Comfort is an addiction.
Easy is an addiction.
“Later” is an addiction.
Doomscrolling is an addiction.
Grabbing your phone while taking breaks is an addiction.
Stay away from whatever stops you.
Let’s break the cycle today.
Tag: creative fears
Create for You First
For all creators out there.
Remember: Create for YOU first.
The beauty of creation lies not in universal acceptance, but in the courage to express what is uniquely yours.
The value of your work is not measured by the number of eyes that behold it, but by the depth of feeling it stir in you and, eventually, in those who find a reflection of their own untold stories within it.
Happy leap day!
Failure Culture: Reframing Mistakes to Grow As a Professional
Failure culture is an uncomfortable topic in any professional setting. Even if you are an entrepreneur. There’s an inner voice that constantly says “you can’t afford mistakes”, “defeat is not an option.” There’s a constant pressure to succeed almost flawlessly.
If you were to reframe failure, though, your work would gain more depth. In any creative process, missteps, ups and downs, and losses are bound to happen. That’s the nature of any initiative.
I remember the time when I was discussing marketing strategies with a former manager. We were going to launch a new product, and we had clear goals to reach. As we were wrapping up our meeting, I said: “If some parts of the strategy don’t go as planned, then we’ll learn a lot.” His response was unforgettable: “Yeah, but let’s try not to make any mistakes. We can’t do that.”
Failure culture is almost taboo. After careful planning and investment of time and resources into a business, why would you welcome it? You are aiming for great results. However, it’s worth reflecting on two key factors: the input that learning experiences can provide and the idea of embracing discomfort to grow as a person and as a professional.
As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”
Continue reading “Failure Culture: Reframing Mistakes to Grow As a Professional”
Things that made my year – 2022 edition
We’re getting closer and closer to the end of 2022. Where did the time go? Funny how time flies when you’re having fun.
Here’s a list of things that made my year:
- Celebrating my son’s first birthday.
- Having my mom around for two months and celebrating my son’s birthday with her.
- Publishing my debut novella Kaleidoscope Eyes.
- This interview about my novella.
- Realizing that, as independent author, learning takes place every day, and it’s scary and fun at the same time.
- That it’s important to focus on the step in front of me, not the entire staircase.
- Learning about Amazon Ads for authors.
- Writing #LetrasDesnudas.
- Joining Té de Querer for some great writing workshops and making new friends.
- Publishing three articles on Excélsior (Mexican newspaper, all available in Spanish): Carta para la niña que se convertirá en mujer, Promesas de hoy para un mañana seguro, and Urge modelo de salud con perspectiva de género.
- Discovering the Curious Fox podcast.
- Rediscovering The Chase Jarvis Live Show.
- A great podcast in Spanish, Hablemos Escritoras.
- Joining Good Reads as an author.
- Learning that Depeche Mode is releasing an album next year.
- Finding joy in writing my newsletter.
- Listening to some great artists: Neo Soul, Toni Braxton, Sade, Tom Jobim, The Human League, Spice Girls, and Alicia Keys.
- Castella tarts.
- Tuna and salmon poke bowls.
- Janet Jackson’s album “Control”.
- Learning the meaning of surrender.
- Tara Brach’s talks and meditations.
- Waiting Game by Junior Boys.
- Toda Tercafeira by Soul Quality Quartet.
- Deciding that my new NFL team is the Seattle Seahawks.
Grateful for all the lessons learned. Grateful for the wonderful people who walked with me every step of the way. Grateful for all discoveries. Looking forward to 2023!
Imperfect creativity: good is enough
Imperfect creativity is natural and good enough.
Anything that requires creativity has a human touch and humans are imperfect. This idea is still hard to assimilate. At some point in our lives, we’re taught to avoid mistakes and get flawless results.
Recently, I thought about my literature teacher in high school. Our discussions in class tended to lead to all kinds of random topics. One day, he expressed his frustration at some students that were obsessed with getting perfect marks. His words were unforgettable:
“In this life, you have to deal with the fact that you’re not perfect.”
