I have to confess that I used to sit waiting for inspiration.

I was busy all the time, doing this, doing that … and I expected the muse to appear, tap me on the shoulder, and say, “Excuse me, but were you wanting a shaft of light?”

ld make what I loved doing become the focus of my day (in my case it was that I’d be good at training others to train their dogs) I did what many people do.

You aren’t stuck! You need to know - and recognise! - that you have choices in life and it’s up to you to take them, so that you can do whatever you want to do, and map out your future with courage and faith.

Isn’t that what we all yearn for? To be able to do what we love, all day long? 

I guess it’s the reason so many people look forward to retirement - so they can leave the hateful or boring day job and enjoy endless gardening, or travelling, or reading, or whatever floats your boat!

Is that True or False?

I floated this question in the my private group Creativity Central recently and got ZERO response.

Now either I worded it too obscurely for it to be understood or nobody agreed with me,Or could see any sense in the statement.

Today I want you to focus on your good points

Yes - you have good points!

We all have good points. Sometimes they get a bit buried in the hustle and bustle of daily life but they are there and you want to be sure to give them expression as often as you can.

It’s your good points that make you of value to the world.

I’m often told by people who feel lost that they have nothing to offer, Nothing to give.

We all have habits.

Most of what we do every day is habit-driven. It makes sense! If you had to stop and make decisions about everything all day long you’d be exhausted by lunchtime!

Do you see things as PROBLEMS?

Or do you see OPPORTUNITIES

You see - they’re the same thing! And it’s all in the way you look at it

Have you ever made something, looked at critically and then said, “Nah, not good enough … I just need to change this, Adjust that … re-do this bit …?

Is that you? 

If so, you can say, “I am a recovering perfectionist!”

Are you looking right now at a list with YARDS of to-do’s?

If that’s you, you’ll be familiar with the sinking feeling you get whenever you look at it! You’ll know what this scrappy bit of paper looks like and you HATE it!

It just seems to grow and grow and get messier and messier and never, never does very much get ticked off.

I am eternally curious. Think of the 4 year old child who drives everyone mad with endless WHYs. whywhywhy, but Mummy WHY? And somehow I never grew out of that! Whywhywhy is a constant cry of mine.

So - following from my thoughts last week about comparisonitis, and feelings of insufficiency - FEAR - my question for you to ask yourself is:

If I weren't afraid, what would I do?

So after last week’s look at decision-making, let’s look at how to make better decisions!

They do say that we make from 40 to 60 THOUSAND decisions a day! From the moment we open our eyes in the morning we are making decisions.

We mostly have the best of intentions.

We decide this is the moment we’re going to get help Then we forget the appointment. We decide that now is the time to earn money from our idea Then realise that we haven’t any money to invest to get started.

Further to last week’s discussion on lack of system and lack of confidence which may be holding you back from making your dream a reality, I want you to look at some more things that may trip you up!

Nothing ever stands still and - as the saying goes nature abhors a vacuum. So if a gap in the market appears the canny folk have been quick to jump in.

Like all the companies who made hay when the pandemic hit, like online conferencing and the like - an essential and much-needed service!

Have you got role models?

By that I mean people whose success and achievements you admire and want to mimic?

This is great! BUT the key is that you’re following the RIGHT people for the RIGHT reasons!

Practice makes Perfect

BUT in fact that’s a nonsense!

If you’re practising the wrong thing, it will be “Practice makes Imperfect”.

If you’re practising badly, it’ll be “Practice makes Worse”.

It’s all to do with what you’re actually DOING, rather than how much you do it!

How many times have you watched a tv detective, or read a detective story, where the detective is convinced from the start who the guilty person is?

He then works through the whole book or play fitting the evidence to the person!

We are reared as nice, polite, little girls and boys.

We are taught to ASK before doing things.

“Don’t just dive in!” we’re told. “Ask nicely and wait your turn …”

And that’s all good and well for bringing children up to be well-mannered, and not grabby hooligans!