Comments on: What to do When You Hit a Creativity Wall

By: Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com

Richard | RichardShelmerdine.com — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:30:57 +0000

I go to the silent place inside for a while and then come back and the creativity is flowing again.

By: Tess The Bold Life

Tess The Bold Life — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:26:45 +0000

Evita told me in January not to write guest posts because I felt I had to to gain more readers…write them because you love writing them. Since I’ve slowed down. I write when I enjoy it and rarely hit a wall anymore. If and when I do I back down. I found out hitting my head against it hurts;)

By: Lance

Lance — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:00:57 +0000

Hey Karl,
Hitting a “wall” always makes me think of this quote:
“Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.” ~ Randy Pausch
I think it really does come down to how badly we want something. And there may be things where it’s just not worth the brick wall in front of us – and that’s okay. For those things that really do have deep meaning, though…this is really an opportunity to work through how to move beyond the wall. And when we do…wow! We can come out on the other side in really a great place.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:27:15 +0000

Hi Stacey, You make a good point. Sometimes we need to keep pushing on that wall until it comes tumbling down.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:26:01 +0000

Thanks for the kind words.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:25:24 +0000

Hi Sue, It looks like you take a meditative approach to the wall. That’s a great techniques. When we stop raging against the wall and honouring it, that’s how we learn from these situations. I like that your friend used his wall to write a humorous blog. Sometimes the wall can spur creativity in a new direction. We don’t always have to bust through it. We can choose to do something else then come back to the wall.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:19:44 +0000

Hi Liz, Panicking only makes the situation worse and that’s when we need to let go the most, but we can’t. By practicing the art of stepping back and gaining perspective, we can let the stress go and get back to doing amazing work.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:15:30 +0000

Hi Michelle, I know that I sometimes get too caught up in reaching my goals. We just need reminders throughout the day to relax and enjoy the moment we are in.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:12:57 +0000

Hi Megan, Surrender is an excellent tool that we forget to use. I want to hug the wall, but my emotional hurricane won’t let me do it. Sometimes I have to wait out the cycle and love my wall when I’m more calm. Thanks for the encouragement.

By: Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer)

Karl Staib - CZO (Chief Zen Officer) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:00:08 +0000

Hi Evita, Too much pressure stifles the creative process. We truly can work through anything if we create the right internal systems.