About spotting, and working with, resistance: Internal and external boulders

I have a little challenge for you today:

If you ever had the feeling that your creative career (or personal life for that matter) doesn’t develop the way you’d like it to, have an eye on the following things and WRITE THEM DOWN:

1. How much time do you actually devote to what is important to you/your business/your creative work?
   Yes, actually DOING things, not just plotting them out in your head? There is a difference between “I think I should…” and “Today, I did…”
2. When do you think you spend time on your creative project/business/relationship, but actually you don’t?
   Example: You want to develop a business plan, and you think it is a good idea to check out the “competition” on the Internet, but you actually get dragged down by other people supposedly “doing better”, and you spend ages on aimlessly looking at more “successful” people. Consequently, you feel depressed instead of getting work done.
3. When do you feel bitter or deflated instead of excited and challenged in a good way?
   What is it that sets off negative emotions (be really precise!), and when are you “in the zone”?
4. When and why do you make what kind of excuses?
   “So much other stuff to do.” “Not today.” “I’m too tired.” “I’ve got a migraine.” 😉
5. Maybe the most important one: What are your “internal and external boulders”, and when and why do they take your attention away from your creative work?
   An internal boulder is usually something that limits your self-belief and is rooted within yourself: anxiety, fear, hostility, guilt, bad habits, “not feeling good enough” …
   An external boulder is something that “life throws at you”: redundancy, family problems, accidents, sickness – in short, life events you don’t have any influence over (but you can still influence how you deal with them).
   

If you answer these questions honestly for a while (how long is up to you, but I’d recommend at least a week), you might be on your way to actually make some changes that will really stick.

So if you feel up to the challenge, why not write notes, or a diary, for some time? Or, even better for some accountability:
Blog about it and create a pingback/trackback to this post, or leave a comment below (you can of course also send me a private message if you don’t want the world to read it).

I’d love to hear from you!

© Petra Raspel 2013