Posts Tagged ‘creative motivation’

It has been an absolutely insane day. Great in every way possible – lunch in Redondo Beach with Simon Salt and Tessa McNabb of IncSlinger, 2 new projects confirmed via email and plans coming together for my workshop in October – but no matter how good it was, there was definitely not enough time in it to get everything done. Twitter, this blog post and most of my phone calls and emails have been ignored until just this moment.

After finally finishing the design for a new site, I decided to take a brief brain break and get writing for my post today. I stopped by tweetdeck first to see if there were any important replies needed, and noticed a tweet from Ed Schipul (the brilliant owner of Schipul Web Marketing that I had the opportunity to meet last year) floating through my stream:

I paused. Re-read it, took a deep breath and couldn’t help but smile. While I know Ed meant it to be a frustrated, need-to-have-a-drink type tweet, I couldn’t help but smile.

Know why I was smiling?

Because no one has it easy, even awesome business owners like Ed, have rough days. But what separates him from the ‘average joe’ is the fact that tomorrow, he will keep going for that finish line. Even if again he doesn’t quite make it, he will keep going.

And that is why this tweet, from this person, makes me smile.

1. Send people articles/stories/images/websites that you find that make you think of them. Make sure to tell them why you sent the article. Send quality articles whenever you find them. If you don’t have email addresses, send it through social networking sites. Repeat as often as possible.
2. Wait
3. Receive articles/stories/images/websites that other people find that make them think of you. Use those new links/ideas for your motivation.

So, Katie, thank you for being one of the great ’sharing’ people that I talk with. And thank you for sending me oneword.com, I absolutely love it.

What unique ways do you find creative motivation?

Celebrate Today

Just tuning in and not sure what it’s all about? Check out the launch of two-word tuesday.

Look around at the people in your life – those who have nothing to do with creativity or your work. Those are the people that are going to give you your next great blog post or idea for an advertisement.

1. IRL friend. Or a friend who isn’t on twitter, linkedin, blogging, stumbleupon, etc. More than likely they are on Facebook, but if they aren’t, even better. This person lives in the real world, and only in the real world. They will know what’s going on in the news but not from tweets or status updates. They will know it because they spent time looking for a story and reading articles. Ask them how their experience is without social media. What do they think when they hear all the radio/tv stations asking you to “follow” them.

2. The generation older than you (or 2 generations above you if you can). Ask them to tell you a story about growing up, college life, working, or raising a family. Listen to how they talk, the words that they use and how they engage you into the story. It’s like what Abigail Chase said to Ben Gates in National Treasure, “People don’t really talk that way, you know”. But they should…

3. A family member or friend under the age of 13. I have talked a few times about bringing out your inner child, whether it is through crayons and a coloring book or letting yourself lose control. But, neither are the same as actually talking with a child. Ask them what they think about something going on in the news, or have them tell you about their day. The fervor with which they use to describe one thing or the other is always interesting. Secondly, the younger generation can often help us to be more free, and have more fun in everything that we do.

4. A teenager (13-19). Despite some of them having a surly outlook on life – many of them are still willing to talk and analyze what is going on in the world (or their lives, which usually is their world anyway). Ask them about the communities in their school, cliques, groups, whatever. The same dynamics exist throughout the rest of our lives, but those in their teenage years often have a clearer picture of what is actually happening. In addition, these are the people who will be the most involved with social media, the newest trends and what needs to be created. They are the future of twitter, linkedin, facebook, etc. Knowing what they think and need will help us to craft the tools and technologies before they need them.

The point of these people – whomever you choose to talk with – is to find out a new perspective on something. Or, to take a step away from your everyday and check out someone else’s world.

Who would you choose to talk with? Is there a type of person I am missing?

Problogger’s challenge is giving me deja vú.

The 31 days to a better blog challenge is supposed to be 31 days of advice/challenges to improve your blog and your writing. It’s also supposed to have a unique suggestion every day. But today’s challenge is not only focused on someone elses blog, but the ideas in the post replicate many of his other challenge posts. Not really what the challenge should be, right?

For example, today he suggests leaving helpful and interesting comments on a post, but he also suggested leaving comments on day #20. Another suggestion from today (oh, and from day 5 as well!) is to email a reader. And one final ‘duplicate’ (although there are more), he suggests today, just like he did on day 22, to recommend them to your readers. Now I understand that ‘improving someone elses blog‘ sounds different then all these challenges on the outside, but when you really look at it, it’s not a different challenge at all.

C’mon problogger, I thought you were supposed to be the professional here. You have over 10,000 people doing this challenge, and this is the best you could come up with for today? I’m sorry, but when you have that many people trusting you to lead them in the right direction, you should take them down a path they haven’t already done a few times! Unless, of course, you tell them that it’s the same path, just wearing different shoes.

