Mama never told me there’d be days like these…
This is a true story.
One of my coaching clients had taken on the task of brainstorming big-picture messages that she wanted to communicate. She took some time to record her thoughts. In that moment of inspiration, she created several powerful statements that resonated with her. In fairly short order, her thoughts then moved towards how to translate those messages into tangible outcomes or actions. That’s when the flow stopped, and inspiration right along with it.
Goodbye, creativity… hello, resistance.
Introverts love the inner world of ideas, more than we tend to love the outer world of objects. There’s nothing wrong with that preference, it’s just how we’re wired. The challenge comes when we start being manipulated by our “just do it!,” externally motivated culture. In feeling pressure to DO our ideas (turn ideas into objects), we sometimes push aside our need to BE with our ideas… to let them settle in and expand and take shape.
Instead of giving our ideas space to breathe, we become obsessed with how they fit into a spreadsheet.
It’s a slippery slope from there. Spreadsheets can lead to preemptive anxiety, because they represent taking those ideas public and all that entails: influencing others, expending massive amounts of energy, engaging in promotion, and opening our ideas up to judgment (critical and financial).
The almost inevitable result of that anxiety? Breaking down in Stuck City.
If you have great ideas but get stuck on implementation, consider your readiness for action. Listen to where the pressure to “act now or else!” is coming from. Consider that perhaps it’s too early in your process to make the internal external.
So maybe you’re really not stuck at all… you’re simply getting ahead of yourself. Slowing down allows you to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, to do each necessary and very doable step before making the next move.
When we leapfrog from a light-bulb moment to “how much am I going to charge people for this?,” we miss an opportunity to experience the evolution of moving from idea to implementation. We rush to market, then wonder why we feel insecure with our offering.
When that stuck feeling rears its ugly head, ask yourself: who’s in control here? Is it my outer ego, or my inner truth? Who’s the boss of me?
A healthy ego helps us believe in the worth of our ideas and gives us the courage and energy to manifest them. It’s when we give away our power to our unhealthy, fear-based ego (“but I have to make money now!”) that we experience blocks and resistance.
We introverts are more likely to expand our healthy ego if we give ourselves space, solitude and silence to hear our inner truth. Then we can hear it saying clearly
Slow down.
Listen carefully.
Trust me.
Oh. My. Goddess. I love you. Thank youthankyouthankyou. I Love and LOVE my inner world of ideas. I have scrumptious ideas. I have fantastic ideas. And the timing has been off… I have KNOWN this and yet I find myself soooo heartened by hearing this from another.
OMG. Thank you.
RobinsunneIsmyfullname Robin, :-)! It makes my heart happy to know this resonated with you. Thank you for sharing, and here’s to everything wonderful happening in its own perfect time 🙂
Oh. My. Oh. My. This was the EXACT message I needed today. Thank you. I am in the beginnings of a creative venture that could be my next path in life. Yet that “stuck” feeling keeps popping up when I get ahead of myself with “how will I do this?” before it’s time to be thinking that. This post was wonderful and will be put in the front of my project book as a reminder to honor my way of processing.
Thank you so much, Beth. I was attempting to launch a program this spring and ran up against blocks every time I turned around. Thankfully, I gave myself some time off to do some personal renewal this summer. Taking the time to just “be” with all the questions about my life and my business has put me in a much better place to move forward. When the time is right, I’ll be ready. Thanks for expressing this so eloquently.
Great post Beth, as always. Spot-on. Your voice is such an important one in in our ‘do it now, do it fast, do it all’ culture. A true breath of fresh air and wisdom. Thank you.
@Deborah You’re welcome, Deborah! Here’s to all of us having patience with the process :-)… thanks for reading and commenting.
@ShellyStokes Shelly, that’s beautiful – how wonderful that you had that awareness and gave yourself the space to be. I hope things are unfolding smoothly for you, and in their own good time. Best wishes 🙂
KayDavid Kay, it’s so true… sitting with the “what” – and almost even more important, the “why” – long enough will give us the energy and flow for the “how,” when the time is right. You’re in an exciting time; wishing you only the best as you travel down your next life path!
Thank you for this wonderful post! It’s so comforting to read and confirm that I wasn’t ‘stuck’ but just needed the space and time to work it all out internally before I shout to the whole world. I know in my heart that I am not procrastinating but people who don’t understand an introvert tend to judge us as so.