The lie (one of many) I told myself.
I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
I can’t be a corporate success and a creative.
I fell squarely into binary thinking, or expressed another way, black and white thinking.
When I worked in the corporate world, I excelled in my role, consistently ranking in the top 3 in sales and earning respect within the company.
I’d checked all the boxes we commonly associate with “having it all.”
But something was “off”; something was missing.
I knew what it was because it had been calling to me since I was a kid.
My binary thinking was this:
I can’t express my creative self and be a Senior Enterprise Account Manager.
I can’t write the movie that’s been a slow burn in my brain for years, and excel at my profession.
Or, I can’t invent a product and excel at my profession.
It’s one or the other: “The twain shall never meet.”
Even though I was thriving in my professional ambition, I was living half a life.
I wasn’t thriving; I was merely surviving.
Where were the feelings I found myself being drawn to more and more with each year of middle age?
Where was the inner joy, sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment?
Where was the depth that my superficial existence lacked?
They were in my creative self, but I was too afraid to express that version of myself, in part because of binary thinking.
What I couldn’t see at the time and what I encourage audiences to connect with is this:
When you express your creative self (we all have one), you access previously untapped potential.
You begin to live wholly, perhaps for the first time in a long time.
The expression of your creative self is a rock dropped into a still lake; the ripples touch everything around it.
You’ll excel in your profession, not despite your creative self, but through your creative self.
You can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Here are 3 ways I began to reconnect with the creative self I’d buried under professional ambition:
1. Examine Regrets
Regret can imprison us in shame or fuel us.
Ask yourself: What dreams have I left behind in the name of ambition or “being practical”?
If it stings, that’s your clue.
Reminder: The only way you miss your chance is by not taking it.
2. Redefine Success
What’s your current definition of success? Is it built entirely on externals: Titles, income, prestige?
Success is spelled with a “U.”
If you aren’t in your own definition, it’s time to rewrite it.
Start with this question:
What would success look like if it included my creative self?
3. Reject Binary Thinking
Professional success and personal fulfillment are not either/or.
Binary thinking is too small for the complexity of who you are.
There are 18 decillion colors in existence; why live your life in black and white?
Ask yourself: What “colors” do I want to experiment with in this next chapter?
If your current life trajectory isn’t going to bring you where you ultimately want to go, it’s time to change directions.
These aren’t just three steps.
They are three invitations to stop checking boxes and start creating a life that checks every part of you.
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