Sometimes it pays off to do something you fear or attend an event that you think might not really apply to yourself. I did this on September 12 when I attended a writing event presented by Liliana Hart, New York Times & USA Today Best Selling Author in Indianapolis, IN.

Creativity is a muscle. If you don’t exercise it, feed it good food, and treat it with respect and kindness, it will develop a beer belly, suffer from panic attacks while walking to the mailbox, and throw it’s back out from a nightly teeth brushing incident. I don’t want that to happen to my creativity and I don’t want it to happen to yours either.

At the speaker event, Liliana spoke about trends in the publishing industry and what worked for her and generally provided an overwhelming amount of advice to the authors in attendance. At first, I was pretty daunted by all the facts and how my path could never match what she and others have been doing.

You might not think a talk about business and industry trends would inspire creativity, but for me it did.

After reading through my notes and talking to some friends at the event, I stewed for a day. That’s when the creative energy hit me. I stopped for a moment as something Liliana said broke through the panic. Take advice with a grain of salt and stop what if-ing.

Think about that. No matter your creative outlet or career aspirations what is ultimately important?

The journey.

For me this was beyond motivational and inspired me to figure out what I really wanted, what I thought I was capable of doing without adding more stress to my already stressed out life. Ironically, this put some perspective on my already stressed out life and it didn’t seem so out of control any more, certainly not perfect but more manageable.

It doesn’t matter what other people are doing or what they plan on doing. What’s my plan? What’s yours? Write it down and stop worrying about what the market will do, what the neighbors will think, and just work on your goal.

The work won’t be easy. Easy isn’t the point. Feeling accomplished and excited about something despite being afraid is what will make things happen. Goals drive us forward and the amazing organ called the brain loves this stuff! It’s like, “Okay. Let’s go! Let’s do this shiznits!”

Find someone in your creative field and attend an even or just talk to someone else you know that might have been where you want to be. Ask for advice. Remember, each journey is different. No two are alike, like snowflakes. If something doesn’t work, make another plan and keeping going. There’s no end to the creative journey. That’s why I find it so fabulous.

Photo from depositphotos.com