Adventure Day

I was reading an article the other day about how taking time out of your busy schedule to have  an Adventure  day helps boost creativity and it also relives stress too.

Here is the article below if you would like to read it too.

Boost Your Creativity with Adventure Day 
by Christine Kane

“The best way to open your mind is to apply a jolt of unfamiliarity.”
“The Big Moo“, by Seth Godin and The Group of 33

 

Do you notice that your most juiciest ideas never come when you’re staring at the computer screen? 

Do you ever wonder how to get the creativity flowing or how to generate a zest for life? 

Are you in the midst of great change and know there’s something new out there but don’t know what it is?

If you answered yes to any of these, then it’s possible you need to shake things up a bit. You need Adventure Day. 

What’s Adventure Day? 

Adventure Day is a day devoted to breaking out of the same old patterns of every day existence. It’s a day set aside once a month when you do something different. That’s all.

The scheduled activity is up to you.

– It can be something you haven’t done since you were a kid – like roller-skating at the local rink.

– It can be something that scares you a little – like eating a new foreign cuisine, or going to the symphony if you don’t know classical music.

– It can be something tourist-y and embarrassing – like gem mining, or a carriage ride through the city.

– It can be something totally cheese-y – like going to the carnival in the mall parking lot. (The one where Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” is invariably blaring through the cotton-candy-drenched air.)

A combination of fun, a little scary, and really cheese-y is optimal. 

Adventure Day can last a day, or an overnight, or a few hours. You can do it with your spouse, a friend, a business partner or your mom. 

Keep it simple and somewhat local. In other words, don’t make it into such a big deal that you never even do it. The goal is just to do it. 

What’s the point of Adventure Day? 

I know. I know. You might be reading this and snorting. “What’s the point of that?” Or, “How is THIS going to help me change direction in my life?” 

Well, it’s organic. And it works like this: 

1 -Adventure Day gets you OUT.

We get into creative ruts when we stick only with what we know, when we stay confined to our insular worlds, when we think we’ve had all the experience we need. Getting OUT reverses this trend. It blasts the boundaries and breaks the mold. 

In Seth Godin’s entrepreneurial gem, “The Big Moo“, one writer said: “Too often in the business world we preserve and revere experience, when we should be challenging and renewing it. Go out and get some inexperience.” 

2 – Adventure Day fills your Idea Well 

One of my coaching clients asked me why she feels most alive and creative when she’s traveling in a foreign country. I told her that all of that yummy newness requires full present-moment awareness every minute. So, not only are we receptive and open to new things – but we’re experiencing them with our highest level of attention. This IS creativity! 

It’s important to be proactive and productive. But we also need to open up and be receptive because this is what replenishes the well of ideas. This keeps us from burning out on productivity. And you don’t have to wait til you have the time to travel to Italy! 

3 -Adventure Day shows you how to be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable 

Ask anyone who has ever performed, spoken in public, had a job in sales, or run a marathon. Success involves learning how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Once you can do that, you can do anything! 

My theory is that the world has turned into The Olive Garden. The mantra is, “Keep us safe. Don’t challenge us. Fill us up with pasta and the same salty salads no matter where we travel.” 

There’s nothing wrong with The Olive Garden on occasion, of course. But a key component to success, to creativity, and to accomplishing great new things is learning to be okay with not knowing what the entrée will taste like in advance! You order some falafel and see what happens!

Your Assignment 

Get out your calendar. 

Open up to February.

Call a friend or partner and read this article to them. (Or email it to them.) 

Schedule Adventure Day in ink. Show up. 

The unfamiliar is all around you. Go find it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative atwww.christinekane.com.

WANT TO SEE HUNDREDS MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Christine’s blog – Be Creative. Be Conscious. Be Courageous – at ChristineKane.com/blog.

Social Media & Co Working Finally Invades NC

I’m so excited to know that social media meet-ups are finally coming to NC. Charlotte has already had aWordCamp, Co-Working Events, a lot of social mediameet-ups and now on Saturday the first ever BarCamp. I hope we see many more events like this for NC. I am also happy to see the Co-working movement make head way in NC too. Carrboro Creative Coworking was the first co-working group established in NC. According to the co-working wiki  there has been talk of  more  co-working groups coming to the state too . I know there is one coming to Asheville, but still wish we could get something a little closer here too.