He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Maybe that statement sounded too harsh at the time, but the wisdom is there. If you think about it, life itself is imperfect.
So why is it worth hanging onto perfection?
Perfectionism is connected to your self-worth and is something you probably have to keep working on to overcome.
That’s another hard pill to swallow. In the Western culture, this is a constant struggle. Aim to be perfect or go home. On the other hand, in other cultures of the world, embracing imperfection is normal.
For example, there’s the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi. Leonard Koren, author of Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, defines it as “the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.”
I love the idea of finding beauty in the imperfect. There’s value in creating, doing your best to give it form, and releasing it to the world and let it be in its full glory with glitches included.
Creations are never complete. There’s always an improvement to make or a new version to start from scratch. After all, wabi-sabi is based on the cycles of nature, which are constantly changing. No creation ever stays the same.
With this concept in mind, how can you embrace imperfect creativity in your daily life?
Creativity and inhibitions: a deadly combination
When thinking about creativity and inhibitions, a couple of questions come to mind:
What blocks creativity? Why is it that, at times, we feel that we can’t use our full creative potential?
We are going through some difficult times in all aspects of our lives. Creativity is one key factor that can help us figure out our next steps in what we’re trying to solve. However, if we’re mentally blocked, it’s going to be challenging to move forward.
I recently came across an article on the top 10 common factors that inhibit creativity. This is an eye-opening read, and it caused such impact on me that I decided to expand on three of them:
- Laziness
- Fear of failure
- Keeping your work to yourself
Continue reading “Creativity and inhibitions: a deadly combination”
Being yourself means taking risks
One of the biggest risks in this life is being yourself.
Think about it: being open about sexual orientation is a risk. Speaking your mind at a meeting is a risk. Disagreeing with someone you love is a risk. Talking to your partner about complicated feelings is a risk.
Being yourself takes courage. The more you embrace your true self, the more you realize you’ll face difficulties of any kind. However, it’s worth trying.
Treasure the magnificent being that you are and recognize first and foremost you’re not here as human being only. You’re a spiritual being having a human experience.
wayne dyer
Why being yourself is the best thing you can do
Being yourself is the best thing you can do for the world. Seriously.
We live in challenging times to make radical decisions. It feels like it’s difficult realizing our visions when noticing the current state of the planet. On top of that, we tend to worry about what others would think of us if we were to turn our lives around.
The antidote to that, in my opinion, is in one of the most beautiful videos I’ve come across on YouTube. It contains wisdom from Marcus Aurelius applied to any personal or professional situation.
Here’s why being yourself is always a great idea:
True usefulness comes from being what you are. Think about a tree: its fruits and oxygen are a byproduct of it being itself. The same holds true for us. We do useful things by being ourselves.
Continue reading “Why being yourself is the best thing you can do”
Personal fears: An exercise for self-reflection
I want to write openly about my personal fears. Since fear can be used as a GPS, I think it’d be a good exercise to see where it’s leading me. On the other hand, it’s difficult to be vulnerable in public. It’s a common belief that the more you hide your flaws, the stronger you will look.
It’s time to get rid of that belief and let my authentic self show. I’ll start by naming three of my greatest fears while elaborating a bit on them. I’ll mention where they come from and how I can overcome them.
Let’s see how this goes.
Continue reading “Personal fears: An exercise for self-reflection”
Fear as a GPS: Where is it leading you?
It had not occurred to me to think of fear as a GPS.
It’s actually a refreshing approach when facing your greatest challenges as a creative. The first time that I came across this idea was on Twitter through Marie Forleo, entrepreneur and philanthropist:
Whoa.
When it comes to fear, it’s easy to enter a cycle of thoughts that will prevent us from taking action. Endless “what ifs” flood our minds and great opportunities fade away.
A life filled with fear is not life.