What is Creative Block?

What is Creative Block?

 

Creative block is the barrier to your inspiration, your inability to access your inner creative resources - your potential, your magic, your resourcefulness, your youness, your voice. It can last weeks, months and even years and can leave you feeling frustrated, lost, bitter, full of resentment and lost opportunity of what could have been, a longing for what you know deep down inside of you is yours to achieve. You may feel numb, shutdown, that you don't fit in, fearful, exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, angry, stuck, have lack of direction and focus, an inability to complete projects or take your talent to its full potential.

You may feel like you live with constant feelings of not being good enough, a sense of urgency, self doubt and worthlessness. It can be brought on by trauma, rejection, stress, depletion of creative energy after a big project or creation, major life changes (even positive ones) anxiety, the need for perfection, fear of failure, burn out, lack of meaning and fulfillment or loss of purpose in your work. It can be the result of life experience and being brought up in limited conditions and closed minds. What ever triggers creative block for you and however it shows up, one thing you can be sure of is it's debilitating, life draining and if left unchecked or unnoticed can be the demise of your dreams, your potential and your core desire for lasting happiness.

Your mind can be your best friend and your worst enemy - I know both sides of my own coin intimately and the impact each side has had in my personal life, my creative growth and my professional life and what I know for sure is that both sides are always available to us. The voice of our limiting personas "Team Saboteur" is the strongest (through no fault of our own) and the reason why 80% of creatives never reach their full potential ... until we've figured out that we are not our mind chatter, that its the voice of our unhealthy ego, everything else we try and do to help ourselves is just a sticking plaster, widening the gap between our creative potential and the fulfillment of our creative success.

Creative block isn't limited to artists, its a human problem. I've worked with Coaches, Doctors, Educators, Scientists and I see it in everyday people. In its simplest form creative block is the inability to link 2 ideas together.

Creative intelligence at its core is all about working out what is meaningful, putting together those dots and framing it in a way that makes sense of how we interpret how we see the world and putting that insight into action. It is the ability to deal with new and unusual situations using skills and resources that we already have (and are usually unconscious of, undervalue or have dismissed due to lack of self belief). It enables us to link our imagination to a creative output such as telling a story authentically through whatever medium of choice, it enables us to use the imagination to solve problems, see problems, to have innovative ideas AND put them into action, it enables us to be resourceful and resilient so we can deal with problems next time they come round in a positive and impactful way. It stimulates the alpha waves - signals in the brain that stimulates relaxation and helps to raise serotonin, reducing anxiety.

For many years creativity has been seen as a novelty rather than a critical human function, it scares the limiting personas within us (our saboteurs) as there is so much uncertainty that comes with being creative so we often reject this in favor of the left brained logical, predictable and conventional ways that have been instilled in us as being 'the way'. Creativity becomes undervalued both personally and professionally - feeding the myth that creative genius is only for the special people, yet studies show that creative intelligence (CQ) is a) our birthright and b) our advantage point.

Groundbreaking research which has been refined over years of coaching executive teams in most of the fortune 500 companies as well as faculty at Stanford and Yale business schools by Shirzard Charmine identified ten well-disguised saboteurs that cause significant damage to our true potential. These saboteurs block the direct link to our creative flow state. Most creatives are blissfully unaware of their saboteurs existence and have no idea that there is another way, and if they are aware, lack real understanding of how to deal with them effectively to create sustainable change that is needed at the core that enables them to lead more fulfilling lives, personally, professionally, emotionally and creatively.

  These saboteurs can be identified and weakened by accessing the muscle of the brain that connects us to our inner wisdom, imagination and inspiration, our inspired, authentic creative connection - here we are able to shift from creative block to a state of inspired, creative flow. I've been using these techniques to unleash the creative genius that is within us all - with people around the world who are ready to lead their lives, embrace their full potential, reshape their futures, transform their lives and connect to their authentic creative self.

If you're struggling with creative block and would like to find out more about how I work and if I'm the right coach for you I'd love to hear from you - you don't have to do this alone.

You are so much more than who or what you think you are.

CONNECT