Articles

If you feel driven, yet overwhelmed by the many diverse life goals you’re having difficulty completing, you’ve likely caught the “curse of the creatives.”   Find fulfillment with one of two approaches to goal completion.

Your drivenness is caused by your self-expectation that you should do it all.  A creative client once shared her belief, “Diversification is necessary to make me more competitive in a world that has little time or patience for people who can only do one thing really well.”  You can even give examples of others who spin just as many plates as you, but do it successfully.  While a recent Times magazine article, The Multitasking Generation, said, “Decades of research (not to mention common sense) indicate that the quality of one's output and depth of thought deteriorate as one attends to ever more tasks.”

Before you invest energy in any more comparisons, you already know that going in too many directions isn’t rewarding for you.  Your projects are stalemated and you’re frustrated—hence, the “curse.”   Consider which choice, “A” or “B” best suits your style?

Continue to do many things at once, accept they won’t all get finished, and enjoy the creative diversification of the process.  OR…
 
B.  Stay focused on fewer things you really enjoy and complete them one by one.
 
Which of these style approaches to reach goals will it take for you to feel engaged, satisfied and on purpose?  If variety is most important, you’ll choose A.  If completion is a higher priority, you’ll choose B.  A hint for B is to identify creativity in its simpler form.

If you still feel trapped with either option, ask yourself, “Do I continue to invest in dead-end projects because I don’t want to let go of the time I’ve already invested up to now?”  “Do I rush to complete projects because I view time closing in on me?”  If either is true, you’re loosing rewards available to you.  Stop watching the clock, since it causes you to feel rushed and be unfocused.  Focus instead on staying true to your style choice.

Sometimes you can handle multiple tasks effectively and they can show off your talents.  Other times you excel by a streamlined step-by-step approach to complete goals that demonstrate your specialty.  An important question you need to ask yourself is which choice gives you greater peace of mind, enjoyment and reward in the moment? 

With either choice, first acknowledge your creative abilities rather than consider yourself cursed at all and be grateful you’re afforded so many options.