I sure didn’t. And it usually ends up that way. Every year I have every intention of doing exactly what I write down as my goals for the year and every November I look back at that list and wonder why I ever made the list in the first place.

That’s not to say that I haven’t done anything this year. In fact, I did LOTS and if I stuck to my list, I wouldn’t have explored the places I did and come to where I am today.

You see, The Alternating Current wasn’t even a thing last year when I was creating my 2011 goals. At least not in it’s current incarnation. I wanted to blog about Scanners/Renaissance Souls but I petered out a few months after starting it (totally OK and totally normal for Creative Explorers…).

If I stuck to my goals, I wouldn’t have strayed far off the path and I probably wouldn’t have come up with the Idea Evaluator Kit or Creative Cartography or the Pathfinder Sessions (coming soon to an inbox near you! ).

So when it comes time to evaluate 2011 and look forward to 2012, I don’t think I’m going to make any goals like I did in previous years.

I’ll make general plans, point my ship in a direction, and see where I want to go next. It’s an experiment.

I’m a Creative Explorer, so I’l explore.

And this year?

I promise not to beat myself up for not meeting those goals I set for myself in November 2010. Instead I will go back over the stuff I have done and write up my reflections, and dream about the things I’d like to explore next year.

I do have a few projects in mind, but with baby on the way, I’m not pushing things.

I’ve made my maps for those projects so I’m ready when I get those few precious minutes.

How about you? Did you get everything done you wanted to this year? Is there one last thing you want to push out there before the year’s over? 

If you start getting panicky and freaked out that we only have 60 days left in 2011, remember 2 things:

1. We still have all of November & December to do a small project (or a BIIIG one like NaNoWriMo)
2. Don’t beat yourself up. Reflect on what you DID do this past year and know that what you’ve done is exactly what you were meant to do.

Now, why use maps?

First of all, it’s so exciting to draw a map for projects instead of using boring spreadsheets, lists & calendars!

Second, we are all visually-oriented people. Unless some tragedy happened, we get the majority of our information through our eyes.

Not only that, the more senses we involve in whatever we’re doing, the more it sticks in our brains.

While we go through the Creative Cartography process, we’re going to use our sense of sight, touch, sound & smell (that is, if you use lovely scented markers), and taste if you decide to find a food/drink to associate with your planning.

Project maps we create in the Creative Cartography class will be BIG so you can post it on your wall to see your progress. You’ll draw your Daily maps in a sketchbook so you can look back and see all the amazing awesome stuff you’ve done.

Because honestly, Creative Explorers have a really tough time at remembering what we’ve done in the past. We’re always focused on the “what’s next” that we tend to leave our amazing accomplishments behind in the dust. This is a recipe for feeling like a failure when you can’t remember you were published in a book last year or you won first place in a juried art exhibition (true stories), or even that you set off on your own and started your own business! That’s a HUGE accomplishment that can’t be forgotten.

But these often are forgotten.

Silly brains.

So, besides getting a fun visual representation of your project, you’re getting memories that will stick with you when you need a reminder of how much you’ve actually accomplished. They’ll stick with you precisely because we’re using multiple senses to create these maps.

And you’ll get your project done!

If you think this is for you, then head on over to the Creative Cartography Page and get on in!

This is on one of the round cork trivets I use as a cork board in front of my desk. Whenever I feel discouraged, frustrated, grumpy, angsty or tired, this is a reminder to get myself into the studio and play with my paints, pens, markers & glue.

What feeds you? (leave a comment below if you feel led )

Brent’s list is never done. Ever. I think the first time I ever heard of this list was 10 years ago. And he still refers to it. I’m pretty sure it’s the same list.

Brent loves his lists. Yay Brent! It works for him.

But me?

If I ever create a 97+ item to-do list, I may just have to shoot myself.

A to-do list that long is WAY overwhelming. I wouldn’t know where to start. And the fact that it never ends?  The anxiety alone would kill me (if I haven’t shot myself already).

To be perpetually doing, working on the same list for month after month?

Sounds like hell to me.

But that’s me (and I’m sure a few of you, too ).

So I don’t use lists.

Except for groceries and packing for a trip.

What I do is way funner (:P) and works the way I work.

I’m a visual person (frankly, everyone is). I’m also forgetful, as Creative Explorers often are. We’re so focused on What’s Next that we forget what we’ve done in the past. Also, if something’s not front-and-center, it doesn’t exist as far as my brain is concerned. That makes me a crappy friend from time to time and a horrible executor of plans.

I used to write up lists. I’d have EVERYTHING I needed to do for a particular project on one list all written neatly with little boxes next to each item so I could check them off when I was done. I even tried list-based productivity tools to keep track of projects on my iPhone and computer.

Every list I ever created ended up lost or completely forgotten in a notebook or file somewhere. I’ve spent at least $30 on iPhone apps that looked fantastic with all sorts of bells n’ whistles to keep me on track. I haven’t used any for more than a day or two. I even won a year’s subscription to a web-based project-planning app. I used it for 2 days.

