Putting Your Creativity to Work for You

Your creativity is an awesome tool. It can allow you approach your business in a unique way that's energy-revving.

At times, though, your creativity can lead you astray and really drain you.

I once attended a very large business gathering hosted by a client. We'd had a great working relationship over several years, so she greeted me with a friendly hug in the reception area. I tried to speak to her, but many people were waiting, so she quickly moved on to the next person.

Feeling a little vulnerable in this setting, with lots of people I didn't know, and many influential people present, I started to feel that my client had brushed me off.

I tried to get past it by carrying on, pleasantly making conversation.

But I felt subdued, and wasn't making all I could of the opportunities available to me. And inside, my inner film maker was at work, playing in Technicolor across my inner Imax screen, about how I wasn't really welcome, that I didn't belong there.

After a mercifully short period of running this film over and over in my head, it suddenly hit me. I was making the whole thing up! My inner observer had shown up with this news flash just when I needed her.

My client was simply doing what she promised to do: have a big gathering where she gave the crowd her all. I had to laugh at myself, and smile compassionately at that fearful place that got tweaked by the situation.

I know I'm not alone. I've spent many a call on the phone or face to face with my clients, listening to the soundtrack of an anticipated, and unwanted, scenario.

We've all put our creativity to use in ways that don't serve us, putting it in the hands of our fear or our anger. We've all run movies in our minds that get in the way of what we really want.

The good news is that we don't have to keep watching those replay scenarios.

The goal is to turn the replay scenarios off, step out of the movie and into the present moment, where your inner observer can meet you.

At least we can give ourselves a break and go get some popcorn. The break itself is often enough to let us get a different perspective on the situation.

If you sometimes have trouble turning off the screen, here are 5 ways to make the break:

1. Look for remakes. Other versions of the story you are running are possible. Look for them. Chances are, one will resonate with you, and you'll be able to step away from the original big screen version.

2. Watch what you buy at the concession stand. If you're stuffing yourself with popcorn and Junior Mints, chances are you're trying to cover up some discomfort or fear. Stop chewing. Swallow. Now take a little internal reading while you're clearing the popcorn bits out of your teeth with your tongue. How are you really feeling in the moment? Not so good? OK, what's that feeling all about? Is it really about what the big screen scenario is telling you, or is there something more to it? If you can identify what's really bugging you, it's likely that your yen for soggy popcorn will miraculously melt away.

3. Keep the drama in its place. Most people aren't mean; they just focusing on what's important to them at the moment, and they're doing the best they can. OK. So what are you going to do about the situation that's bothering you? While throwing a hissy fit might make for a great dramatic scene in a movie, it's exhausting in real life! And it deprives you of a great opportunity. When you're feeling like someone isn't giving you what you want, ask yourself, 'can I give that to myself?' You might be surprised: in most cases, the answer is yes! This brand of independence allows you to turn the situation around so that you give yourself what you most need right then. Now that is real-life drama of the best kind!

4. Write a new ending. We can be hard on ourselves when these scenarios have had some time to play. Forgive yourself for running with it. Have compassion for the place inside of you that it comes from. You've come to the end of this screening, you are taking care of that place, and you can move on.

5. Put your name up in lights where it belongs. When we're busy trying to get someone else to fill our needs, it makes for difficult moments in our relationships, and not much fun for ourselves. When we put our own names on the situation, up in lights, clearly, where we can see that meeting our needs is our own responsibility, then we truly start to get our needs met, and gain the power to direct our own lives.

So put your creativity to good use, with imagined scenarios that serve you and your goals. When those tricky scenarios start to play in your head, you can call on that inner observer who lets you see what's really going on. Step away from the big screen, and you'll find her.