dreaming and doing

how does your creative type affect your process?

May 10, 2024

creative decor — Photo by Nikhil Mitra on Unsplash

Are you a dreamer or a doer?

According to research, actualizing creative goals requires a combination of dreaming and doing. We need to access both energies to make progress on our creative goals.

It helps to be aware of where you fall on this spectrum to understand the motivations, gifts, and challenges that affect how you approach your creative process.

Are you deeply emotional and intuitive, with a vivid imagination? But maybe at the same time, you struggle to find the discipline to take action on your ideas?

Maybe you are process-oriented, analytical, and practical with a can-do attitude, but your drive for results makes it hard for you to daydream and trust your intuition as a source of guidance.

Does your hunger to express yourself show up as hyper-fixation on whatever project you’re working on to the extent that you lose all sense of time and space? Does the same emotional intensity that fuels your art also sometimes get in the way of it?

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When I’m working with clients, we get all up into the nuances of how our backgrounds, conditioning, temperaments, strengths, challenges, habits, and blind spots affect our creative process. Exploring these layers reveals patterns that can be studied, experimented with, understood, and harnessed to break through creative blocks.

For example, dreaming and imagining comes easily to me, but turning those ideas into plans with actual steps does not. When I started paying attention, I noticed that often I would delight in the rapture of a new idea, and I’d spend hours, days, and weeks brainstorming and note-taking, reading and researching. Eventually, I’d gather my notes, brain dumps, and mind maps, become overwhelmed by it all, and end up abandoning the whole thing.

Months or years later, I’d circle back to these unfinished pieces, see the potential, get inspired again, and start over. I thought would never stop sabotaging myself and that I didn’t have the discipline to take my writing career where I wanted it to go. I did this for over five years with Story Work before I finally stuck with it and completed my book proposal.

Your creative calling is going to require you to understand how your mind works. You will need to pay attention to what your triggers and thresholds are so you can begin to work with them so they don’t get in your way. What are your patterns? Why do you quit when you quit? Where do you get stuck? What are your strengths, weaknesses, and habits? How do you respond to discomfort? What’s your learning style? What keeps you from applying what you learn?

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When you understand your habits and tendencies, you can take action to give yourself the support you need. When you don’t seek this deeper understanding, it’s easier for your inner critic to shut you down and keep you from expanding.

Self-discovery gives our creative efforts a strong foundation. We can’t rely on talent alone, or desire alone, we need to develop a resilience for the challenges of the creative process if we want to see our projects come to life.

Whatever your callings are, it’s not a matter of whether or not you can do it, it’s a matter of figuring out what works for you.

So I’ll ask again:

Do you think you’re a dreamer or a doer? Both this book and this quiz are resources I use to help my clients understand this aspect of their creativity. The quiz will show you one core type that best describes you, but the explanation notes that you may change types at different points in your life and career, or even at different stages of the creative process.

“The Creative Types test is an exploration of the many faces of the creative personality. Based in psychology research, the test assesses your basic habits and tendencies—how you think, how you act, how you see the world—to help you better understand who you are as a creative.” You can learn more here.

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If you’re looking to go deeper with this kind of support, read on to learn more about the summer Creative Courage Writing Intensive cohort. Early bird registration opens on Monday, May 13. More on that below, but first I’m sharing six tips for making progress on your creative goals—from dreamers and doers alike.

six tips for making progress on your creative goals:

1 — Stop telling yourself that what you want is too hard, impossible, or out of reach.

What if the reward is in the process and not the end result? When you think about the end result, perhaps you see steep learning curves, uncertainties, and obstacles and it all seems like more than you can handle. But if you focus on one step at a time instead of the end result, this is how you build courage and confidence. Taking action, even baby steps, provides you with information that demystifies the process.

2 — Stop comparing your pace to other people.

Sometimes you will make the most progress by slowing down. Question your attachment to speed and any beliefs you have that say faster and bigger is better. Your pace is an expression of your authenticity, and you will thrive when you do the work to find your own rhythms.

3 — Beware of black-and-white thinking.

Focusing solely on what you want to accomplish with an all-or-nothing attitude triggers desperation and fear-driven thoughts, beliefs, and actions. For example, believing that rejection is bad will keep you from learning and building character. Believing that all your worst assumptions are true will prevent you from making new connections that will help you expand. Embrace nuance and layers by pausing and asking yourself — “What else could be true about this?”

4 — When working on creative projects, keep a process journal for each one and update it regularly.

A process journal is simply a log of your thoughts to document your journey as you work on a particular project. If you’re working on a book, each time you work on it you simply write the date and jot down your focus for that session. When the session’s over, you write down how it went, where you’re stopping, what you’ll work on next time, and how you feel about all of it. This will make a huge difference if you normally struggle with transitions and are working on multiple things at a time. This will also help you observe yourself so you can refine your process.

5 — Set boundaries to allow time for all stages of the creative process including observation, rest, play, and focus.

The creative process involves more than just getting an idea and getting your butt in the chair. Your creativity needs what it needs. When you honor your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs, you can work with your natural flow and not against it.

6 — Lean into community for accountability and co-regulation to help you focus.

The right accountability partners and communities can help you grow as a writer in ways you can’t do alone. Don’t underestimate the power of coworking to help you calm your nervous system and get tasks done. Also, sharing your work in supportive spaces will bring you feedback that helps you develop your voice, craft, and courage.

Which of these tips resonate for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

the creative courage writing intensive

The next cohort of The Creative Courage Writing Intensive opens soon. The series will take place from June 13 - August 22. This is my signature offering that lays the foundation for how I coach, mentor, and navigate my own creative journey.

In the Creative Courage Writing Intensive, we break the heart-centered work of self-discovery down into a process that benefits you, not just creatively, but holistically, impacting your entire life.

The Creative Courage framework is based on years of research and client work. You will be guided through a 3-month transformation of how you think about your creative work and how it fits into your life. With mentorship and community, you will develop the courage to ask yourself hard questions and explore the answers through creative expression. All while learning strategies to cultivate a lifestyle that fuels that courage.

You can sign up here to get first access to the early bird registration which will open on Monday, May 13.

After this transformative experience, you will be empowered to:

integrate your creative work into your daily life in a healthy way
bring more of your authentic voice and ideas into your work and relationships
build a writing practice that is a consistent source of healing, connection, and fulfillment
set boundaries that allow your writing life to thrive
respond differently to creative challenges, obstacles, and distractions
make decisions with a creative mindset instead of a limited mindset
make progress on your creative vision with new decision-making strategies
build a creative platform or project that expresses your values and creative passions