In general we put structure and creativity at opposite sides of the spectrum. Structure is a rigid, organized way of doing things, while creativity is a flowing, spontaneous way of working on something. Some people prefer structure and some people prefer more creative freedom, but in both cases your efforts are strengthened when you use structure and creativity in tandem.

As it relates to being organized, you need to invest time in building infrastructure that supports everything you’re hoping to do. In designing that infrastructure it benefits you to incorporate creative thinking so that you can maximize the structure you’re building. For example, let’s say that you’re trying to create a structured morning routine. You want to time yourself for a 10 minute meditation but you don’t want to look at your phone. Creative thinking would help you brainstorm other solutions, like using the kitchen timer, to create the system the best serves you.

Then when it comes to creativity, people don’t actually realize how much structure is already embedded within it. The creative mind is told to draw outside the lines and do things their own way, but that’s overlooking how the lines serve as a structured reference point. The structure helps you know where to get started, what the task is, and it contextualizes how your creative efforts can be applied. It’s hard to create from absolutely nothing, so having some kind of structure serves as a starting point to be creative from.

In all, whether you’re a left brain organized thinker or a right brain creative, don’t overlook the value of the other side. That’s why the brain has both, these two elements are intricately intertwined and they need each other. To create some self-awareness around this - Do you identify more as an organized person or a creative person?

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I heard a quick sound bite in an interview between peak performance coach Jon Gordon and former football star Tim Tebow that really intrigued me. Tebow was talking about economies. We usually think of the economy as the financial state of a country - We flourish when the economy is good and we struggle when the economy is bad. But a true economy is actually a broader concept that applies to many things that our financial system fits within. 

An economy is a closed system that manages the flow of resources. This resource can be money, but more abstractly it can also be energy, knowledge, relationships, and basically anything with utility that can be transferred between people. These are all resources that improve the quality of life, and they’re used and transacted as a form of currency (which is also too narrowly understood).

In today’s life we overvalue our financial economy and therefore, prioritize money as a primary currency. Money is very important, don’t get me wrong, because it helps us meet lower human needs - Acquiring food, water, safety through shelter, etc. But it’s not everything, and in fact there’s a 2010 study that suggests that quality of life does not statistically improve beyond making $75,000 a year. Basically, money helps us live our material life.

The second economy Tebow mentioned was that of a spiritual economy. In this economy, the way to obtain higher fulfillment and value is not to receive, make, or take more. It’s to give more. When we make our resources more accessible for others we experience a sense of fulfillment that is unmatched in the material world. That’s why there’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy, rich is having material fulfillment, being wealthy is having material and spiritual fulfillment.

This is really dense, I know, and I’ll write a book about something related to this one day. But as for today I hope you see how we need to both give and receive in life to get all of our needs met.

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Andy Grammer is one of my favorite artists because he puts so much joy and personality into his music. He’s had a number of hits over the last decade, but it all started with his breakthrough song “Keep your head up”. I’m sure you’d recognize it “Gotta keep your head up woah. And you can let your hair down, heyey.” 

Let’s take a closer look at the lyrics of this song. Grammer writes: 

"I've been waiting on a sunset, bills on my mindset

I can't deny they're getting high

Higher than my income, income's bread crumbs

I've been trying to survive

The glow that the sun gets right around sunset

Helps me to realize

This is just a journey, drop your worries

You are gonna turn out fine"

He has a sense of humor about it, but life is real. And this actually draws from Andy’s experience as a performer trying to make it. But he kept faith in himself, used perspective to get him through the tough times, and ultimately found himself better on the other side. It’s something he references later in the song with the lyric:

“Only rainbows after rain, the sun will always come again, it’s a circle, circling around again. It comes around again."

While keeping your head up has metaphorical value, it also has literal value. When you keep your head up it causes you to open up your body posture, and through bottom up processing your mind will start to perceive things in a more approachable way. So when you fall short on a goal, or if things didn’t go how you wanted them to, or you start feeling down on yourself for any reason, pick your head up and take on whatever you find in front of you.

To wrap this thought up, reflect on this - When was the last time you needed a pick me up, and what did you do to help yourself with that?

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Something you  hear all the time on your personal development journey is that you need to "step outside your comfort zone". The argument is that you can only grow when you’re experiencing new things, and intentionally putting yourself in environments that cause you to act andthink differently becomes a source for growth.

But this concept is missing something critical. There are many people who are stuck, stagnant, and complacent with a life that is uncomfortable. They’ve learned to tolerate the pains and frustrations and assume that’s just how things need to be. There’s no growth in that. But it’s appealing because it’s predictable, you know what you’re going to get and you can prepare yourself for the fears and pains you’ll experience because you’ve been experiencing them already. It's the difference between the devil you know and the devil you don't.

That’s why growth isn’t actually about leaving your comfort zone, it’s about doing things that are unfamiliar to you. It’s through doing what is new and uncertain that you grow to meet the demand. This is often uncomfortable for people to do because our brains prefer predictability and certainty. Evolutionarily anything new is considered a potential threat, so we’ve developed an avoidant relationship with things that are unfamiliar. But that’s exactly what creates the space for growth - To learn new things, try things differently, and challenge our beliefs and values. 

This is what we’re really after when we’re talking about getting outside your comfort zone, and to really open your eyes to this concept I’m going to ask you to reflect on this question - Is there anything in your life that is familiar to you but it’s also a source of discomfort?

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Are you ready to hear an unfathomable stat? A 2008 study found that comparative thought accounted for 12% of all our thoughts. Sleeping 8 hours a day, 12% of our waking hours is 1 hour and 52 minutes a day spent comparing yourself to others. I don’t think anyone would raise their hand and say that they want to compare themselves to others, let alone be consumed by comparative thought for that long. While it is important to know where others are at so you can draw inspiration from them, their lives should inform how you want to live yours rather than completely determine it.

