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Stay a creative child
We were never most free, creative, open, honest and authentic when we were a child. When we were just learning the concept of time. The cycles of a day, the repition of night, the looping of weeks, months, years. When time didn’t exist, the past didn’t define us into who we were and the outlook of the future didn’t limit us to other’s or our own perceptions or expectations of what we could be. We were just open in the present, who we were, who we are, just to be and be in the moment.
And it’s like we’re always trying to recapture, revisit that state of being as a person, as a creative, as a soul. Or maybe we’re trying to protect that child, the world is too harsh, critical, judgmental. It’s too harmful.
Or that’s how we feel. But I think that childlike person inside of us, is a lot stronger, way more resilient, ultimately invincible to the dangers of the world, we’re just scared for the child, maybe overprotective. Be present, find freedom, be strong, find strength in your freedom.
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We already know…
We already know. We already know everything about ourselves. The really difficult challenge is accepting those things about ourselves.
Have you ever said something to someone, you might be pointing something out, might be giving some advice, or might even be something critical. And they say “I know”. The problem is they do know. They already know everything you’re saying. They just don’t want to hear it, saying “I know” is a defense mechanism. A low-key passive aggressive, “I don’t want to hear this right now”. And it’s some kind of ego trip of, “let me deal with it, my own way”. Triggered.
As if saying the criticism or not saying it, saves us the grief. But whether it’s spoken or not, the real work is overcoming the ego to the point where even if somebody mentions it or brings it up, you have security and confidence that you are working on it and it’s okay that you’re in a place where it might be open to criticism. The ability is being free from the other person’s judgment, which is exposing your own self-judgment, that’s why it triggers defensiveness.
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Writing.Startingpoint
Everything is a progression. Approach writing the same way.
First is the mechanics of writing. That is the actual mechanical action of getting words on a blank sheet.
Before ever have written a page, journal, essay, short story, screenplay, the hardest thing about writing is filling those pages with words. Let alone have it make sense, be something of quality, be something relevant, resonant and remembered.
This stage of learning the mechanics is not pretty, it’s not coordinated, not fluid or intuitive it’s not meant to be. Just do and be. Your mind and body will make the adaptations.
You won’t have confidence, feel secure or trust you can do it, throw that out the window. Just let it be what it is. Don’t judge it by whether it’s good or bad.
The goal here is to make the mechanics of writing automaticity, storing this mechanical part of of writing as involuntary, automatic as a reflex, innate process, this is when the mechanics become instinctual and intuitive. That is the most daunting task now isn’t trying to start or trying to finish a writing project.
Once you get this part automatic then you can stack the next progression ontop of that. Going through the same process with adapting new and different skills. We build the process so that we can easify the mechanical parts in order to free up more mental energy for the creative parts and decision-making.
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Creating processes is meant to free up mental capacity and increase creative efficiency
Building processes and systems is a way to free up mental capacity for creativity, innovation and ingenuity. Automating the routine, mechanical parts of the mental function, making the mental logistics low effort and low energy, automatic. Allowing for more energy, focus and intellect to be used for the more demanding rigors of creativity.
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What is The 80% Rule?
The 80% Rule is constraining your effort and energy at or around 80%. Now, I know that goes against what we’ve all been taught, go 100% or 110% or it’s not worth the effort or no real growth or development can happen.
But let me ask this, how many people don’t do something, i.e. run, music, some other skill development, because they know they can’t do that 100-110%, beacuse they know it’s not sustainable and there’s no way they can commit to it. The second question is wouldn’t 40%, 50% or even 20% be better than 0%? Walking or jogging at 40-50% effort? Regularly practicing some music or new language at 50% produce some results. So let’s talk about “The 80% Rule”.
First, what is 80%? The 80% Rule shares some themes of concepts you might have heard before, described as the “Goldilocks Zone”, not too hard, not too easy, just right. Or “Flowstate”, the “Zone”, the effort is at the right intensity, where instinct, intuition and ability are interactivating at the same frequency. Or the “Sweetspot”, not having to try too hard, where intellecually, physically and mentally everything is fully engaged.
But let me go further by describing some specificifcations and quantifications of where we can measure that 80%.
- Sustainabililty
- Effort Difficulty (input, intellectual, physical, mental, psychological)
- Quality
- Intensity
- Recovery
I want to go into further detail on how to measure The 80% Rule under these criteria in a future essay but for now let me first describe operating outside of 80%.
Going over or past 80% exertion, closer to 90-100%. Operating at this level for too long will cause physical, mental and intellecutal fatigue. Causing potential burnout, requiring rest and recovery. Quitting or stopping during this burnout phase is at a high risk and sustainability at this rate of pace is almost impossible. But also approaches the threshold for the point of diminishing returns where trying harder doesn’t necessarily produce a better quality result.
Operating under 80% effort, is a more casual experience with less intention toward a progression, but like I said something is better than nothing. It might be focused less on a specific outcome or result, maybe more for relaxation. But maybe in this context can be categorized as maintenance or recovery mode. Where the focus isn’t so much progression, growth, development and adaptation but more so maintaining a minimum required output.
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Longing for that place…
Our spirit yearns for a place to connect, a place to feel accepted, wanted, needed.
Unconditional.
Unjudged.
Undenied.Love is that connection. Love is the openness.
Love is being able to be who we are without judgment in absolute fearlessness.
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New Year’s Revolution
A New Year’s Resolution always feels like grinding to maintain an unbroken streak of doing something you don’t want to do because you know it’s good for you, for as long as you can until you finally break and can’t sustain it anymore. Yea that sounds fun.
The year you’re able to finally keep your New Year’s Resolution is when you decide to get rid of New Year’s Resolutions. We hear it every January “New Year, New You”. And maybe the finality of an old year and the feeling of a fresh start of a new one gives some inspiration, drive and motivation. But how long does that last until it feels like a grind?
But it’s literally just another day. No different than any other. The sun came up, it’ll go back down. January 21st, May 14th, September 2nd, December 31st – you could start to be a “new you”, any day, anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to wait! That in itself should give some inspiration, energy and encouragement.
Maybe think of it as a New Year’s Revolution. Do things with the intention of wanting to embody that state of being. It’s always good to have a purpose and goal but from my experience, it’s felt a lot more fruitful and sustainable to embody the activity – the identity. That is, for example, running because you are a runner. Of course we might want to start running for health or fitness reasons but running because I’m a runner, or sprinting because I’m a sprinter has been so much more sustainable and healthier for my mind than running to “lose weight” or some other extrinsic goal. And ultimately would produce the same results, healthier physical fitness and the other extrinsic results but the state of mind while doing it makes a world of a difference, it becomes less of a grind, less of a struggle to get motivated and overcome the inertia.
It’s a subtle nuance, one we’re not frequently taught. Seems obvious but it has improved my mindset and approach in almost everything I do, and not just my physicality but also my wellbeing. It keeps me present and in flow for whatever I’m doing.