Like to go to BarCampCharlotte?

The Pre-Party is on Friday, Jan. 23, 2009 from 6pm-10pm at HOM
The Event is on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 from 8am-6pm At Area 15 in NoDa
For more news and updates go to www.barcampcharlotte.com

7 Signs It’s Time to Hire Someone

Thought this was a great article about needing to hire someone especially if you are a freelancer with overload of work and trying to juggle  everything.

7 Signs It’s Time to Hire Someone
by Christine Kane

I remember the first time I hired someone to mow my lawn for the summer. I was a tried-and-true D.I.Y. gal. I prided myself on it. 

The only problem was that I freakin’ couldn’t stand mowing the lawn. I’d dread it all week. And even though I was happy once it was done, I started dreading it again the very next day! 

At that time, I was studying several financial and business books. I began seeing my songs as my assets. I realized that the simple act of writing a song like “No Such Thing as Girls Like That” could pay me – in the long run – WAY more than the money I saved by mowing my lawn. 

In other words, I learned how to value my work in the world. I learned how to act on that value. It was scary for sure. (The voices in my head shrieked at me to just bite the bullet and do my own lawn!) But that one act taught me so much about success and the value of my time. 

These days I’ve taken it to a much bigger level, and I have a small team working for me. 

Now that I’m coaching people, I gently teach them these new ways of valuing their time as they expand into more success in their own lives. 

Here are 7 signs that it might be time for you to hire some help… 

1 – You don’t have enough time to do the thing you’re best at. 

What are you good at? What do you want to be good at? How much time do you actually spend doing that thing? If you’re running around getting menial tasks done – and you have no time topursue your passion, or engage in your high-pay-off, high-delight activities, then ask yourself why. 

Even if you let go of one item (like shoveling the snow) you’re telling the Universe the value of your time. (And you know what? The Universe always says Yes.) 

2 – You resent people who don’t struggle. 

This is a big one. 

If you hold resentment for people who live life with joy and ease, this could be telling you that you are waiting for rescue. That just leads to more struggle.

Only YOU are in charge of whether or not you struggle. Rescue yourself and learn what true empowerment feels like. 

3 – You’re worried about the economy 

Waiting for the economy to get better before you’ll hire someone? Why not become a part of the solution and use your money to improve the economy? 

While everyone else is pulling back and firing people – you can experience what it’s like to be the change you wish to see in the world!

4 – You think that no one can do it as good as you.

If you just shouted “Amen Sister!” – then please step away from your computer. Go to the bathroom mirror. Look into that mirror and say the following aloud: 

“I have a bit of a control issue.” 

The belief that no one can do it better than you serves only to keep you in the role of the Martyr. Unless you are, say, a brain surgeon, then there are many people who can (and will) do it as good as you. 

5 – You’re not playing to win. You’re playing not to lose. 

Ask any coach or athlete about this. 

When you play to not lose, all you’re doing is surviving, relying on yourself and hoping no one notices you. 

When you play to win – you take risks, you keep your mental attitude strong, you rely on the team, you look for the goal. Decide that you want to play to win.

6 – You’ve used this phrase at least once in the past week: “By the time I show someone how to do it, I could just do it myself.” 

This is a classic phrase of someone who refuses to succeed. It’s the mantra of the struggle-addict. 

Learning how to delegate is empowering. Not just for you, but for others as well. Besides, when you show them how to do it once, they can keep on doing it so you don’t have to! 

7 – You dread certain things so much that they don’t get done.

It’s okay to not enjoy aspects of your work or your life. (Most musicians don’t like doing their own newsletter, for instance.) This is the exact thing you can hire someone to do. 

What items do you dread? No matter what they are, when you get them off your plate, you’ll experience more energy just knowing they’re getting done – and you don’t have to worry about them anymore!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?

Please do! Just be sure to include this complete blurb with it:

Performer, songwriter, and creativity consultant Christine Kane publishes her ‘LiveCreative’ weekly ezine with more than 4,000 subscribers. If you want to be the artist of your life and create authentic and lasting success, you can sign up for a FRE*E subscription to LiveCreative atwww.christinekane.com.