Tags: 
-
Categories
-
Archives
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
If Picasso Were in Jail, Would He Still Create?
When I have clients who are feeling sorry for themselves, I pose this question, “If Picasso were in jail, would he still create?” Some say, “No, he wouldn’t” Others say “If Picasso was in jail, he wouldn’t be able to create the same way and therefore his creations would not be of the same quality” They assume his paintings in jail would be less valuable then others.
As a creator of business, music, relationships and many other things myself, I totally disagree. Picasso would definitely create masterful works in jail. Could he create the same way? No. Can you create income, operate your life or move your projects forward in the same way during this economy? No. So what if you did what Picasso would do if he were in jail?
Picasso would be struck with an idea, a flash or a vision. He would have a pull inside of him to manifest this idea into reality. Yet, if he was like most people today, he might think to himself, “Oh well, I’m in jail, I don’t have any paint, I can’t create it… ho hum… poor me” Thankfully, Picasso and other creative people are not like most people today. There is no room for the victim mentality in creation. Creative people always find a way.
As a creator, Picasso simply assesses his situation. He seeks to understand the truth of his situation. He studies his environment very carefully, trying not to miss any of the details. He wants to identify what he can create with in this particular environment. He doesn’t complain he seeks to fully understand the truth of his situation so that he can create his vision from there. He doesn’t need the situation to change in order to manifest his vision. He accepts the situation as it is and makes it work for him.
For example he might notice that there are three different colored soils in the yard, a pencil, a blue pen, various red, yellow and green leaves and the background of gray paint on his cell wall. Everything is examined for its usefulness in creating the vision. He may not possess the pink he envisions so he waits, he observes and he allows the pink to reveal itself in the environment. He doesn’t get upset about a lack of pink because he keeps looking for solutions.
Ultimately his vision manifests in the form best suited for the environment. He doesn’t judge it or make it worse then a painting he created with canvas and paint. In fact, he marvels at how interesting it was to have to create it within the limitations he was presented with. That sparks another idea and off he goes creating again.
Now I ask you, “Can you create your dreams given your current set of circumstances?” If you approach your life the same way Picasso approaches his art, then the answer is absolutely “Yes!” Read this article again and look for clues or mosey on over to my website for more powerful lessons.
Matthew Ferry is an author, inspiring speaker and life coach. For 15 ways to kick the recession blues and get inspired to make positive changes head on over to www.15strategies.com for a free 15 day e-course sure to lift your spirits and get you in action.
How to Move Past the Frustration of Personal Growth
As an Inspired Action life coach, I help people grow, evolve, and implement new productive habits into their life. Learning new productive habits is frustrating. Since you don’t know exactly how to be this new person, there is a bit of trial and error involved. Personal growth strategies also confront the status quo and your natural pull towards the path of least resistance. New habits are destructive to your old life.
To move past the pain and frustration of personal growth and achieve the desired changes in your life, I recommend two simultaneous approaches.
1. Create structure. Personal growth is not easy to do. Everything in your life resists the changes you want to make. In order to deal with the pain of personal growth, you must set up systems that pull you forward regardless of your resistance.
Setting up accountability is a powerful structure that provides you with the power to choose your behaviors versus getting pulled into the habitual path of least resistance. When you set benchmarks for yourself that are beyond your current capabilities and then create accountability with someone, you create a situation conducive to change. What you monitor you can improve. As you see the improvement you get encouraged which creates the energy of inspiration within you and pulls you forward into action in spite of the pain growth creates. As an Inspired Action life coach this is one of my primary tools to move you past the pain of personal growth.
2. Surrender. The biggest element that stops you from developing better habits is the pain and the suffering that occurs when we are doing this growing. I teach my clients to surrender to the pain of this growth. It’s similar to a bodybuilder who is using the mantra, “No Pain, No Gain”. You must begin to look at the pain of growth in an entirely new way.
Begin to see the frustration, doubt and uncertainty in this way.
Breakdown is the beginning breakthrough. In the Indian culture, they have a saying that destruction and creation are two sides of the same coin. You cannot create your new life without destroying your old life. So, you must begin to embrace this destruction. You must begin to disengage from your drunk monkey’s natural tendency to move away from the destruction and the pain that you create as you are achieving your new goals. You must begin to look at it like this is part of the process.
Breakdown is the beginning of breakthrough. I like to say it in this way; Success is nothing more than a series of well-managed breakdowns. You must be able to skip from breakdown to breakdown to breakdown to breakdown without losing your enthusiasm, which means you have to begin to think about your breakdowns, the destruction and the chaos that your goals create in your life in a completely new and different way. You must begin to celebrate the breakdown, get excited when the breakdown happens. This is not easy to do. That’s why most people use a coach to go through that process. If left to our own devices, we have a tendency to go into fear, get scared, retract, pull back, and go right back to normal again.
Master Your Mindset 34
“To be influential you must learn to communicate without the fear of rejection.”