by Tara Joyce | Sep 28, 2009 | Innerpreneurship, Self/Business Growth
It wasn’t so long ago that I thought…
I came from a Modern upbringing where art was appreciated but certainly never encouraged as a profession. I attended business school, worked in corporate marketing (albeit in tech, music and the performing arts) and was driven to write only when my world seemed to be falling apart.
Until a little over a year ago, I would have never identified my Self as Creative for I felt I lacked the talent, the ideas, the whimsy. I saw my Self as level-headed and practical girl and because I was basically good at everything, I felt I had a gift for nothing.
My mind just didn’t work in the way I thought a Creative person’s should. I thought creativity was something you either had or you didn’t. Case closed.
Now I get stuff done, my way.
Just as our cognitive (thinking, intelligence) and affective (feeling, personality) energies can be measured, our conative (doing, creativity) energy can too. Everyone has an equal amount of conative energy (aka creativity) for engaging the thinking and feeling parts of the mind to produce purposeful action.
This dividing line that we have placed between the artistic and the not is a restriction we place on our Self and others. We are all Creatives, it just looks different on different people. And not all of us equally exercise our ability to act on instinct.
Do it your way
Kathy Kolbe developed the Kolbe Index, a tool that measures the unique way we each do things. The Kolbe Index measures your natural instincts, your Modus Operandi, your way of taking purposeful action that encapsulates your distinct brand of creativity.
Your conative abilities, your creativity, is a unique set of innate strengths and talents that remains unchanged from birth. These instinct-driven behaviors are represented in four Action Modes.
My MO or TJinabottleTM
Fact Finder – the instinctive way I gather and share information is to Explain – I like making things clear. Removing the unnecessary pieces. I feel like my blog is a reflection of that.
Follow Thru – the instinctive way I arrange and design is to Maintain – I like to keep things running well. That’s why I love website structures (aka information architecture). Organizing is a passion.
Quick Start – the instinctive way I deal with risk and uncertainty is to Improvise – This is where I get my most creative energy. I love the unknown. And leaving things to the last minute…
Implementor – the instinctive way I handle space and tangibles is to Restore – I like to protect what has been built. But improve it some how.
Your inabottleTM
Maybe you already know what makes you so awesome but if your still learning like me, this Index could bring some cool insight. Either way shape your business around exercising your instinctual gifts. I bet you it will bring much abundance.
photo credit: Mother_Flickr
by Tara Joyce | Sep 25, 2009 | Self/Business Growth
Hanging my success on outcomes
I have a hard time not focusing on the end product of my writing. I often think about its outcome — an outcome that I have determined as the hallmark for my success as a writer — publication.
But wait, don’t I publish already? Of course I do, but it is on my own accord, and for some reason I have told my Self that my writing is only as good as the literary professionals who want to publish it. Only when I have a book published with my name on it will I truly be a writer.
I’m giving away my power
I’m attaching my personal success or failure to the outcome of publication, thus setting my Self up to be continually looking into the future and judging my present actions against this idealized outcome.
Writing because I want to
Sure, I want to communicate with others. And sure, I want to connect but the reality is before I created Rise of the Innerpreneur as avenue for me to do this, I still wrote alone in my room, for no reason other than that is what I needed to do.
I’m growing to understand that our art – whatever it may be – is not a task to be accomplished, it is a relationship to nurtured and cultivated throughout our lives. And this idea is especially important to grasp – process over product – when your art is your career.
Practicing for the love of it
My energy is best channeled into the consistent practice of writing rather than constant seeking into where the act and the art will take me. It is what I do now that will allow me to have the future I seek.
I’ve realized it’s okay if the goal of publication gets me in the chair and writing, but once I’m there, if I don’t let go of the goal, it can only hold me back. I need to just be with the work. I need to keep it free from expectations.
Managing my desires
I’m learning to manage my desire to be published – to identify and accept that it is there, understand how it drives me and then let it go.
It’s there to keep me showing up, nothing more. But that in itself will take me to places I never thought possible.
photo credit: soartsyithurts
by Tara Joyce | Sep 24, 2009 | My Journey | What's On My Mind, Pay What It's Worth Pricing
The six-month report
Call me crazy – and I know people do and I secretly like it – but after six months with value pricing, I am fucking loving it.
