Good Wednesday morning to you. Can you believe the week is half over already? When I was working a job that did not make me happy, doing things that I did not want to do to make an amount of money that I thought I needed, I used to love the four-day work weeks because they meant a three-day weekend.
But now I love my life, I get to live my passion, help people, spend time with my family and friends. So the question you’re probably asking is this: “If you love life, Tim, what keeps you driving to do more?” The answer is curiosity and creativity.
This is a great subject to cover! If you are not happy where you are, you need to start looking for what it is that will make you love life. Those two things together are what you need to push you towards the life you always wanted and to love what you do.
Some people have to learn to be curious again. How do you get yourself to that point? As we said on Monday you have to make a choice to be happy. Well, when you make that choice one of the next steps is to put yourself in places that you start to seek new and adventurous things.
You have heard the story many times of the man who reaches his ‘40s or ‘50s and has a “mid-life crisis.” He starts buying toys that he never wanted before. He starts to seek pleasure in things that didn’t seem to interest him before. Well, this is the concept, but I don’t mean you should do off-the-wall things that you never did before. One of the downsides of a mid-life crisis is that it often leads to reckless behavior. I’m talking about harnessing that desire for something new and different and using it productively to renew your curiosity and passion in life.
To build your sense of curiosity, you need to become creative. You also need to learn what you like and don’t like. For example, some people say they want to serve in their church but are not sure where so they do nothing. Why not get involved in some of the areas that have a need to see how you like them? Don’t put off serving because you don’t know what you’ll like.
About ten years ago I did this, serving in the kids’ Sunday morning classes. As it turned out, it was not my thing, but I learned from it by getting involved and helping out one to two Sundays a month. Once I started helping out, other opportunities opened up that were even better-suited to me.
I recall when I got a call from a singles minister who had been a good friend for a long time. He told me how one of his singles classes needed some help. So I attended and before long was able to come up with a creative way to help those who needed the skills I had already developed. I was able to help them in their lives.
For you, it may be different; you may not have any ideas where you want to go. Well start by looking at your life. What is it that makes you smile? Is there a TV show that you always watch? The base of that show could be the root of what you are good at. Maybe it’s a cooking show or home improvement. Or it could be a show created just for entertainment.
For me, I think of the show CSI. If you’ve ever watched any of these franchise shows, you’ve noticed that they are built around solving a puzzle, the answer to which is only revealed at the end. But during the entire show I’m thinking of every way to solve that puzzle to figure it out before the end of the show.
Other people do the crossword or sudoku puzzle in the local newspaper everyday to keep their minds working, to always be curious, and to put their creative minds to use. Or they’re always reading books on new topics, subscribing to special interest magazines.
So, what is going on in your life that keeps your curiosity peaked, to make you a creative person? Take out a piece of paper and write down five things that keep your mind always working. Then over the next week keep writing notes on that paper about how you would creatively solve or explore those things you are curious about. Write me and let me know what you find out about yourself.
Thanks for letting me help you become the creative person you always wanted. I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s your time to live the life you always wanted, to love what you do, and those around you in your life. Let me know how I can help you become the RockStar in your world.
