What if you could have FUN with your business while you make a positive impact and money?
It’s possible. In fact, it’s actually inevitable if you play the game of creation.
This doesn’t come easily for many grown–ups, but that doesn’t mean it can’t feel natural and easy. Sometimes rediscovering the secrets of creation that are always at play can help you get in the game.
Secret #1: Enjoyment
Have you watched a child roll a snowball down a hill?
They pack a handful of snow into a tight ball and start rolling.
At first, it takes a lot of effort to build up the snowball. It doesn’t really roll and they have to do a lot of work.
But the child is enjoying the process. It’s fun to play in the snow and see what they can create.
Eventually, the ball accumulates enough snow that it gets easier, and as they push it downhill, it picks up speed.
It gains MOMENTUM.
Momentum is that magical tipping point where it takes more energy to stop something from moving that it does to keep it going.
This is secret #1 of Playful Creation.
Enjoyment generates momentum.
Enjoyment greases the wheels of creation because when you’re enjoying the process, you tend to take more actions, get more results and work at your best.
So this secret is actually two-fold.
First, know that it’s okay if your creation feels a little clunky at the start. It’s just how it goes sometimes.
Stay with it and be kind to yourself. Keep going. Soon, the magic of momentum will kick in and you can use it to your advantage.
Second, the more you enjoy what you’re doing, the more productive you will be.
Any task becomes enjoyable when you do it with presence and curiosity.
#2 Secret: Attention
I joined a group of fellow expats for a tough outdoor workout the other morning.
Pushups. Pull ups. Burpees.
*%*#!! Burpees!
The trainer made this invitation:
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
A bit cheesy, perhaps, but true.
When I put my attention on my sore muscles and how much I’d rather be in bed than doing frickin’ burpees…
I feel tired, unmotivated and uninspired.
But once I start moving, I’m just…moving. Movement is being created and my entire experience changes.
Now the adrenaline kicks in. My neurons are firing, and my body gives me the energy to do what’s mine to do.
The same thing is true for any creation.
Here’s secret #2 of Playful Creation:
Shift your attention from thinking about what needs to be done (and your unpleasant stories about it) to actually creating, and your experience shifts with it.
When you place your attention on simply creating, it’s enjoyable.
You don’t have to work through your “issues” of procrastination, laziness or whatever you might call them. Just create something.
The shift happens through action.
#3 Secret: Your true nature
Once there was a human baby who was born PERFECT.
They had everything they needed to learn and grow, a natural intelligence to guide them.
The baby learned to wiggle their toes, smile, sit up, walk and speak.
It all came naturally.
And as that child grew, they CREATED all day long.
Without “trying” – although they often had to exert effort.
Without deadlines – they discovered and grew in their own timing.
Without comparison – only their parents knew how they were “supposed” to be doing for their age.
That child became an adult and over time, they learned to do all things that grown ups do, including:
Pushing themselves to exhaustion.
Using the pressure of deadlines and “shoulds” for motivation.
Judging themselves as “not good enough.”
Now I ask you a question…
When did that little baby stop being a perfectly–formed Creator gifted with the intelligence to thrive?
At what age did that child lose their natural power of creativity?
I’ll give you a hint. This is secret #3 of Playful Creation.
You were born a natural creation, creating with effortless action, and you never have and never will lose this gift.
There’s nothing you need to “learn” or “reprogram” to create with ease; you were born for it.
As soon as you stop thinking (whatever pressure, judgement or should that keeps you feeling stuck) you’re fully present in your awesome creative power.
Once you see this, really see this, creating your life and business becomes naturally joyful, just like it was when you were a small child.
And when you get caught up in stressful thinking, which happens to us all, it becomes easier and easier to come back to your naturally creative True Self.
#4 Secret: Space
One day, I was exploring Getting Stuff Done with a client playmate, and the seemingly endless pressure to do more, check another mark on the To Do List, and accomplish something “productive.”
She described the many Voices of Doing.
Each one had an opinion, often attached to memory from the past.
“You must work before play.”
“Once your work is done, you’ll get a chocolate reward.”
“If you won’t let me play, I won’t do anything!”
“Come on, let’s do it together. Then we can have a cookie.”
Some of these voices were more helpful than others. But then she noticed a Voice that came from deep inside. It said things like:
Each action is a blessing.
Every action is a celebration.
The Universe acts through you.
“This voice is quieter,” she said. “It’s my Highest Self.”
Beneath all your thoughts, there is the space of Truth.
It gives us exactly what we need to hear when we need to hear it, and you know it by how it feels.
The Truth is often too simple to satisfy the mind, but the feeling of it is nourishing to the soul.
Which brings us to the fourth secret of Playful Creation:
The space of playful creation is found in the Space Within.
Quieting your mind and thinking less IS the path of playful creation.
This is a tricky one, because most of us have been trained to get things done with More-Harder-Faster.
But not only does this come at a heavy cost of stress and strain, it doesn’t work as well!
In the words of Michael Neill in his book, The Space Within:
Spending more time in the Space Within is where you’ll find everything you’re looking for.
There is a space within you where you are already perfect, whole, and complete. It is a space of pure consciousness – the space inside which all thoughts come and go.
When you rest in the feeling of this space, the warmth of it heals your mind and body. When you operate from the infinite creative potential of this space, you produce high levels of performance and creative flow. When you sit in the openness of this space with others, you experience a level of connection and intimacy that is breathtakingly enjoyable and filled with love. And when you explore this space more deeply, you will find yourself growing closer and closer to the divine, even if you’re not sure there is such a thing and wouldn’t know how to talk about it if there was.
Every problem we have in life is the result of losing our bearings and getting caught up in the content of our own thinking. The solution to every one of these problems is to find our way back home. – Michael Neill
In case you haven’t noticed, none of these “secrets” are really secret, but many of us have forgotten.
Understanding this conceptually doesn’t do much good.
Only when you see your creative nature in action does it change your relationship with creating forever.
That’s exactly what we’ll be noticing and reflecting on as we Get Shit Done in the CREATE adventure.
Yes, we’re each going to complete a milestone on a project during our four weeks together. But what I really want for you…
…is to have a real-time, embodied experience of what it’s like to create from the Space Within. With joy, ease and flow.
That’s the game we’re playing in CREATE. Go here to learn how to join us.
Yours in love and play,
Steph
