LITMIR.BIZ

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downfall if not managed well. This book is meant to be a guide to help you to leverage your abilities and counter these potential pitfalls. These would include:

       Being overly sensitive and therefore too thin-skinned to be out in the world much

       Ambivalence about money and therefore being afraid or uncomfortable charging what they deserve

       Intuitive—getting wrapped up too much in other people's life decisions, which distracts the highly creative woman from her own life

       Divergent thinking—going from project to project—too many ideas at the same time can be overwhelming and make it difficult to focus

       Independence—being afraid/disinclined to ask for emotional support and business help when they need it

       Severely critical—perfectionism can be paralyzing and prevent highly creative women from ever releasing their completed work into the world or finishing projects at all

       Non-conforming—being scapegoated by others for being too far “out there” and not following enough protocol to successfully do business in this world—can lead to isolation and loneliness

       Not completely confident—having damaged self-esteem or lack of expertise in certain skill areas that they may need to learn or to delegate to others

       Can be workaholics and ignore their own needs for self—nurturance, serenity and relaxation

       Need for solitude—the highly successful woman must honor this and negotiate with partners and family

       Can make simple things complex due to a long list of internal comfort criteria

       Sad—often feel that they haven't met their potential or realized their dreams for this life

       Fear of being who they really are and telling the truth about it and risking disapproval

       Feeling guilty about not having chosen a traditional career path with job security, a pension, and securing people's understanding of what they do

       Feeling confused by having too many interests and not knowing what to specialize in

       Fear of rejection as being unbearable and something from which they won't recover

       Fear that pursuing their creative work will hurt the ones they love

       Being labeled by others as a risk taker or being hesitant to take the necessary risks to succeed

      Fortunately, there are remedies for all of these issues, and this book is your guide to creative success and peace of mind. Most of these creative liabilities are also strengths, but you must learn how to capitalize on them and redesign your strategies of being in the world.

      This is a book of hope and know-how. Let's start by looking at what inspires you.

      SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY USING YOUR INTUITION

      Worried that you're not creative? You are, but you may be out of touch with your creativity. Your intuition can lead you into a world of novel ideas, experimentation, and brainstorming that will perk up your work life and stimulate innovation and problem solving. Intuition is not just for New Agers. Many executives, business owners, and research and development professionals attribute their successes to following intuitive clues.

      Intuition is your internal information and feeling source. It is an inner library of physical and emotional cues that can direct you onto the right avenue. It is the composite of “gut feelings” and perceptions unique to you. It is an inner way of knowing. Too often, we are trained to discount or repress that knowledge and therefore purposely neglect it, devalue it, or refuse to recognize its message. Intuition is a tool for insight and illumination. Can you recall a time when your intuition prompted you to follow a different course and connected you to a result you were looking for?

      Susan recalls a time when her intuition prodded her to take an unfamiliar exit off the expressway on her way home. As she turned off, she felt foolish and almost turned around. But she followed a country road and passed an intriguing building with a “For Sale” sign on it. She stopped in amazement—this building fit her image of the gourmet shop she wanted to open some day. Here was her dream in reality; the rest was up to her.

      The creative process demands that, like Susan, you are willing to step into the unknown and see what happens. Creativity is born of inspiration and your inspirations evolve from your passions. So follow your whims and see where they lead.

      These excursions will stimulate new thought patterns and generate new paradigms for you. To help you to massage your intuitive talents, you can try a series of exercises to evoke creative prospects for you.

      Exercise One: What Inspires You?

      What do you feel excited by or passionate about? What kinds of books or magazines do you read? What kinds of people do you most like to talk with? What kinds of interests and projects are you drawn to in your leisure time? If you went back to school, what would you most like to learn about? What do you fantasize about? What are your aspirations? What kinds of activities stimulate your creative expression? Do you long to paint or write or build or sing or play something? Write down everything and anything that comes to mind.

      No idea is wrong or silly. What is your internal voice urging you to explore or experience? Let this exercise be the beginning of a creative journal. You may be surprised at the wisdom and guidance stored for you in these seemingly random thoughts.

      To facilitate the new, it helps to clear away the past. Think back to any regrets you have about lost opportunities. Kim wishes she had studied engineering in college instead of teaching. Karen had a chance to go into business with a friend and turned it down because she was too scared. Her friend is now a millionaire who works part-time. It may not be too late for you.

      Exercise Two: What Creative Dreams Have You Abandoned and Why?

      Make a list of all the things you wanted to do, but didn't. Then, think back to what your intuition told you about these options. Choose one. Are you still interested in this path? What does your inner voice tell you about this choice now? Note any patterns that are still possible or an enduring vision that you want to manifest.

      You need to make peace with these cast-off dreams. What can you learn from your mistakes? Rose learned that she hadn't been ready until recently to write her play. her vision just became vivid enough for her to tell the story, so she was able to release her regrets. Melissa, on the other hand, always wanted to become a lawyer. At age fifty, she thought she was too old, but the dream still beckoned her.

      This was a choice point for her. She could either live the rest of her life with the sorrow of not having become a lawyer, or she could go to law school. Or she could leverage her skills and become a lobbyist, a political activist, a paralegal, a city official, or fulfill her dream in numerous alternative ways. It was time for Melissa to move on.

      Grieve what you must and then turn the corner and make room for the next episode.

      Learning to trust your intuition is the critical foundation for creativity. Think back to the times when you were clear that a particular choice was not a wise one. Your “gut” warned you against it.

      Nadia, a billing consultant, recalls a phone call she received from a potential client. The woman owned an antique store and sounded stressed, disorganized, and demanding. Nadia had a negative visceral reaction to the woman's voice. But Nadia needed more business and this was a big account, so she hushed her intuitive radar and accepted the woman as a client. A year later, the woman sued Nadia for malpractice.

      During the legal proceedings, Nadia learned that this woman had sued her last two billing agents and that lawsuits, not antiques, were her primary source of income. Nadia swore to heed her intuitive doubts in the future.

      Exercise

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