When I think back to earlier this summer, I recall feeling stuck creatively. I felt like I was a total mess. I felt lost, unmotivated & I felt like I was really struggling.

Every time I sat down to work, or to write, I felt like there was nothing there. I felt like everything that came out was totally uninspired & just not interesting.

Then, as part of my new year review, I did this very simple exercise. I spent time journaling on these 2 questions:

1. What have you brought to life in the last 6 months?

2. What have you learned from these creations? 

What came out of this exercise totally surprised me! I realized I created a lot of really magical stuff.  Not only that, but I discovered some incredibly important lessons I learned from those moments I thought I was feeling completely uninspired.

1. IT’S REALLY HARD WORK CREATING.

Things might take longer than you expect. They might take more energy, time & brain power than you think. Don’t get discouraged. The world needs what you feel inspired to create. You need what you feel inspired to create.

When you feel stuck or frustrated allow yourself to pause.

2. DON’T BANG YOUR HEAD AGAINST THE WALL. 

Sometimes, you just won’t feel like creating. You won’t feel inspired & you won’t feel connected to the flow. That’s okay!!

Fighting with yourself will just restrict your flow. Allow yourself to step away. Take a break. Do something that fuels you–take a walk, have a dance break, take a bath, meditate.

3. DON’T GET IN YOUR OWN WAY. 

I tend to get so caught up in making things perfect that I block the flow of creativity. I get all tense & tight in my body. I get frustrated with myself & that just makes me constrict & I then I can’t create anymore.

I’ve been working on constantly reminding myself to just relax & let it flow. Don’t worry about “making mistakes” or getting it all perfect the first time. Just let the ideas out. Just let them flow.

4. SPEAK FROM YOUR HEART, NOT YOUR HEAD.

Whenever my writing moves out of my heart & up into my head, that’s when things start to shut down. That’s when things begin feeling a lot less authentic. Things begin to feel a little “too perfect” & uninspired. That’s when I lose my voice.

When I’m in my heart things flow. And, beautiful things emerge.

5. DON’T BE ATTACHED TO THE OUTCOME. 

I have this mandala coloring book that is helping me work on this. I can literally feel my body getting tense when I start feeling attached to the outcome. My ego sneaks in and starts telling me, “Aack! I picked the wrong color. I should’ve picked green instead. Shoot! I messed this up.”

When I feel my thoughts slipping down that black hole I just pause, take a breath, & remind myself this is an exercise in detaching from the outcome. After all, can you really “mess up” in a coloring book?!

When you get so super attached, your ego steps in & tries to take over & control things. That attachment restricts the flow. Instead …

6. CREATE, JUST TO CREATE. 

Again, don’t be attached to the outcome. Just create.

Write, sing, draw, play music – whatever it is, just do it. Do it just to do it. This is being in the feminine. This is connecting with the flow.

The more we allow ourselves to connect with the flow, the more magic will flow through us.

In a practical nature, if you allow yourself to simply create & create & create, you’ll create so much that there will certainly be super beautiful gems & treasures in there.

7. I’VE CREATED WAY MORE INSPIRED, MAGICAL STUFF THAN I EVEN REALIZED! 

As part of my year review I was going through all my writing & I was completely blown away by the amount of truly inspired writing & really incredible work that was buried in there.

All this writing that I’d gotten in my head about … at the time my ego was telling me, “This is crap. Crap. Crap. Crap.” But once I was a few months removed from it, and once my ego no longer felt such an attachment to it, I discovered there were some really, really beautiful treasures in those journals.

2 Questions to ask yourself as part of your New Year Review

I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on these questions as well.

Sadly, we often we have a very skewed picture of ourselves. We have those damn scripts that run in our heads. They tell us, “You’re lazy. You procrastinate all the time. You never get anything done.” Etc., etc., & on & on.

But if you pause & take the time to really reflect on your creations, you’ll discover you actually did way more than you realize. Not only that, I bet you’ll end up feeling super proud of yourself.

1. What have you brought to life in the last 6 months? 

Set a timer for yourself & spend 10 or 15 minutes reflecting on what things, ideas, relationships, etc., that you created over the past 6 months. I think you’ll surprise yourself with all the magic you brought to life last year.

2. What have you learned from these creations? 

The magic in this exercise not only lies in unearthing all the treasures you created this year, but also in exploring what you learned from those creations (and all the missteps you experienced along the way)

If you spend some time reflecting on what you’ve learned through your creations, you have the power to evolve your very Soul.

Again, set a timer for yourself and spend 10-15 minutes brainstorming what your creations & creative process taught you this year.

I’d love to hear about all the magic you uncover. Please leave me a note in the comments below!