Last year I ran a successful year-long program called Powered by Hope. The intent of the program is to help you follow your creative dreams by powering your spirit with hope! I am glad the program was so well received. This year, in addition to new posts, I will also be sharing a few of the best posts from the program. From now until the end of 2015, you will receive a minimum of two posts a month focused on hope. I hope you will enjoy them and that they will inspire you to follow your dreams!

EXPLORE

I debated titling this week’s post: The Butt Out Post. Well, clearly, better sense prevailed! But it is what I want to talk about this morning: getting our butts out of our chairs. This is really a big and, sadly, underperformed function that every creative person needs to focus on when pursing a dream project. Especially when the project hits a snag or there is a dull moment and you feel compelled to clean the bathrooms for the sixth time that day instead of dealing with the issues on your project.

When I coach writers who are unable to write, I always tell them to leave their writing space—at least for a while. Go out and explore. Pick up your favorite chocolate bar and head to the newest museum/bookstore/clothing store in your area (or even better, outside your area) and just spend some time looking around. It is a great way to nurture the writer side of you that is looking for new experiences to write about. Maybe while wandering the children’s museum you notice the brand-new system installed in the bathroom to dry your hands, or the poor way a cross mother handles her son, or the fact that the entire menu being served at the museum cafeteria is now organic—I am making some of this up, but these are things you would have never known if you had not gone out. One point here: this is something to do on your own, not with a kid or friend in tow. You want to give your mind the ability to think and look for new things, not gossip about Clooney’s new movie or worry about your baby’s diaper.

This exploring does something important. It frees your mind to focus on your problem without “worrying about it.” Sounds crazy, I know, but this is the equivalent of I was in the shower, and suddenly the answer hit me!

Going out and exploring, finding new sources of inspiration, finding how big the world really is and how much we still have to learn is, in my opinion, a powerful antidote to repeated bathroom cleaning to avoid working on your dream project.

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