To break it down, comparison is a matter of the ego. Our ego desires to place us relative to others so that we can place ourselves within the tribe. This had evolutionary benefits many years ago but now it’s actually the source of great distress. A few of the primary needs of the ego are a need to be right, wrong, superior, inferior, offended... All of the ways we feel that separate us from others. It’s meant to establish our independence, ego means one, but it often comes at the cost of our emotional experience.

A few notes on comparison: Comparison is never fair. If you try to place yourself relative to others you’ll never be able to make a true judgment. There are so many factors and circumstances that are not equal between any two experiences, and therefore direct comparison is truly impossible. Like a science experiment, too many things are not controlled for and therefore play a part in influencing the outcome. 

Former president Teddy Roosevelt says “Comparison is the thief of joy”. If you’re so busy thinking about other people’s lives, what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling, it gives you less time to live your own. Especially in today’s world where we only gain insight into the highlight reel of others, that comparison makes you feel worse about your career, your appearance, your mindset, and your sense of self-confidence. The negative self-reflection puts you in a place of lack instead of in a place of abundance and it steals your joy.

So think about how this affects your life - Are you often affected by the way you compare yourself to others?

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When life happens and it’s hard to understand why, you can choose to have faith in the process. Believing that these things aren’t happening to you, they’re happening for you. Having faith that there’s a larger plan helps give meaning to the pain, struggle, suffering, and challenges we experience in the short-term.

Here’s a new way to think about the life obstacles you face - Instead of seeing them as getting 'in the way' of your final destination, see them as 'on the way'. It’s not that the path is being blocked, rather it’s that these obstacles are milestones that remind you that you’re going the right direction.

For example - Instead of seeing a setback in your health as something that will hold you back, see it as a necessary reminder to slow down so that you can achieve the life health you ultimately want. Instead of feeling like your life is flipped upside down and ruined because of a divorce or break up, you can integrate the lessons learned and get what you need from a significant other moving forward. These circumstances aren’t in the way, they are on the path toward what is best for you.

And at the end of the day, things tend to work out okay. While it can be emotionally gripping and difficult to think long-term, in time you’ll find that things happened exactly as they were meant to. That doesn’t make it any easier in the moment but hopefully it gives you renewed optimism about the quality of your future.

Let’s wrap this up by helping you see how this is true - What was the last life-changing thing that happened? Has everything worked out alright so far?

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You’ve probably heard trite expressions like “less is more”, and it can be hard to conceptualize. Literally of course it doesn't make sense but the implications of it are vast and resonate true. That’s why I really liked a quote I heard from Marie Forleo that I think more accurately represents the core point to this, which is “simplify to amplify”.

When you start doing less, and narrowing in on the few critical pieces to something that work best, you give yourself more time, energy, and attention to excel. High performance in high-leverage areas can lead to disproportionate results, hacking the algorithm and enabling you to do more with less. 

This is because all actions are not equal. You may be familiar with the 80/20 rule which suggests that 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. So if you simplify and do more of those 20% activities, and get rid of the other stuff that isn’t as effective, it allows you to amplify your results.

This is usually applied through the lens of business and financial performance (because it’s easily measurable) but the same is true with your health, your happiness, your relationships, and your sense of fulfillment. There are a few routines or habits that do incredible things for your health. There are many things to consider if you want to be happier or more fulfilled, but a few of those things create a deeper and more resonant sense for it. 

Establishing standards and systems that help you consistently do the things that serve you most will disproportionately improve the quality of your life. But in order to do more of that and less of other things, you need to simplify, trim the fat, and give yourself the space to prioritize it.

In this way less is more. Simplify to amplify. And to make this tangible in your life right now, I want you to ask yourself this question - What is stealing your energy that you should cut out of your life?

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Wow, life is good! Just think about how much you still have in front of you. If you’re under 30 years old you still have another lifetime (or two or three or more!) ahead of you! If you have more years under your belt, then you get to apply everything you’ve learned and add so much richness and experience to the moments ahead. Life is precious and we’re all so blessed that we wake up today, breathing, receiving the gift of living it! Whether you have 5-10 years or 5-10 decades still to go, get excited!

There are many things to be excited about. First of course is the opportunity. There are truly an infinite number of ways that your life can go, but through the power of choice you are in control of what path you go down. You get to choose what you want to do, who you want to do it with, and how you get to feel through it all. In this way everything is a miracle. Everything came from unimaginable odds and materialized into your life, and you have a say in what miracles you bring to this Earth.

Then of course there’s contribution, the ways you’re going to leave your mark on this world. There’s a quote from Matthew Kelly that goes “Most people overestimate what they can do in a day, and underestimate what they can do in a month. We overestimate what we can do in a year, and underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade." There is still so much good work to be done!

And then there’s technology. Imagine what inventions you’re going to see that are still yet to be created. The sense of wonder you’ll find in the years to come will be astonishing! How lucky are we that we’ll get to witness it all, and be a part of history as it unfolds.

In my opinion it’s fun to live a life full of excitement. And there’s so much to be excited for. What if I told you that the best moments of your life are still yet to come. There’s so much to look forward to and I hope you choose to be present for everything that entails.

On your personal development journey, you need to be sure you have the right foundation in place. Discover the 7 Fundamentals To Self Improvement and instantly accelerate your growth! (Who knows what you might be overlooking and how it’s holding you back…)

If you’re in the US or Canada, text me at 949-799-0788 and I’ll send you daily text messages that help you grow and discover yourself every day.