Wouldn’t it be nice if the path to productivity were a clear, straight line, paved with unwavering focus and relentless progress?
If you’re like me, creative, full of ideas and easily distracted, you dream of this lovely straight path. But the reality is that the path to success is rarely so straightforward.
Life (and business) is like a long river running through a varied landscape. Some sections of the river flow in a straight line, calmly, predictably, while other parts meander, twist, and turn, sometimes rushing in white water. Just like that river, your entrepreneurial journey is filled with moments of swift progress, times of reflection, and instances of redirection.
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Listen to my AI friend read this blog post to you:
The Appeal of Small Steps Leading to Grand Visions
The overwhelming amount of productivity advice talks about consistent and incremental progress as the key to success.
And it’s easy to see why this belief is so widespread. The idea of stringing uninterrupted small steps can lead us directly to our grand visions is deeply enticing.
Books and success stories often celebrate the art of taking baby steps. For example, James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” proposes to improve just a little bit, by 1%, every single day. By doing so, over time, these seemingly tiny refinements create substantial change. And it’s true, a consistent rhythm and a dedicated approach can indeed lead to impressive results.
It’s also the premise behind the beloved “The Tortoise and the Hare” fable. Everyone knows that slow and steady wins the race.
But business, nor life, is always that simple. While it’s nice to think that we can map out our lives with precision, reality often throws in surprises. Not every day feels like a 1% improvement. Sometimes, we might even feel like we’ve taken a step back.
While the 1% improvement or the slow but steady strategy seems intuitive and so right, it doesn’t work for everyone and in every situation.
For some of us, slow and steady just doesn’t happen.
And that’s OK.
There’s beauty and success in embracing spontaneous bursts of creativity, the unexpected turns, and even the occasional standstill. So let’s embrace that creative productivity.
Embracing Creative Productivity
Creativity thrives in freedom, exploration, and unpredictability, in letting the rhythm of life and business move you in unexpected directions.
You might have tried, like so many brilliant minds, to pin down consistency, building a routine that feels both comfortable and steadily progressive.
However, for some of us, routine and consistency feel almost impossible. Even with the best-laid plans, there are days when
- inspiration strikes out of nowhere,
- motivation seems elusive,
- life just gets in the way.
And that’s OK.
In fact, it’s more than OK; it can be beautiful.
Think about the best book you’ve ever read or the most moving film you’ve ever seen. The story was filled with twists, turns, challenges, and unexpected moments. If not, it would have been very boring. Just like those stories, your story is filled with its own set of highs and lows, setbacks and leaps forward.
My approach to creative productivity is not about rigidly adhering to a set formula, but rather celebrating the journey — the moments of high productivity, times of quiet reflection, spurts of bustling activity, and the periods of creative wandering.
It’s essential to recognize and embrace the fluid nature of our productivity and understand that it doesn’t always follow the course we chart.
When we learn to embrace our own inconsistency and view it not as a challenge but as an opportunity, we unlock a world of potential that’s waiting just around the bend.
Challenge the Myth, Celebrate the Journey
The most influential and creative figures in history often had unpredictable paths to their success: unpredictable patterns of productivity, interspersed with bouts of inactivity, reflection, and reinvention.
Their true genius didn’t come from strictly following some linear path but from their ability to embrace the full spectrum of the creative process.
So, why do we, as entrepreneurs, try to force our productivity to look a certain way?
Productivity isn’t just about ticking off tasks on a to-do list. It’s about immersing yourself in your work with passion, being present in the moment, and sometimes allowing yourself the grace to step back, take a breather, and view your journey from a different vantage point.
It’s about finding joy in the zig-zags, the detours, and the serendipitous discoveries.
Navigating Your Unique Path with Support
Being bound by conventional expectations can limit your potential. While the straight line mindset works for some, it can be a confining box for many others, especially those brilliant souls filled with an abundance of ideas and energies.
Imagine giving yourself the permission to colour outside the lines, to step out of that box.
It’s liberating, isn’t it?
But venturing into uncharted territory can also feel a tad overwhelming. This is where the power of community, encouragement, and the right tools come into play.
Find a space and a community that acknowledges the brilliance in your unique journey, encourages you to find your own path and helps guide you on that path.
That’s what Coworking Cooperative is all about.
- The “Coworking Cooperative Membership”, gives you a space to work alongside like-minded individuals and make progress when you need to.
- Workshops such as “Don’t Plan Your Year” help you embrace your non-linear mind so that you can finally become more productive, despite decades of distraction.
- Fun virtual card decks help you take action, try new things and think deeply about your business in a playful yet effective way.
These and other resources are designed to make work feel less like a chore and more like an experience. By turning conventional productivity tools on their heads and adding a splash of fun to this creative productivity, I’ve created systems for those for whom standard productivity advice often fails.
Notice I said it’s the advice that fails, not the person. Just because that standard advice doesn’t work for you, doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you. It’s just not a good fit. So, let’s find a better fit.
Embrace Your Unique Journey
Straight lines, rules and stringent paths work wonders for many people, but there’s an incredible beauty in recognizing and honoring the meandering routes too. Your journey, with its unique blend of highs, lows, twists, turns, and pauses, is what makes your business so rich and uniquely yours.
That, sometimes convoluted, journey adds depth and character to your story. It can lead you to your most profound discoveries and insights.
At the “Coworking Cooperative”, we celebrate your uniqueness. By stepping away from rigid frameworks and embracing your authentic rhythms, you can find more joy, creativity, and fulfillment in your business.
And in those inevitable moments of doubt or uncertainty, just remember that you’re surrounded by a community that understands, supports, and cheers for every unique step you take.
Find what feels right, what makes your heart sing, and what aligns with where you want to go. After all, the true magic comes not in following a straight, predetermined path, but in crafting a journey that’s uniquely and beautifully yours.
