HOW TO GET OUT OF A CREATIVE RUT and not hate on your friends who are on a creative flow

Ouch…I know. We hear about “haters.” The last thing you ever want to admit is that you might be a hater yourself. The term “hating” is in the context of someone having a form of jealousy about someone else and their success that they start to misrepresent them [even in their mind] in order to feel better about themselves.

Are you a hater? Perhaps you’re not or at least that’s most definitely NOT your intention or heart. Yet, why do we deal with these feelings and insecurities as creators?

BECAUSE WE’RE NOT CREATING!
Creative people must create because if we don’t, we have too much time on our hands to hate [aka build frustration or jealousy] over those who are!

CREATIVE RUT

It’s likely that you’re not creating because you’re in a creative rut. So let’s work on a few practical things that might help you get out of creative rut.

1. REFLECT : reflection can be done in several ways. Some great ways are by journeling, taking a drive, going somewhere that allows you to think and dig deep, take a walk. Whatever you have to do to be able to listen to the depths of your heart and mind and reflect on WHY you might be feeling stuck.

2. INSPIRE YOURSELF: If you mind and heart are cluttered, you won’t be able to find clarity to be inspired, so make sure to reflect first and declutter your mind. Once you do…find time to do something or go somewhere that spark joy and don’t make you think too much. For me, this is visiting coffee shops or designing spaces in my home. It allows me to feel creative without pressure of creating something for “work.”

3. CREATE A VISION: creating a vision for yourself leads you to have something to focus on instead of focusing on what others are doing that you’re not. What small goal do you have in mind? What new project do you want to tackle? Have a vision for something that’s exciting and a little challenging so you have something to focus your energy towards.

4. STOP SCROLLING: if you’re not in the right headspace, scrolling through instagram might not be healthy. If you hear yourself say things like “I hate instagram, everyone is so phoney” or “instagram is just a bunch of highlights, no one is real” or “ugggggghhhhhh….I’m just so annoyed” after you’ve just spent an hour or two scrolling, then you can identify that instagram is not a healthy place for you at the moment. Identify why you have and use instagram in the first place. If you remember you have total control over your account, then you can remove anything or anyone that is leaving you with toxic feelings. If it’s just merely that you’re in a bad headspace and therefore insecurities and so on are getting the best of you when you see others win, stop scrolling. Only jump on there when you need to post or do your own work. At least until your mindset is in a better place.

5. CREATE: There’s no way around this. You’re in a rut. You might be a tad jealous of those who have a creative flow, but the only way around being in a rut is to dig yourself out of it, one creative way at a time. Just do it! Even if you don’t feel like it. Even if it’s not perfect or you’re not in the mood.

Creators MUST create…if you don’t’ you’ll have too much time on your hands to hate on people who are.