Creativity involves taking risks. Time to Colour Outside the Lines.

During the final reflection of the training day with my group of VIP Coaches & Leaders Series 8 of the Philosophical Coaching Diploma accredited by ICF, a wonderful, empathetic student picked up a phrase I said during the course and brought it as an epilogue.

Creativity is risk-taking.

I decided to write an article about interpreting this saying and share it with you so that, if possible, it will be helpful for you.

In addition, I get the opportunity to clarify my message and purpose. My purpose with all my services is inner and outer leadership. That is inner awareness and taking actions that change yourself and positively influence others to do the same.

I want to inspire you to develop personally not as an end in itself, just for your satisfaction and happiness, but as a necessary condition for group improvement—the improvement of others who will voluntarily follow your example with your help.

My new book, Philosophical Leadership, covers inner and outer leadership at length.

See below my reasoning regarding the title of the article.

I believe that victimization, whining, and constant complaining come from the existence of emptiness—some emotional, mental, or practical deficiencies.

Filling the void is the beginning of a creative act and the starting point for something new to be born.

The decision to recognize and fill the void is problematic because it requires stepping out of autopilot and comfort zone and then being exposed to something new, something unknown.

In this case, the human instinct triggers an SOS because the mind perceives change as a threat. One has programmed you to protect yourself from change or not.

The mind does not immediately distinguish between good and bad in every news story. It needs a pause to evaluate it correctly, to protect or motivate the person, and to make the appropriate decision. I’ll move on or not. It benefits me or not. What are the conditions?

The data collection begins, the processing starts, and finally, the decision-making and the appropriate action. This is the logical process.

Creativity involves taking risks as it requires starting something from scratch.

You often create without knowing its impact on others: their feelings and interpretations.

You often do not know yourself who creates neither the continuation nor the end, and then you do not see the response it will have on others. The feelings and interpretations that will be born.

When you don’t know, you fear. You think the danger is everywhere.

Moreover, the danger of abandoning what you started is even more visible, especially if you don’t have a safety net or framework.

In the case of painting, it is the canvas.

Can you replace the canvas?

Yes. Putting in another framework, another safety net.

In the case of painting, another context besides the canvas is space, a specific space. From a one-dimensional framework, we go to three-dimensional.

Context is an essential aspect of any artwork. To subvert is to challenge and replace the existing framework with a new one, which is the essence of creativity.

Creators may hesitate to leave old frames, risking missing the next one.

-What will help you?

Embrace the risk of your creativity and allow yourself to be in its enthusiasm. Revel in the joy of creation and enjoy the path you have yet to travel. Embrace the uncertainty, disappointment, surprise, and positive and negative emotions that may arise.

-What will help you? Endure the pain and continue the labor?

Faith

• to yourself
• in your resources
• to the opportunities of the environment

What inspires you, like me and my team, to express yourself and unleash your creativity?

• The plan
• The main message
• The contents
• The organization

Risk and danger go with creativity; they accompany every thought and action. Without risk and uncertainty, there is no creativity.

Without something new, you cannot predict its influence, evolution, or how it will be perceived.

Inner leadership is the answer. Take responsibility for the risk and move on.

Put yourself over the safety net. Even if this attempt does not work out, remember you have an alternative. As in any negotiation, the one who has an alternative wins.

An alternative is acceptable to you and not outside your B.A.T.N.A.  The Best Alternative to a Negotiation Agreement is the alternative the negotiator has if he disagrees with the other side. It is the top source of power a negotiator has in a negotiation.

Creative people are usually susceptible to their work and criticism of it.

And here is another risk.

I wouldn’t say I like criticism.

Criticism means that your work and idea have been heard, so it has done its job to a certain extent. It created emotions, negative or positive; it doesn’t matter.

Creativity in art has this purpose: the expression and creation of feelings by the creator in the world, respectively.

I believe the same about creativity in life. It’s about you and what happens to you. You don’t break or make without affecting anyone else.

What you break or make for yourself will affect you and the nearby shot environment. How much risk there is that they will understand you and respond in a way that will please you.

Indeed, they may understand you, but they may not yet!

They will understand you if you don’t give up and keep creating.

Have perseverance, and believe in yourself, your development, and your work.

It would be best if you had the risk of creativity. It is the essence of it.

From there, you draw the emotions you need to travel its path.

It would be best to have it for the emotions that unfolded during it. For the adrenaline that bathes your body from anticipation!

-How will it look, and how will you feel?

-What will be born along the way?

-How will you complete it?

-What conclusion will you give?

Risk is your resource.

Every new thing comes from a pre-existing void.

-From something that wants to be supplemented or mutated.

-From something that pushes to change.

Creativity may have two starting points.

• the pause
• and the pressure

When these two reach the level of unbearable, they will give birth.

So, as soon as a new idea emerges, cultivate it and preserve it until it becomes firm and can withstand criticism. When you are ready, you can present it and take the risk of being understood and interpreted by others.

It would be best if you were strongly sure that you have done what you were created to do and have accomplished your existential task.

My advice: Take responsibility to push yourself further if that’s important.

To receive after giving value.

-What do you answer?

As for my purpose, I answer with a resounding YES.

I invite you to get my new book, Philosophical Leadership: Become a Better Leader through the Lens of Philosophy and Coaching, for you and a friend who will benefit from Amazon or another online platform you prefer.

In this book, I share valuable knowledge, tools, and techniques to become an influential leader and enjoy a more fulfilling life with the help of coaching and the wisdom of the classical ancient Greek philosophers.

So express, create, and let the artist in you emerge. This will make you stand out most beautifully, and it will be mutually beneficial for you, others, and society.

Are you in need of assistance? I’m here to help as a fellow traveler who has walked both the bright and dark paths.

My mission is to create leaders, visionaries, innovators, and strong individuals like my students, clients, coaches, leaders, and VIP community. They inspire me and, at the same time, continue to strengthen their impact and mission, resulting in more effective and happier leaders.

I always have a plan!

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Barbara