We can get so bombarded with the overload of information we face each day. It’s no wonder we have a lot swimming around there in the old noggin’ at any given point in time. And if you’re a Creative, who has a tendency to go into creative mode a whole lotta lotta, then I can almost bet you have lots of creative ideas that you’d like to try out in your lifetime.
Problem is . . .
Many times, we’re trying to match up lots of creative ideas to just one person.
And I’m a solopreneur through and through. I don’t have an entourage of individuals working alongside me, helping me with all these viable ideas I have in my head.
So, what to do? WHAT TO DO!?
“Because let’s face it: I’ve got some pretty nifty ideas and ALL OF THEM deserve to be seen by the masses. And if I don’t unleash ALL of my creative wares on the world, I’m living beneath my creative potential. Right?”
Well, “Yes!” If you don’t unleash your creative wares to the world, you are living beneath your God-given potential to create. And, you’re denying your people the opportunity to benefit from your creative genius.
But also, “No!” Because, you’re not required to act on EVERY single creative idea that comes to mind.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
As a matter of fact, the majority of the ideas you have — you’ll never get to them in your lifetime (even if you have that entourage of help I mentioned above).
It’s just not practical to DO ALL THE THINGS.
And so, my words of the year have been to “SIMPLIFY LIFE.”
However, the mind does what the mind does. It’s a complex thing — that mind. It goes off into dream-like tangents of what it can creatively do. Might I add: in a very unrealistic goal-setting fashion, at times. And before you know it, you’ve got a whole new list of New Year’s Resolutions that you see yourself accomplishing over the course of a new 365-year cycle of time.
But, I’ve learned to reel in the old mindset when I start to go into those creative tangents of mine: because again, I’m just one person, trying to live this creative life . . .
WITHOUT SELF-DESTRUCTING FROM WORK OVERLOAD, STEMMING FROM CREATIVE OVERWHELM.
In ALL SIMPLICITY, I’m strategically choosing to whittle down all those creative ideas of mine to realistic and doable goals to achieve.
And I’d suggest you do the same.
I want you to work in that creative flow state you were meant to efficiently function in. And, I’m going to remind you of how you can do just that, through SIMPLIFYING GOALS.
As a matter of fact, I’ve had previous discussions at Degrees of Maternity on the topic of simplifying your goals, so you don’t face overwhelm in your creative life. And I thought it’d be a great idea to bring them up again, since — you know — people are waist-deep into setting goals for 2023.
Like myself . . . who was going into that creative tangent of mine that I like to do around this time each year. Too many ideas, though. Too many ideas.
So, here’s what I want you (and me) to do when we start facing the “Too Many Ideas” dilemma, knowing we can’t possibly do all the things.
I want you to try aligning your creative ideas with the following trifecta of characteristics, making sure they incorporate focuses on what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing, and how your creative genius can benefit others.
Now, if you thought I was going to make it super-easy for you by recapping all of my previous discussions on “The Big 3” in goal-setting, then you were wrong but also right.
Wrong — in that I’m not going to spend time typing it out for you in this blog post when I’ve already laid it out in the blog posts mentioned below. So, you’re just going to have to read them for yourself.
Hey, it’ll take a lot less time to read these blog posts than to unproductively spin your wheels on all those many ideas you can’t humanly accomplish in 2023. So, read these discussions that’ll give you some insight on focusing in on the ideas that you can turn into doable goals to successfully achieve.
And Right — in that, I have recapped by providing you with those blog posts from my archives that might benefit you in your ideas to goal-setting efforts. See below and let me know if they helped you with your 2023 creative outlook.
Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance: Simplifying Things
Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance: Focusing on the Big 3
Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance: Real-Life Examples
Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance: Real-Life Examples (cont.) and an Announcement
degreesofmaternity.com 
Whoo hoo! Awesome update! You are making incredible progress with your book. So exciting. Thanks for sharing with me, Phil. Hope you get great supportive and constructive feedback.
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Jana,
Thanks for your reply. I am glad you find some of my comments of interest.
Regarding my historical novel – it is now being going through a Beta Reader Program by 8 readers in England, and I should get thoughts and comments back from there just before Christmas. The group is made up of readers of the above genre, half of them are academics and the other half are interested readers of that type of fiction. I am not sure about publication yet, but I will see how the comments go before making any decisions in that regard.
All the best.
Regards, Phil
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So sorry for the delay, Phil. Yes, I received your thoughtful comment. Hope you don’t mind the long-winded one I sent back to you. I mean every bit of the complimentary things I said about you in it. So, make sure you read my reply all the way through. Take care, dear Phil.
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Phillllllll! I’m always SO blessed by your comments. Honestly, I’m just thrilled that a fellow writer/author/blogger even pays attention to my stuff — and one with such wisdom and years of experience to back what he says. So, thank you. I always look forward to hearing from you. Yes, work-life balance by simplifying is my overarching goal in anything I’m doing these days. I try to match up my decision-making with focusing on “working smarter and not harder.” For sure. And you’re right about work-life balance bringing you peace “if you let it.” That’s definitely what I’m shooting for. And I don’t think it’s strange at all about NOT making New Year’s resolutions. I’m of the mind that we should be setting goals whenever they’re appropriate to set throughout the year. But, I know a lot of people like to look for the turn of a new year to come alive with the goal-setting. I don’t think I’ve been much for waiting for a certain period of time to set goals. I have them all throughout the year and carryover from one year into the next, setting a new goal when I get done with the one in front of it. Speaking of goals, I was thinking about you the other day and your book. Can’t wait to continue to get updates on your author journey with your novel. Please keep me in the loop as I love author journeys. Finally, although I don’t celebrate manmade holidays in my household (I do, however, observe the Holy Days mentioned in the Bible), I appreciate being able to spend extra time with the family during this time of the year due to winter breaks from work and school. That’s truly one of the ways in which I experience true happiness – being with my family. Take care Phil and thanks for your words of wisdom — ALWAYS.
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Jana, I am not sure you have received the above reply. Please confirm.
Phil
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I know that you are a creative individual, but as you rightly pointed out, one can only actually achieve so much in this lifetime. I know this might seem strange to you, but I have never, ever, even thought of compiling a New Year’s resolution. I have no plans at all for next year, it is not the 31st of December yet! Does that make me somewhat strange?
It is good to see that you have been actively working on your “Work-Life Balance” recently. I hope it is bringing you closer to peace and satisfaction, because it will if you let it.
As you can probably guess, I am all for simplicity, where you can find it obviously. We all seem to complicate our lives with much that is just not important, and we are inclined to worry about it at the same time. While one of our politicians correctly said, “Life was not meant to be easy”, he should have also said that “Life is what you make it”.
I trust that you have a Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year, because the only real goal should be “Happiness”, and if you have that, nothing else matters.
Till next year.
Regard, Phil
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