Create the Life you Desire by Being Creative

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Being creative is something that most people attribute to artists, musicians, and entrepreneurs. They don’t think they are creative because they aren’t creating works of art or new businesses.

But this isn’t true. Everyone is creative. We all create many variables in our lives. We create opportunities; we create our habits; we create our daily routines.

When we stop to realize how we are, in fact, creating we can start to unlock the power of being able to create our life. We can start to make decisions that will ultimately drive our life in the direction we choose.

But this is much easier said than done because we all have powerful habits of thought that drive us towards exactly the life we are living. Instead of realizing we are creating it, we assume it was handed to us.

If you find yourself broke and in debt, you have to realize that you created this situation. It wasn’t your boss, or the IRS, or your family. You made choices and created your world.

This is a powerful realization. It is powerful but scary. If we aren’t where we want to be, then it hurts. We want to deny this and think of all sorts of reasons why it isn’t true.

But the power is in the fact that this also means that what we desire in life is up to us. It is on us to create the right thoughts and behaviors to drive us towards the happiness and success we dream about.

In order to start moving towards the future self you know you are capable of becoming, then start with the daily routines in your life. Start to decide what they are instead of letting them form on their own.

When we let routines form on their own, we usually choose the path of least resistance. We choose instant gratification. We choose the easy way out.

These shortsighted choices sacrifice our future for now. Then tomorrow we will be further away from the future we desire, so we again choose the path of least resistance, instant gratification and the easy way out.

This forms a habit where you are constantly sacrificing the future for right now. The more you do this, the more you will feel further from your goals tomorrow. Then when you feel further from your goals you will be more likely to choose the wrong steps. This creates a worse future, which means you will be further from your goals and therefore will choose the wrong steps again.

This vicious cycle is called a reinforcing feedback loop to systems thinkers. It creates this loop where you continue to cycle in a specific direction (in this case down). As you keep cycling the system gets more and more powerful.

But this structure doesn’t care if you are going up or down. We can build the same structure but do it in a way that reinforces improvement so we keep getting better and better and better.

If we sacrifice now to build a better future, we will find that tomorrow we are closer to our dreams rather than further away. This can help you then choose those positive steps again, and again and again. As you do you keep cycling up, towards your goals and dreams.

These steps could really be anything that you do today that helps you to be better in the future. It could be to eat healthy food, invest in your retirement account, call your brothers or sisters to catch up, exercise, take a class, practice the piano, tell your children you love them and are proud of them, clean your house, do yard work, clean out a closet, organize the files on your computer, have a difficult conversation at work that you have been putting off, ask your mentors what they see as your strengths and weaknesses, etc.

The point is that we take these daily decisions and daily steps yet we don’t even realize that in doing so we are creating. We are creating the routines and habits that will ultimately start to move us towards a future self. Is that future self constantly getting boosted or are you constantly sacrificing that future self for right now.

As you start to see this you will start to realize the power you have to be creative. The more you create the more you will feel creative and the better you will be able to create the right structures in your life. You will feel empowered to take control of your life.