Creativity and Abundance

Today, we're talking about abundance, creativity and abundance. John Maxwell's book leadership, he talks about if you are a builder or maintainer and he talks about four different zones, the coasting zone, the comfort zone, the challenge zone, and the creative zone.

Listen to the definitions of these zones and be thinking about which zone you naturally gravitate towards. Versus the coasting zone. I do as little as possible. We just coast, we maintain. We don't take huge steps. But we don't take no steps. We just do as little as possible to maintain where we are.

The second one is the comfort zone, I do what I've always done. I've heard it said that no growth happens in a comfort zone. And that is very true. We get comfortable in our comfort zone. We get comfortable and we never take a risk. We never take a chance. We never see what we're truly capable of doing. So we have the coasting zone and we have the comfort zone.

Three is the Challenge Zone. I attempt to do what I haven't done before. That's challenging yourself. This is a great place to be challenging yourself to do something you have never done before.

On a podcast a while ago, I talked about going to Las Vegas with my cousin to be involved in the rock and roll 5k And she was doing the half marathon as well. And we met up in Las Vegas, and we decided since we were going to be in Las Vegas, we may as well go ziplining neither one of neither one of us had ever been ziplining and I was in charge of of scheduling and and planning out this whole ziplining time in Las Vegas.

I googled ziplining in Las Vegas and a site came up and there were two types of ziplining that you could choose. One was your typical where you're seated and you're strapped in and use it blind down. That one was three storeys above above the main street there in downtown Las Vegas and it's slipping my mind right now. But that was the that was one of your choices. The other choice was to go Superman style five stories up looking down at free Mont St. Looking down over Fremont Street five stories up. And, and ziplining down, looking down as you are strapped in and flying over Fremont Street. I decided since I was in charge of planning that event that Linda and I were going to go Superman style ziplining over Fremont Street. It was cold it was in February, but it was about 39 degrees. While we were waiting to go up to the top of that building, stand in the wind, and wait till we were strapped in to go ziplining over Fremont Street. We were both a little nervous. We both had, our doubts about whether or not we had made the right choice to put me in charge of scheduling this plan. But we challenged ourselves, we challenged ourselves and we had an amazing time, we both knew that we would do it again, we also did the highest roller coaster in Vegas. For me, the challenge was taking my hands up and holding them up in the air which I have never done before. But she grabbed my hand, she put it up, I put the other hand up, we have a picture to prove it. It was amazing.

When you challenge yourself to do things outside of that comfort zone, and way outside of the coasting zone, you find out that there are things that you really do enjoy doing. There are things that really stretch your limits. Is there a book that you would want to read that you haven't read yet is there a place you want to go?

Life is short, get the dog, I have a bunch of journals printed up that that say that I did a an event where it was a dog walk and I had them printed out my my logo is “Life is short, choose wisely.”

Get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to try something new. Get something new, do something you've never done. Go to an opera, go to a Broadway musical. Walk a different direction. When you take your walk, do a whole different route, go to a different Park, jump on a bike, read something outside of what you normally read. If you always read personal development, pick up a novel, if you've already read is always read novels, pick up a book on health and nutrition.

There are so many ways that you can break out of that comfort zone to challenge yourself. But I challenge you to challenge yourself.

The fourth zone there is the creative zone. I attempt to think what I have never thought before. This is where your creativity comes in. Think about things in a way that you've never thought about them before. We get caught up in a zone of coasting, our comfort, and we're not challenging on ourselves. Then we cease to be creative. We think about things from a standpoint of I need to grow my business and we start worrying about I need more customers and I need more clients and and we start worrying about all these things instead of turning on that creative zone in our brain.

Thinking about how we could do things differently to challenge ourselves and leave that comfort and coasting zone behind. It's a waste of time to worry or think about things the way they are that we don't like let your craic creativity flow, get into that creative zone. So part of unlocking that creative zone and entering into that challenge zone and letting go of the comfort and coasting zones are unlocking the mental blocks that keep you out of the creative zone. So six creative or six blocks mental blocks that we hold on to that keep us out of that super abundant, creative creative zone. Number one find the right answer. We think that we always have to find the right answer or is that there or that there is only one answer to everything? Not so there can be multiple answers. There's not just one right answer. Be open to all of the solutions and be willing to try them all. The second mental block that's not logical.

Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. Imagination turns possibilities into reality.” We don't have to think logically all the time. Let your imagination go. Number three, follow the rules. Let's look at another quote Thomas Edison. There ain't no rules around here.

We're trying to accomplish something. Most revolutionary ideas come from those who question the status quo, who who violate a set of rules.

Let go of that mental block. Number Four, avoid ambiguity.

“Life is complex, it's messy. It's contradictory. It's paradoxical.” That's what John Maxwell says in this book. So why in the world would we think? Do we think we even could avoid ambiguity and ambiguity, I have a little trouble talking today. So that's a mental block to let go of. The next one. Failure is bad, creative people don't feel fear of failure. They see it as, as a challenge as a friend as something to look forward to. If they want to be creative, if they want to innovate, if they want to experiment, they'll fail, and they embrace that risk. And this one, this is the mental block I held on to for almost all of my nearly 58 years.

I'm not creative. I have said that phrase more times than I care to admit, I'm just not that creative. I don't know how to draw. We believe we don't possess creativity. It's a barrier to our talent. It's a barrier to our intelligence. It's a barrier to our to our opportunity. Everyone can learn to be creative. The only real block is the disbelief you have in yourself that you are creative.

Blogger Hugh Macleod said this, “Everyone is born creative. Everyone is given a box of crayons and kindergarten, then when you hit puberty, they take the crayons away and replace them with dry uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc.”

Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug is just a weak voice telling you, I'd like my crayons back please. I'd like my crayons back, please. So here's my challenge to you. Take Back the crayons, unleash your creative mind. Leave the coasting and comfort zones behind and challenge yourself. Become creative. Take your craved creativity back, take those crayons back and start creating think things that you have ceased to stop thinking just to think. Think what you have never thought before. Become that person who is innovating. You have it in you let go of that mental block. If you're like me, it's that I'm not creative block. Yes, you are. We all are. We're all we are all born and created as very creative beings. failures, not bad.

Take the risk, let that creative mind flow.

When you find yourself stuck on worry or find yourself stuck on doing things the way you've always done them just coasting and staying in that comfort zone. attempt something you haven't done before.

Think things you've never thought before. I guarantee you the world will open up to you. When you embrace creativity and abundance.

Let your mind flow with the possibilities.

Your Journal Prompt:

What can I think about today in a way that I have never thought about it before?

Maybe it's something that you're facing in life a problem that you have a challenge in your life.

How can you think about it in a way you have never thought before?