Become a Creative Force

I read a collaborative post lately that asked the question: What advice would you give to a person who is no longer motivated at work but they are stuck because of the are in their later years? The advice ranged from tie your purpose to your job, align with your values, stick it out, and my favorite: retire, life is too short.

How easily we go along with the embedded assumption that we have no other choice but to be stuck in a job we hate, or to retire because of age.

My advice was this: "You aren't stuck and you aren't a victim of circumstances. Find your choice and you find your power."

How often do we settle because we don't realize that we are a creative force !

• We think our happiness depends on a circumstance.
• We think we are too old to make a change.
• We don't value our talents so we stay unfulfilled in a toxic work environment.
• We accept an idea that there are no other choices than the ones we see.

Here are a few steps to consciously becoming a creative force in your own life.

Say what you want

When you say you don't know what you want, it's usually because on some level you don't believe you could have what you want. Since you don't believe it, you don't say it, because saying it makes you feel like a failure.

The truth is, that even if you can't have what you really want, saying it anyway relieves carried stress in the body.

If you are stuck in the "I don't know what I want phase" one way to break through is to make two columns on a sheet of paper. On the left side list all the things you don't want. That's easy isn't it?

Now, on the right side list the opposite. For example if in the left column you said, you don't want a toxic work environment, then on the right side you would say that you want a fulfilling work environment.

This gives you the "clay" to build what you want by defining it further.

Find your choices

We have choices in almost every circumstance but we fail to recognize them. We suffer in silence believing the stories we've told ourselves. When you hear yourself saying, "I don't have any other choice," this is a warning that you are falling into a victim mentality. Victims truly don't have choices, but you do.

You are not a victim of circumstances! The very first part of responsibility is the recognition of choice. I write about this in my book, From Conflict to Courage . If a beggar was sitting on a chest of gold, but didn't know it, it's as if the gold isn't even there. You are sitting on a chest of gold (your power of choice) and it's up to you to recognize it!

Some Questions to Test Your Power of Choice.

1. How often do you deny yourself some opportunity simply because you think your company should pay for it, and since they won't, you see the situation as having no other choice?
2. How often do you allow toxic behavior from a boss or colleague because you don't have the courage to speak up, and you don't think you can get another job if something goes wrong?
3. How often do you seethe from resentment because someone keeps taking advantage of you?

In all these cases you gave up your power of choice. You didn't see the choice to invest in yourself. You didn't see the choice to confront a toxic boss. You didn't see the choice of setting a boundary with the person taking advantage.

When we fail to recognize our choices or feel that we have none, we are still creating. We create either unconsciously or consciously. Your life is the example of what you have created so far. You are a creative force. When it gets good is when you stop creating by default and start creating by design.

Upcoming Opportunity

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Marlene Chism is an author, speaker, and consultant. Visit the web at www.marlenechism.com