Unleash Your Inner Tiger

The lovely Pamela Slim from the Escape from Cubicle Nation blog has a nice entry about stifling your passion and creativity and how to unleash it again.

• We are told at an early age that our fire and passion is not “appropriate.”
• We see others around us conforming to “safe” lives and we don’t want to stand out.
• We tell ourselves lies to feel better.

People shouldn’t have to live lives they’re not excited about, or at least enjoy. Is the fire inside dwindling?

• • Acknowledge that it is there. Stop pretending that everything is ok if it isn’t.
  • Pay attention to your body. Tense muscles, stomach problems, anxiety and trouble sleeping are all signs that you are trying too hard to control your creative impulses.
  • Stop with the mind-numbing substances. Another sign that your creativity is stifled is when you have to down two glasses of wine when you get home from work just to calm your nerves.
  • Agree to take action. If you have been living an un-fulfilling life, you may feel stuck, unmotivated and overwhelmed. But staying stagnant is not going to keep things the same - it will get much worse.
  • Own up to your lies. Whenever you find yourself saying “I have to do this …” or “so-and-so made me do this,” or “I am like this because …” stop, look in the mirror and say very clearly: “Up to this point, I have chosen to create a life that isn’t fulfilling. It isn’t working. Now I am choosing something different.”

Is your inner tiger choking on a short leash? - [GanasConsulting]