It became glaringly obvious that lists and I don’t get along. I had to figure something out that would work for me, with the way I work, and wasn’t mind-numbingly boring.

So I decided to start drawing maps. On paper with smelly markers.

I started creating visual representations of what I need to do for a particular project and tracking evidence of my progress.

Big project maps on my wall. Small daily maps in a sketchbook.

And I’m getting stuff done. 

I’m also remembering what I’ve done. Even if I don’t have these maps in front of me, the very act of drawing a map, using more than one of my senses, embeds the project/things I’ve done more solidly in my mind than just writing.

I use vision, touch, sound, and smell (occasionally taste if I have a spoonful of Nutella while drawing my map).

I feel the paper and the movement of my hand and markers across the paper.

I smell the smelly markers (the grape is my favorite) as I draw my map and color in the tasks I’ve finished.

I see the maps when I look on my wall or over to my sketchbook.

I hear the scritch-scritch of my markers on the paper.

All of these senses bringing in information about the exact same thing lodges it firmly in my brain. I recall steps of my project even when I’m away from my maps. When the project or day is done, I remember the sense of accomplishment when I color in each item on my map.

I feel more calm, more in control when I use maps instead of lists.

So yeah, to-do lists suck.

If they’re not working for you, why are you still using them? If they do work for you, YAY! Keep using them. But if not, you have to find something that will.

I’m a big advocate for finding what works best for you. You’ll be happier and get stuff done if your tracking systems don’t make you feel like stabbing yourself in the eye.

If you’re interested in what I do, I’m teaching a class called Creative Cartography where we will plan out your project and create a map for it as well as use daily maps to chart your progress. We’ll learn about Acceptable Minimums to keep the stress levels down when you don’t have the energy but still want to make progress, and get a handle on your TRUE daily capacity for what you can ACTUALLY get done. That way you don’t feel like crap when you see a map with only 3 out of 15 things colored in.

It’s the last time until mid-to-late 2012 that I’ll be able to teach this class live and offer support. I’m expecting an addition to my family in February, so things are a bit up in the air as to my own capacity.

So, if you want to find out more, head on over to the Creative Cartography page and read about the class. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or email me.

If you’re on the mailing list, expect an email soon with a special discount code. If not, sign up at the top right and you’ll get it!

Oh my Dearest Explorer,

There is so much I want to tell you, and time just flies by so quickly. I didn’t realize how long it has been since I sent the last missive!

I want to use the space today to talk to you about longing. Desire. Wanting something so much that your soul just aches at the thought of it.

Have you ever felt this way about something?

I have.

I do.

And it hurts so much seeing other people have what I desire.

I could get upset and jealous and hate the person that has what I want.

I felt that way on more than one occasion.

I could feel sorry for myself, find everything wrong with my current situation, and melt into a puddle of tears and desperation.

Been there… recently, in fact.

Or I could look at that person, see what they’ve done and motivate myself.

I could see them as somebody I can emulate, someone who has reached my desires and know that it’s possible.

Yet that’s the hard way.

Jealousy and getting down on yourself comes so easily. Yet turning it around and using that as something to motivate yourself, something to drive you further towards your goal?

That requires some resolve, a lot of reframing, and the mentality of an Explorer.

You are an Explorer.

See the world through those eyes, act like an Explorer and you will reach what you desire.

It may not be NOW NOW NOW… but it will come in time.

I’m looking forward to the day where my life looks like the one in my head. But in the meantime, I’m making the most of the now, enjoying the now as it is and exploring.

But I’ve been hiding them for another reason. The world is scary. And letting the content in these missives get out is even scarier. What I write about can get intensely personal and spreading it around the whole frelling world isn’t my idea of fun.

But I do think that part of the last Flying Monkey Missive is important for the whole frelling world to know. Because it’s about the heart of what I’m doing and how I envision The Alternating Current helping you.

So… here goes:

Now It’s out there.

We’ll see what happens next!

If you want to get in on the Flying Monkey Missives when the next one comes out, fill in your details to the top right.

I want to start giving you a little taste of what it’s like to work with me so I’ll be creating some small but helpful resources as time goes on.

ARGH! I have no ideas… and what to do about it

This first  tiny taste is called “Thirty days to more Ideas than You Ever Thought You Could Ever Come Up With. Ever.” and is based on this post I wrote a little while ago. Go ahead and download it. No need to give me your email address (although if you do, you’ll get these things first).

I know these days there’s a lot of pressure to come up with ideas. If you’re working for someone in any kind of creative capacity, you need to keep those ideas coming to prove your value. If you’re working for yourself (or want to) you need to come up with stuff to fuel your own business. And if you’re not actively capturing those ideas or you’re so scared of letting the ones you have out, you’re gonna get sunk (picture the Titanic).

Tossing you a lifesaver

No… not the candy…

This little downloadable nugget is a bit of a life vest. I know this is something all of us face at some point. It’s called writer’s block or stuckness or “I’m out of ideas,” when in reality it’s you who’s blocking the ideas from coming out.

