Archive for category creativity
Your Turn: How Do You Break YOUR Thinking Slump
Posted by DaveOlson in creativity, your turn on Nov 12, 2007
I know that we hear about writer’s block and struggle with how to overcome it, but I think there is a deeper underlying issue that almost everyone suffers from.
Thinking Block
Or maybe we should call it creativity block. If you are a writer it might manifest in a lack of ideas or the words just won’t flow. Other creatives will struggle with it in other ways.
Maybe you usually see things clearly but now…
Or your strength is problem solving but this week…
A few weeks ago I was taking a flight lesson (no I’m not quite done yet) and I just couldn’t do anything right. The maneuvers that I normally would nail, instead were executed with the finesse of a clumsy slapstick comedian. I was blocked.
The fact is I really hate when it happens. Sometimes I go through it feels like ages when the ideas just don’t come. Usually I’m a visionary but during those times… I just don’t see clearly. As I said… Frustrating.
Since I suspect that most if not all of us struggle with this here’s my question:
How do YOU break out of a thinking slump? What’s your secret? I’d really like to know! C’mon Let’s Talk! I could use everyone’s help on this one. 
Alex… what’s your take on it? (changing the subject 
)
Liz, what do you do? (I think I owe you a bloggy tag)
What If This Monday…
Posted by DaveOlson in creativity, personal growth, ramblings, relationships on Nov 05, 2007
What if today
- you smiled when you could have frowned
- you shared encouraging words while others critiqued
- you stopped to help someone struggling instead of rushing to your next appointment
- you paused to hear the sound of silence… if you can hear that
- you said I love you one extra time
- you listened.. I mean really listened before you spoke
- you noticed your breath
- you walked when you could have run
- you came early to an appointment
- you drank more water
- you called a friend on the phone… not facebook
- you smiled at a child’s laughter
- you went to work a different way
- you got up an hour earlier
- you read a new blog
- you told your spouse how much you appreciate them
- you hugged someone for just a little longer
- you smiled at yourself
- you walked backwards
- you really, sincerely, genuinely enjoyed your day
What would your world look like? What would it feel like? Let’s talk!
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who Am I Behind My Skull
Posted by DaveOlson in creativity, personal growth, ramblings, self-discipline on Sep 06, 2007
Okay… it’s a lousy title. I couldn’t think of anything to rhyme with wall. At least not anything that conveys the idea of how we really see ourselves.
I’ve had far too much time lately to think about how I see myself and by extension how others see themselves.
It’s really true… the way you look at yourself either limits or releases your potential.
A couple of weeks ago I ended up in a wheelchair for two days while were traveling. My back has been giving me a great deal of grief the last couple months which incidentally is why I haven’t posted in a while. I can’t sit at a desk for extended periods of time and I still have to get my real work done.
Anyway back to the wheelchair. After refusing to use the chair and trying to walk until I simply could not… I succumbed to the wishes of my family and sat down in the wheelchair so they could maneuver me around. Within a couple hours of first sitting in that chair I had a sudden realization… my mindset had changed. I was no longer fighting the idea, I was enjoying it.
Nothin’ wrong with that you say. And you’re right. I had accepted my reduced mobility.
Instead of trying to walk, it was easier to be pushed around. Something in my motivation and view of myself left me content but it actually scared me. I could see myself staying in a wheelchair. I was confusing resignation with contentment.
At that moment I realized that I couldn’t risk keeping an image of myself in a wheelchair in my head. I had to get rid of the wheelchair in my head before I could get rid of the wheelchair I was sitting in. I had to create the picture, I couldn’t let someone else do it for me.
- People can overcome tremendous obstacles when they can see themselves past the obstacles.
- To go where you want to go in life you must somehow see yourself already there.
- You stay where you are when you see yourself as you are. Not as what you will be!
The bible says that even God calls things that are not, as though they were.
Oh and by the way, I’m not in the wheelchair. In fact I’ve started some new therapy and my back is improving. I even had enough time to post today. 
Let’s try something together. What do you want to be six months from now? How would you describe it? Can you describe it in a comment that would give others a picture of the person you will be? Can you see it?
Let’s talk!