Want To Shine A Light On Your Creative Power?

Want to tap into a feeling of more creative freedom and ease this summer? 

Why not take a cue from the sunflower and reach toward the light? 

When things on your to-do list start to feel overwhelming, difficult or unappealing try lightening them up by asking yourself these questions: 

* What's one small way I can make this easier?

* What's one small way I can make this more fun?

* What's one small way I can make this more doable? 

* What's one small way I can reward myself when I've finished?

It's amazing how asking ourselves these simple questions can help shift our perspective and shine a light on a whole new way of looking at situations and responsibilities that have us feeling bummed out, bogged down or blue.  

Click here for your free Sunflower Power Reminders printable. 

You can post it on your desk, tape it to your fridge, keep a copy in your car, or add one to your day planner  to help you remember you have the power to lighten things up. All you have to do is ask!

Another easy way to embrace a summer that feels light, fun and free is get yourself a copy of my Create the Summer of Your Dreams Kit. 

Until next time, here's to tapping into your own sunflower power and reaching toward the light!

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post please share on Facebook and twitter using the buttons below!  If you'd like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

Are You Waiting to Bloom?

Do you find yourself waiting to pursue your creative passions? Waiting for the perfect time to begin? Waiting for a sign? Waiting for the ideal place to create? Waiting for permission from someone else? Waiting for everything on your to-do list to be complete? (We know when that happens…never!)

What if you stop waiting and start creating today?

What if you say Yes! to your creative passions?

What if today is the perfect time to begin?

What if this is your sign?

What if you create right where you are?

What if I give you permission? 

What if you move creativity to the top of your to-do list?

Can you imagine how good that might feel?

Just think of how beautiful our world would be if we all allowed ourselves to stop waiting and simply bloom where we've been planted. What's one small way you might allow yourself to bloom where you're planted today? At home? At work? In your community?

Until next time, all the best from my blooming Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

www.CreativeOasisCoaching.com

The Ta-Dah vs. To-Do Shift

(Click here to request a free printable Ta-Dah List of your own.)

We all have to-do lists. Whether we write them in our day planners, keep them on our phones or let them swirl around in our minds. Even if not is list form, we all have never-ending things that we need, want and intend to do.

I say never-ending because we’ll always need to do things like shop for groceries…pay bills…do laundry…meet deadlines…drive carpools…have meetings…finish taxes and the like. We’ll always have places we want to visit, new activities we want to try and people with whom we want to spend time.

As I often remind my clients (and myself!) the day we no longer have a to-do list will not be the day we finally get around to our creative dream – in fact at that point our main pastime will be pushing up daisies. (Harsh? Maybe. True? Definitely!)

I am a list lover! I love to make lists and it brings me great joy to check things off my lists. Yet, I know that our to-do lists can feel overwhelming precisely because they’re never-ending. That’s why I also love the idea of the Ta-Dah list.

Though not a replacement for our to-do lists, a Ta-Dah list can shift our focus from the many things we have yet to accomplish onto the things we have actually done – even if they weren’t on our to-do list in the first place!

So often we do much more than we give ourselves credit for. We tend to concentrate on what we still need to do rather than taking a moment to give ourselves credit for what we’ve already achieved. And we rarely give ourselves a pat on the back for something that feels good. 

Five or ten minutes crafting…a good-for-the-soul discussion with an old friend…an impromptu organizing session…a spontaneous backrub for a stressed-out spouse…reading an inspiring article, knitting or writing in our journal while we wait in the carpool line and so on.

This is the good stuff! These are the moments that enrich our lives, bring us happiness and feelings of fulfillment. When we take a moment to give ourselves credit for them in the same way we do our “official” to-do lists, we shine a light on them and affirm their importance. That’s exactly what the Ta-Dah list lets us do.

I’ve decided to walk the walk and share my own brief Ta-Dah list in future Mid-Week Oasis Moments. I’d love for you to join me. I’ve created a free printable Ta-Dah list you can download here and use on a daily or weekly basis or whenever you like. Feel free to share your Ta-Dahs in the comments section below as well.

Click here to download your free printable Ta-Dah List

Can you imagine how good it might feel to shift our focus from all we have left to do on any given day to the delightful things we have already done? What a boost!

Here’s to giving ourselves credit for small steps, surprise detours, simple pleasures and all of the Creative Oasis Moments we enjoy in our busy lives.

All the best from my Ta-Dah Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.CreativeOasisCoaching.com

Giving Credit Where It’s Long Overdue – To You!

One of my favorite creative coaching tools is the “credit check-in.” By simply listing all of the things that you did get around to during the week you often realize you accomplished much more than you thought you had. We tend to dwell on all that we haven’t yet crossed off our never-ending, crazy-long, take-care-of-everyone-else-on-the-planet first to-do lists. You know – everything that needs to be done, didn’t get done and a few things we can’t imagine how there will ever be enough time in the world to get done. This just serves to frustrate and overwhelm us. Frustration + Overwhelm = Bad Feelings. Credit Check-in + Self-satisfaction = Good Feelings.

Today I had a “physician – heal thyself!” moment. About a bazillion things that I need and want to do (that’s barely an exaggeration!) raced through my mind. Things to promote my new CD, “Dancing In Limbo”… things to better serve my Creative Oasis Coaching clients … things to do for my family … things to do for my friends …things to do for the planet (when I get on a roll – watch out!) … lots and lots and lots of things!

Just about the moment I felt overwhelm wrapping around me like a boa constrictor and I couldn’t take a deep enough breath, I received a wonderful e-mail from a past client. She wrote to thank me for some of the tools that we’d used together during our coaching sessions and to let me know they were still essential to helping her make the time and space in her busy life for her creative passions (which includes writing a fabulous blog that you can check out here). “Oh yeah,” I remembered, “These fantastic tools are available even to me 24/7, but sometimes we just need a little reminder.”

So I took a break from obsessing about everything that needs to be done and did a credit check-in for myself. I made a list of everything I’ve accomplished in the past week. (even laundry and making lunches – everything that took even a few minutes of my precious time) Then I read it over and let it really sink in. I’m not shy, so I’ll tell you – I’ve been kicking booty this past week! Yes – there is still much to be done – but NEWS FLASH – there always will be. And if there weren’t life would be boring and stagnant and no fun, in my book anyway. I felt so much better realizing all that I had already successfully accomplished. I was able to take a deep breath and feel a blessed release from that awful overwhelm that had been creeping in. (insidious bastard that overwhelm!) I share this in the hope that it will serve as a reminder to you to take a minute to give yourself the credit your due. I promise it will feel great and you deserve it!

All the best from my creative oasis to yours,

Jill

p.s. - I'm thrilled to be the featured coach in this month's MUSE FLASH by Jill Badonsky. Pop over and check out her monthly musing here. It's always inspiring and fun!