What to do when you are stuck creatively

Do you want to know what the difference is between entrepreneurs who create versus those who don’t?

The difference lies in being able to manage the gap. What gap, you might ask? It’s not the success gap nor the income gap nor the list of achievements gap. There is actually another type of gap, and that’s the gap I want to coach you on today.

This gap is a space that you probably know all too well —I know I do! This gap is the empty white void—not the black hole, but the fuzzy, blurry white vacuum of nothingness, where we get stuck or anxious trying to (a) birth something spectacular a.k.a. make something happen, or (b) march toward a confident direction. But unfortunately, in this vacuum, no ideas are coming through and no confident direction presents itself.

Intuitively, you probably already know what you want to be doing in life. Yet it’s another animal to translate that into getting clients, creating an income flow, and establishing a routine so that you’re finally done trying to find your dream and simply living it.

This white space is insufferable! It manifests itself as stuckness, aimlessness, anxiety, restlessness and directionlessness. Neither here nor there. Some days, you know you wanna change, but other days you think, let me gridlock that change before it happens too fast.

The purpose of my post today is to help you navigate (and swiftly exit) that lost, adrift, empty white void where creative flow comes to a halt and business stands still.

Why would you want to exit this white blob of nothingness? Well, this is the petri dish where Resistance festers and clones itself bigger over time. This is the time–stop where we quit intaking, processing and outputting creatively. It’s where we also become spiritually depressed, from getting glimpses of what we want but can’t reach because it feels too far away.

The gap is the pause between start and stop. It’s the middle between the beginning and the end. It’s the silence in between two cliffs.

Specifically, the gap is the space between Thought and Action. Thought is the moment when an idea or a direction hits you intuitively and you become cognizant of it. Action is when you take your physical human body and do something with the idea.

If you have a habit of hanging out in the gap, it means you overthink your idea into a blah of inertia. Or you abandon idea after idea and wonder why nothing is happening. It gets all creatively constipated.

Spending too much time in the gap means you are wallowing in Fear and Doubt. The gap is where Fear and Doubt take up long–term residence. They can’t exist in Thought because Thought is born pure before it gets tainted with our demons. Fear and Doubt cannot survive in Action because there is not enough energy to sustain that when you are busy having fun or making dreams happen.

As soon as you think of an idea or a business direction, you can either push it into Action or a plan of action, or you can push it into the gap. When you push it into the gap, your next thoughts sound something like this:

• My idea isn’t good enough
• I don’t have what it takes
• I’m waiting for something better to come along
• I’m not smart enough or ________ enough
• Someone has done it already
• I can’t compete with those who have done it so much better already
• There’s not enough time
• Maybe later after the conditions become perfect

Does this sound like mental hell? If you hang out here for too long, it can be. The gap does have a positive purpose to it because it can give us time to sift through truly bad ideas, especially when irrational or reckless options present themselves.

We might also choose to hang out in the gap because sometimes we need more data before we can make an informed decision. That’s all good.

But for many of us, we choose to hang out (and sometimes stay) in the gap thinking we need more data, when we’re actually looking for confirmation or evidence that this decision is right or wrong, or good or bad. We’re looking for reasons we shouldn’t.

In this gap of indecision, sometimes no amount of data, confirmation or evidence can feel enough. That’s when you’re faced with a decision which can only come from your heart and your gut, not from your head. As soon as you make that decision, the gap starts eating itself and you’re on your way.

The next time you feel stuck, lost, adrift, aimless, directionless, purposeless, very ‘blah’ from not being here nor there, and simply don’t know whether you want to go for it or not, take these steps:

#1 Turn it over to your Higher Self, the Universe or your spiritual team

If you are truly missing data to make a decision, ask your spiritual team, the Universe or your Higher Self to reveal what you need to know. If it’s not data you need but validation and support, ask for that as well. Turn your indecision over to a higher intelligence because they will help you see the bigger picture. Seeing the bigger picture helps you rise above your small self, the part of you that gives power to Fear and Doubt.

#2 Set a timer to make a decision

Whether it’s 3 minutes, 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks or 3 months or even 3 years, put a cap on how much time you’re going to allow yourself to entertain fear and toss and turn in indecision. Set whatever timeframe you feel you need to sort out your emotions. Invite your highest, most wisest self to emerge and decide from that vista.

#3 Journal on this:

The next time you’re stuck not knowing what to do with your business or how to move forward with your ideas, rather than focusing on why it won’t work or entertaining your fears and doubts, ask new questions:

• Who can I hire to move this forward with me or for me?

• What are the strongest parts of my idea and why will it succeed? Why do I love this idea so much?

• How will taking this action improve my life?

• What’s in it for me? Why do I want this? Why is it okay for me to have this?

• What are all the things that can possibly go right?

• If my energy or time is limited, where can I borrow or shift 15 or 30 minutes of my day to move this forward?

• How excited will my clients be if they had the opportunity to buy this from me?

• Besides me, who will benefit greatly from my stepping forward?

• What are the downsides to waiting, delaying and postponing?

• What are the upsides to starting now?

• What are all the precious gifts I can receive from acting “prematurely” before I’m ready?

• How can I best love and nurture myself into a new adventure?

In other words, entertain the bright side, the prize at the other end of the leap. Using these questions, engage your mind with thoughts of positive expectations and positive experiences. Keep focusing on these questions until you leave the gap and move forward into Action.

Any time you find yourself slipping back into the gap, keep turning it over to a higher intelligence, set a timer to make your decision, and stay focused on the ‘what ifs’ that expand your energy, not contract it.

Let me know how it goes!

Hi, I’m Ana Coeur

I teach entrepreneurs how to create their business straight from their soul. I offer a complete Intuitive Business Suite to help you create, design, write and sell all from your intuition. Here’s the services you can take advantage of to empower your business: Intuitive Web & Brand Design, Intuitive Copywriting and Intuitive Selling. If there’s anything I can help you with, I would love to hear about it! You may email me at anaintuitivepicture.com

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