Censoring the censor, letting ideas just fly out no matter how dumb they may seem, writing shitty first drafts is all part of being creative.

No idea ever came out fully developed.

You didn’t. If I recall you were a squirmy wrinkly bloody mess when you first came out. Why do you expect your ideas to be any different?

You just have to let yourself go. Allow yourself to be a bit unpolished, unrefined, wild, crazy and silly.

It’s in this that you find and refine those gems.

No crap, no gems. That’s just the way it works.

So, download this 3-page easily-printable PDF and try what it says for 30 days.

And let me know how it goes. I’m also in the midst of reclaiming my own morning writing practice, and as I expected, these 3 pages of spilling out all the garbage in my head is making for smoother sailing.

I dare you.

Thirty days. Write every single morning.

You up for it?

photo credit: edenpictures

It’s been a while.

And I know in the midst of all the stuff surrounding the Idea Evaluator Kit this past month you may not be getting a clear idea of who I am and what I do.

But that’s about to change.

It started with an old seafoam green typewriter, some ledger paper and some stream-of-consciousness, not to mention a healthy dose of metaphors (more on that soon).

I wrote from my heart to my people. You.

And let it sit for five days before I decided what to do with it.

Then I sent it out to my list yesterday and called it the Flying Monkey Missives (if you want to get the next one, sign up in the box to the right).

It was a scary thing. It was truly from my heart. From the depths of me and why I do what I do.

And the response was lovely. It made me realize that exposing some of that stuff I think will scare people away for being too untamed and unrefined is probably exactly what you need to see from me.

So in the next few days I’ll be revamping some of the content to reflect the metaphor I’m building this business on so you can see where you fit. It has to do with steampunk ships and flying monkeys and building seaworthy vessels and exploring the wide open seas.

In the meantime, I encourage you to find that thing you’ve been holding back from people. Find that wall you’ve put up between the real you & the world and poke it… see what happens.

The audio is two and a half minutes long.

So, how have you been dealing with launch season?

photo credit Charlie Balch

The reason why I haven’t been writing about this is because frankly, I’m rarely short of ideas. I’ve been short on the follow-through, persistence and patience aspect, but going through the process of Idea Evaluation, I still end up doing the ones that are important to me at this moment.

So what if you find yourself blocked?

What if you desperately NEEED to come up with ideas because your life/job/situation depended on it?

What if your normally rapid-idea-generating brain decides to take a vacation when you need it most?

If you’re capturing your ideas when you have them in the first place, this is a no-brainer. Get out your idea book and flip through it.

If you haven’t or you’ve just started and you’re experiencing a block or a backlog or what I call Creative Constipation, the fastest way I know to get unclogged is to write.

Write is not a four- five-letter word.

I’m not talking about the writing you did in school. That’s just torture. Anyone coming out of the educational system who still loves to read and write is a rare bird indeed.

The writing I’m talking about is free writing. Or stream-of-consciousness. It’s writing without a goal or outline. It’s taking a pen, some paper, and having at it.

NO censoring, no erasing, scratching out. No punctuation or capitalization. Just open the connection between your brain and your hand and let it go.

It’s fast, but not that easy if you’re not used to it.

Everyone is creative and everyone has the capacity to come up with ideas. It’s only when we allow fear and expectations to come into play that we stop ourselves up.

This clears the cobwebs in your brain, loosens the creative muscles, and gets the crap out first. Kind of like running the tap after the water’s been shut off for a few days. You have to clear out the junk before your brain can work the way it’s supposed to.

Writing this way teaches you to ignore the old hag/bitch/censor in your brain and just create.

This comes from The Artist’s Way Morning Pages. Three pages of spilling in the morning before you do anything. I said 20 minutes because that’s usually how much time it takes me to write 3 pages. I go fast, scribble, and not much is legible. Start at 20 minutes and build up to three whole pages of writing. (A page, for the nit-picky is one side of an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of paper. It needs to be expansive. Writing in a pocket-sized moleskine isn’t going to cut it.)

As you continue to do this non-directional writing, you’ll find you think more clearly, you’ll be more creative when you need to be, and your brain will feel like it’s had a good spring cleaning. Really.

The more you create the more creative you become.

Once you open the floodgates, quit listening to the censor/bitch/old hag in your mind, you’ll find yourself with more ideas than you’ll ever have time to do.

Now if you need ideas right this second and don’t have a week or so to let this writing do it’s job on your brain, the next thing you can try is Mind-Mapping. I’ll go over this in the next post.

If you need a nudge (plunger?) or you just can’t get yourself to sit down and write or give yourself time to brainstorm, how about a quick 30-minute call? No strings attached, just you and me over Skype talking about what’s got you stuck and how we can un-stick you. You get unstuck and a recording of the unsticking session. Sound good?

Let me know you’re interested and we’ll talk details.

photo credit: lipár