Why do we avoid doing the things we want to do?
For the past 3 years I’ve been working on writing a book with my podcast co-host Allison Henrich. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done creatively.
I’ve wanted to write this book for more than 5 years. It encompasses everything that I teach about intuition and reaching your goals with flow. But I kept running into resistance. Even when life gave me all of the signs (3 psychics telling me that I needed to write the book, Allison asking me to write a book with her and connecting with our publisher easily) I still struggled with the actual writing of it.
I could brainstorm all day long, but whenever I sat down at the computer to put in the work, terror would rise up through my chest and seem to strangle my words before I could get them down. I had so much anxiety around writing. And because of this, showing up to the page felt like torture and I avoided it.
Last year, I finally committed to the process of working through my resistance. I hired a book coach, Megan February, and joined her support group for writers. The clarity finally began to come.
I began to go through the process of letting go of my assumptions about what my writing style should look or sound like. Little did I know that a brand-new version of my writing voice wanted to come through! I challenged my beliefs about whether or not I could share this side of myself, and that people would be interested.
When I finally let go, clarity began to come. This was what my deeper self wanted to say. When I finally allowed it, the writing became fun. The more I showed up to work on it, my skills grew, and the structure of the book began to fall into place.
As I got feedback from others in the group, my confidence began to grow and it became easier and easier to show up, get into flow and trust myself and the creative process. It’s funny that this is the exact process that I teach about in my work, but I had to actually go through it myself to come through to the other side. We’ve now submitted half of the manuscript to the publisher and are well into the next chapters. The book should be published early next year!
If you are finding yourself abandoning any part of your creative practice, most of the time it comes down to a few things:
allowing yourself to embrace the work that really wants to come through (not what you think it should be)
gradually building skills by showing up for your practice
growing your trust in yourself and the creative process
breaking down your goal into small pieces
getting feedback and support from others
I speak from experience when I say that gaining clarity on these things by yourself can be really tough. I cannot tell you how valuable support from a coach and other creatives has been along this journey. This is what my clients tell me as well. When we work together, I see them grow in ways that I never could have imagined. When I hired a coach, it was like telling the universe that I was serious about this creative project. It helped me focus and get feedback that I couldn’t have gotten on my own.
Are you ready to commit to your creative work? I’m here for it! I want to support you and guide you in reaching your creative dreams. I currently have two spots open for my 6-month Creative Coaching package. Sign up for a free 20 minute call today to chat about how we can work together!