How to keep your creative dreams alive when you're busy.

Do you feel like you've never got the time to bring your creative vision to fruition? 

On top of our regular never-ending responsibilities, the past two years have felt uncertain for everyone. Maybe you thought you'd have used this time to get a creative venture off the ground or perhaps up-level your business to new prosperous heights, but somehow times slipped by, and worldly events and life's distractions took over your focus. 

Are you wondering (and maybe even a little worried) if you're ever going to find the time to bring your dreams of doing what lights you up to life?

I'm here to tell you the hard truth: it won't likely happen accidentally.

You're going to have to start taking some action. But not how you might have falsely convinced yourself in the past.

Reframing your idea of what it takes to reach a dream.

I doubt this is the first time you'll have heard people say, "overnight success doesn't happen", or "you never really know what it looks like behind the scenes", but it can be tough to hold that in the forefront of your thoughts when 99 out of 100 folks on the internet are primarily posting about the end result. Even the people who share part of their process edit all the crap bits out. 

Rarely do we see someone talking about how fecking long something's taking or how they still haven't got the result they were hoping for after 237 attempts. And it's for this reason, many believe if their goals aren't achieved in the first quarter of the year or even the first few years, then it's not going to happen. 

Or perhaps you've been conditioned to believe the opposite? Thinking that reaching your dreams takes so much hard work, time and money feels too irrational even to start. 

These popular polarities of thinking make it easy for the subconscious mind to find excuses to derail our dreams.

But what if reaching one's aspirations weren't so black or white?

What if there was a cornucopia of colours in between that could bridge the gap between seeing the pursuit of your dreams as all or nothing?

Would you be willing to get started? Would you be more committed to staying committed?

I invite you to start looking at working towards your creative vision, not as an epic mission that has to be accomplished as quickly as possible or one that will be a chore and take forever, but rather as an exciting adventure! 

After all, what do you believe you are here for if not to live a wondrous and fulfilled existence doing what you love?

The truth is there are plenty of ways to work towards reaching your goals that don't have to involve you quitting your job or finding copious amounts of uninterrupted, free time. 

Here are four ideas on how to snatch free time to keep progressing your creative ambitions:

1. Find just 20-minutes a day by reducing your screen time.
2. Use one half-day a week.
3. Take an hour to yourself every other day in the morning, afternoon or evening. 
4. Allocate one weekend a month. 
   
   

How to keep yourself accountable for working on your dreams - i.e. How to keep your promise to yourself.

1. Write a plan. Having a detailed plan that clarifies why this goal is beneficial and how you can accomplish it in manageable steps is vital to giving you direction. You can follow an excellent framework for this with my book and mini-course, The Progressive Creative Planner.
2. Use planners. Either on your electronic devices or a paper one like The Progressive Creative Planner or the Passion Planner. Be sure to look at each day. 
3. Set reminders or alarms to go off on your phone 30-minutes before your set to start working on your goal. 
4. Use the Pomodoro method to help you get started and stay focused if you feel yourself procrastinating. 
5. Habit stack working on your goal to another habit. i.e. when you drink your cup of coffee each morning, do a small task from your goal plan. It won't take long for your morning coffee to become a tangible reminder to work on your goal. Atomic Habits is a fantastic book on how small changes can make remarkable results, which is a great approach to try for busy people. 
6. Join programs, groups, clubs and collectives that can help you reach your goal. There's nothing like having a great support system of like-minded passion-driven souls to keep you motivated, and regular meet-ups (like the quarterly aspirations workshop) will create a little pressure so you can share your progress. Or what if you considered joining the Craft Your Creative Vision Collective? I would love to have you as part of our creative community.
7. Hire a coach. Few things beat having your own personal cheerleader and accountability buddy! Coaches are there specifically to help you reach your goals. It's within our interest to help you succeed in a way that feels great to you and your needs. If you are curious about how working with me can work for you, I invite you to book a free no-obligation Creative Clarity Call this month. Working with me one to one ranges from £715 to £2000 for six months. 
8. Say no to others, especially if you feel what you've been asked to participate in isn't serving you and it's taking away from progressing your own dreams. Watch Sarah Knight's Ted Talk on the Magic of not giving a fuck for inspiration.
9. Be proactive by reducing distractions before they happen. Put your phone on aeroplane mode when working on your goals to avoid distractions. 
10. Create an incentive with a trusted family member or friend. You could do this two ways, one is to create a reward for completing a goal or the other way is to give them a prized possession and tell them not to give it back until you've completed your goal.
      

 
As Diane von Furstenberg said, "The most important relationship you have in life, is the one you have with yourself." Working towards your dreams is one of the highest forms of self-care so don't ghost your goals and abandon yourself because you think you don't have time. Time is everywhere, all you have to do is claim it for yourself.