Act As If > Action Prompts

Action Prompts to 'Act As If'

Take Action : Read: Act as if Article

By Chris Dunmire

1. Let your brain storm.

While the Take Action Now prompt suggests writing down three of your most desired dreams, keep this in mind: Creative dreams need not be monumental or extremely ambitious here. In fact, if your ultimate desire is to become a best-selling author and you know for a fact that you haven't written much over the last five years, perhaps "writing regularly and deeply" is an immediate dream worth pursuing. Likewise, if you wish to become a pottery artist and have never worked with clay, an immediate dream may be "take a formal wheel-thrown pottery workshop or class." (A great resource for creative dream-making and the philosophy of Micromovements is "Make Your Creative Dreams Real" by SARK.)

Also, you needn’t be concerned with following through with all of your listed dreams at this time. In fact, the suggestion to write down your most desired dreams is more about “possibility thinking” and not boxing yourself in with only ONE THING than it is about cluttering your life with tons of to-dos.

So, write down three. Or one. Or five. Don’t be afraid to let your brain storm. Ultimately, this is an exercise in turning over the soil of desire and getting your creative energy flowing and motivation moving. After you write down several, you may choose to focus on only one to fully see it through.

2. Be realistic: go with your flow.

If you know you have big blocks of time to devote daily or weekly to dabbling in your art (or whatever creative passion is in you) work with that. And if you’re a busy parent or hard-working day-jobber who comes home exhausted every night, maybe you have an hour or two to yourself a week to invest in your creative life early in the morning, during your lunch hour, or after the kids go to bed.

Instead of looking at your sparing time or energy circumstances as limitations, view them as opportunities. Spending one hour a week on something you're joy-filled and passionate about is just as valuable as spending three hours a day at it. Rethink "clock time" as "creativity investments". Not to be morbid, but here's a reality check about life: You don't know if you'll live to be 29 or 99, so cherish those creative moments and make them count. Quality before quantity is both satisfying and fulfilling, and doing something is much better than doing nothing.

Accept your unique life circumstances and work with (not against) them. Be realistic about scheduling creative work time and go with your own flow.

3. Proclaim: "This is MY life!"

It’s tempting to look at other people’s lives and think that if their circumstances are similar to yours, you SHOULD be able to match their progress and have equal everything else. Save yourself unnecessary grief, sleepless nights, and envious green by throwing that belief out the window right now. Every creative life is different and inviting in critical comparison and competition will ultimately steal joy from your soul.

For best results, focus your energy on your own "blank canvas" and be in the moment with your creative learning, growing, and expression. Think of the privilege you have in deciding what happens and how it happens in your creative life. What other people are doing creatively can serve as a source of inspiration and learning for you, but it's best not used as a measurement for what's going on (or not) with you. How will you know the difference? By how you feel inside. If you're feeling uplifted by others, then you're on the right track. If you're feeling bad about yourself, switch trains. •

© 2007 Chris Dunmire, CoachingYourCreativity.com. All rights reserved. (6/16/07)

About the Author
Chris Dunmire is the founder of the award-winning Creativity Portal® Web site and is a Master-in-training Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coach who supports clients through overwhelm, procrastination, perfectionism, and other blocks to their creativity AND celebrates the joyful, expressive parts of being . . . an imaginary being! Connect with Chris to experience how creativity coaching can enrich your life.