Now that I have cleared the air, I am sure many of you are thinking “well, if you’re so smart, what would you suggest”?

So here you go ladies and gentlemen, Kirsten’s take on day #26 of building a better blog:

Write a post that has nothing to do with your niche.

We spend so much time writing about what we know and what we love, what happens to learning something new? Today, I challenge you to do some research on a topic you know very little about, and write what you learned. Not only is it a great exercise for improving your writing abilities, but it is a great way to open your eyes. So, how do you decide on a topic to research?

1. Scan through stumbleupon’s top pages and see if a topic catches your eye
2. Is there an activity you have always wanted to try or a hobby you’ve wanted to explore?
3. What about a location you’ve never visited but want to learn about?
4. Do you find yourself asking a lot of questions about a certain thing?
5. What did you dream about doing as a child but never pursue?

What did you decide to write about? What do you think of problogger’s ‘cop-out’?

How many times have you said this (or at least thought it) when someone asked/recommended that you do something? I did it when I read the problogger challenge for today: Using a magazine to improve your writing. It’s a great idea, and probably a really beneficial challenge, but that doesn’t mean I want to do it.

So what do I want to do? I really want a deep tissue massage on the beach in Hawaii while sipping a Mai tai.

But that doesn’t benefit my blog, my readers or my business. The reality is, just because you don’t want to do something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Especially if the person suggesting you should do it is trying to help you improve. I know that problogger isn’t writing this challenge specifically for me, but I can’t deny the fact that doing the challenges every day has helped my writing and my blog. With that said, attempting to do something that you can’t wrap your mind and your passion around is difficult, and can be counterproductive. Don’t work past your creative breaking point, and don’t force yourself to do a task that you know will be done poorly.

In my case, I don’t want to do the challenge, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to write for my blog, it just means I don’t want to do that challenge for my blog. Now that I have determined the issue, I just have to find something else to write about that can benefit my readers and my blog, without having to do the challenge.

Oh, wait – I just did!

All joking aside, there are a lot of roads that lead to the same place, you get to choose which one you take to get there.

What don’t you want to do today? Which road will you choose?

Today is day 10 of the “10 bold moves to stir up your creativity”.

Here is a quick recap of #1-#9:

1. Read in public

2. Quit your job

3. Contact someone you look up to

4. Do something you never thought you could

5. Disconnect

6. Don’t follow the crowd

7. Be nice

8. Ask questions

9. Let yourself be wrong

Bold Move #10: Stop reading and start doing!

Not to sound ungrateful to my readers, because I love each and every one of you, but stop reading (at least until tomorrow’s post ). Seriously, stop reading about being bold and GO DO SOMETHING BOLD.

Click here to see the other 9 bold ideas

Today is day 9 of the “10 bold moves to stir up your creativity”.

Bold Move #9: Let yourself be wrong.

Think about it: If you are never wrong, you never have the opportunity to learn something. We all like being right, ask any of my friends, I don’t do ‘wrong’ well. But, I have learned more about business by being wrong than I ever have by being right. When I am wrong about something, it allows someone who knows more than me to teach me something. It is the same in all walks of life – from business to relationships. We can’t all be right all the time, it is a physical and mental impossibility. Let yourself be okay with being wrong and you’ll be amazed how much more you learn, and in turn, how much more often you can be right. The minute we stop learning, the minute we stop living.

Have you been wrong recently and had it teach you something amazing?

Click here to see the other 8 bold ideas

Today is day 8 of the “10 bold moves to stir up your creativity”.

Bold Move #8: Ask questions…not for the answer but for the conversation that it creates.

Creativity is not a solo sport. If you were to lock yourself in a room and cut off all interaction, you would lose creative steam fairly quickly. You might get a few more things done in the beginning, without the distractions, but how long would it take before you couldn’t think of anything creative or new? Other people are what give us ideas. Things that happen in our lives inspire our writing and our ideas.

Today is about starting conversation. Find someone on twitter that interests you, and respond to something they ask. Ask a question on Facebook and see where the conversation goes.

People love to participate. People want to participate. So, give them the opportunity to participate.

Here is your opportunity to participate by answering today’s creative conversation: What makes a creative expert? What makes you stop and take notice of their ideas?

Click here to see the other 7 bold ideas

Today is day 7 of the “10 bold moves to stir up your creativity”.

Bold Move #7: Be nice. Genuinely, honestly and truly nice.

This sounds like a very simple, and not-so-bold task, but it is often forgotten and has a larger influence than we often think. Creativity is driven by the interactions in our lives, so why not have those interactions be kind ones?

Rather than tell you a story about how someones kind attitude stirred my creativity, I want to hear your stories. Have you met someone that surprised you with niceness and made you think? Have you treated someone well, just because, and had it reward you? Feel free to share a name or keep it annonymous.

Click here to see the other 6 bold ideas