It’s facing the parts of yourself you’ve been ignoring.
When you’re feeling stuck creatively, it could be your psychological shadow at work. 🤔
What is your shadow? It’s not the “bad” part of you — just the parts that you hide, repress, or deny. 🙈 🙊 🙉
By uncovering your shadow, you become more aware of the hidden, conflicting agendas inside you that get in the way of your creative success.
One part of you wants to create something great…
…and another part wants to sit on the sofa watching reruns of the Golden Girls. 🤤
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with the Golden Girls (except season 2 — ugh)!
It’s more that with greater awareness of your hidden agendas, you have more choice. 😊
With more choice, you have more alignment.
With more alignment you have creative Soulforce. ✨
And that’s what we’re all after, isn’t it?
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One of the best ways to shine a light on your psychological shadow is through accountability.
Did you keep your agreements to:
👉 Yourself?
👉 Your art?
👉 Your colleagues, family, and friends?
If not, it could be your shadow at work. 😳
Shine a light on this shadow and release your pent up creative energy to slingshot you into creative success. 🔦
Use the following accountability process to do just this.
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Self-Accountability Process
Answer the following prompts simply and clearly. Notice when you want to hide or squirm away from seeing what’s underneath! 🙅♀️
What was your agreement? Example: “I agreed to practice more this week.”With whom did you make this agreement? Example: “I made this agreement with myself.”Did I keep my agreement to meet this goal? Example: “No.”Name one thing you chose to make more important than your goal. Look into your fears, shame, sadness, anger. Example: “I chose to scroll social media, instead.”What made it OK for you to do that? Who was driving the bus in that moment? Example: “I felt afraid to fail, and overwhelmed at the task before me. I didn’t want to face these feelings, so I chose to escape into social media, instead.”Is that really the kind of artist you want to be? Example: “No.”What kind of person do you want to be? Example: “I want to be joyful, productive, and courageous in my creative life.”What’s one small step you can take to get back in integrity? Create a SMART goal that shows you the ways you’re already the kinds of person you want to be — don’t simply go back to your original goal because that could be setting yourself up for failure. Example: “I will spend 15 minutes tomorrow at 9AM sharp journaling about my overwhelm and fears, then I’ll text my friend to let her know I did this.”
If you regularly apply this accountability process, you’ll notice that your shadow becomes your ally.
🤩 You’ll begin to own your creative life at a whole new level.
🤩 You’ll consistently reach your creative and professional goals.
🤩 You’ll feel proud of reaching your goals.
🤩 You’ll feel stronger and more whole because of your integrity.
🤩 You’ll release all kinds of creative energy because you’ll no longer be battling yourself!
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Stay tuned for an exciting announcement coming soon about “The Dream Factory,” my new online collaboration space that supports creatives to consistently reach tangible creative and personal goals through accountability, community, and Soulforce!
Joseph Arnold
“The Art Whisperer”
Creative Flourishing Coach
SoulforceArts.com
