt Vonnegut telling about his turning point:

“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. One of the archeologists asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: “Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject?”

And I told him, “No, I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.”

And he went, “That’s amazing!”

And I said, “But I’m not good at any of them.”

And he said something that that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated by the myth of talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “win” at them.”

How You Can Prime Your Creativity

Did you catch how Kurt Vonnegut combined the soft skills of creativity and discernment? He exchanged the stress that accompanied having to be the best at whatever he tried with the smart choice to learn and grow. As a result, his career as an author didn’t suffer as he pursued having a full life—it blossomed over 50 years, with a shelf full of bestsellers.

When you think back to your pre-lockdown world, was there an area where you were like Kurt Vonnegut, thinking the only way to thrive was to excel and receive recognition? Did you constantly judge yourself for not measuring up to others? Scorekeeping probably made you feel constrained, worried, and miserable, and that’s no fun!

The idea that there’s a benefit to creative tension is a myth. So, turn the page from stress and design Life 2.0 from joy and what captures your imagination. Here are three ways to begin:

1. Make it fast by taking 30 seconds to affirm, “My natural creativity is a constant source of fresh, fun ideas.”
2. Make it deep by taking 30 minutes to ask yourself, “How can I create from joy?” Do you need to stop comparing yourself to others, keep your sense of humor when mistakes happen, or envision positive results?
3. Make it real by allowing yourself to have fun and experiment. Diffuse the pressure by focusing on expansion rather than perfection.

Pinterest crafting fails, broken guitar strings, and kitchen disasters are going to happen. But learning how to keep your sense of humor, think on your feet, and rebound will keep you in the flow. That’s how you put your natural creativity to work, day in and day out.

Avoid Common Mistakes and Prime Your Creativity

In the June series, Five Lessons to Prime Your Creativity, we’re looking at five important learnings from creative people and how you can make those lessons personal. Part of maximizing creativity is understanding what might go haywire and then using soft skills like adaptability, smart choices, empathy, and healthy self-esteem to side-step those errors.

Here is a recap of what we’ve learned. Prime your creativity by:

1. Rethinking an automatic return to the 1.0 version of life. Go back to basics and Reclaim Your Essence.
2. Listening to hunches from your instincts about what’s right for you rather than allowing choices to be dominated by outside pressures. Align, then Design.
3. Replacing tunnel vision with experimentation. Stay open, curious, and teachable and Take the Detour.
4. Refining your masterpiece. Instead of limiting yourself to your first idea just because it’s the first, Push Past the Download.
5. Letting your curious, playful self burst forth. Ditch the performance-based mentality. Start Growing and Stop Stressing.

When you think back a year, are you surprised at how adept you’ve become at turning to your natural creativity to find solutions? Creativity isn’t limited to professional artists—we’re all creating all the time. So, put your inspiration to good use as the imaginative, wise CEO of your life—a Soul Boss. Make the most of your creativity to design a post-pandemic life you love.