Sure, some days I think I’m a total wackjob and that I’m screwing my Self. But most days I feel like I’m exploring something really cool.
I honestly believe you can be f’ing great at what you do, have faith in that, and rely on your customers to determine your value.
Value pricing feels like a powerful act of self-confidence. I’ve got enough faith in the awesomeness that is my work that I’ll let you set the price for it.
Let’s get one thing straight, it’s not charity
I’m not doing you a favour. I’m not being kind. I’m being smart.
It isn’t pay-what-you-can, it’s pay what-it’s-worth. Your financial situation is not my problem. If you want to buy something, you had better be able to pay it’s value.
It’s what I’m worth
Did you have a hard time deciding what you are worth? Or did someone else decide it for you? Are you confident in the fixed value determined? To me, my value seems near impossible to peg down.
How does one decide what their worth? Come on, be honest… we compare.
We dig and find out what our colleagues (aka competitors) are worth and then we either:
- Price average to lower than average due to lack of experience and/or confidence or as a brand tactic
- Price higher than average due to confidence and/or experience
And think, most of us do this, compare and copy when setting our prices… we’re keeping each other in a box. I’m skeptical this system produces a true reflection of the value of your work. Or theirs.
You, comparing your Self to your competitors, is not to your benefit. Do your thing, really, really well, and let the demand dictate your value.
Who knows what you could be worth?
photo by: EricGjerde
by Tara Joyce | Sep 21, 2009 | Cultural Creativity
My old dentist was very clear on her bottom line. She didn’t hide it well. Each time she saw me she focused on what she could get from me not on what I needed. Mouth guards, teeth whitening and gum graphs were the name of her game. It was always what was wrong with my teeth, not what was right.
I decided to switch dentists.
Being treated like a walking dollar sign got old. Being treated without her full attention got old. Being kept in the dark on my health got old. She kept her knowledge tight to her chest, never daring to share what she knew with her patients. She did not believe in empowering her patients by fostering their learning about their own dental health. She wanted to maintain the chasm of expert and ignorant client for she saw it as a means to influence opinion and encourage uneducated decisions, often based upon fear.
But where am I to find one?
This year I registered Elastic Mind with a Toronto-based business directory called TorontoTheBetter.net. It is Toronto’s first directory of businesses dedicated to maintaining and building a progressive Toronto that is an inclusive, just and creative community. I figured it was the best place I could look for my kind of dentist.
I could have listened to referrals from friends and family but most in my circle do not share my values nor could they actually recommend a dentist they trusted. So a directory of Cultural Creative businesses in Toronto seemed like the best bet.
An ideal fit.
I knew he was the dentist for me 5 min after we met. It was an immediate connection fostered by shared values and a similar mindset. He was here to help me make informed decisions about my dental health.
A simple realization.
I need to work with CC’s not just professionally. In all facets of my life, from groceries to dentistry, I want to support individuals and organizations who are passionate about empowering their clients.
Let’s keep connecting the dots.
Us CC’s, we’re still hard to find right now. We’re just beginning to shoot our flares, sending our sparks up into the business atmosphere, helping our community to find us. We still have a ways to go until we are connecting and collaborating with ease.
Any ideas how we can foster this process? Are there local tools you use to find Cultural Creatives in your city?
photo credit: El Incomprendido
by Tara Joyce | Sep 17, 2009 | Innerpreneurship
It scares me to stand behind the word Innerpreneur.
As much as it connects me to you, and encompasses my views on business, life and everything in between, I am conscious of how the word, a word that references that which is within us, appears to others.
Do you experience the smirks?
Perhaps in your social life spirituality is an open topic but in mine it is not. Reading this blog is more a window into my soul than most people get. Me, in person, unless I sense that you are open to it, you will only catch a glimpse of my spirit. It just isn’t something I share openly. I don’t like the smirks and whether it is wrong or right, I have no desire to share such an important piece of my Self with someone who is not open to it.
Business as a spiritual practice? Seriously?
In my life business and money are talked of ad nauseum but usually not in the way I see them. Seriously Tara, who cares about creating meaning when you can make more money? Score another smirk for me.
To put business and spirituality together – to speak about my spirituality openly and build my business around it, well… I feel open to mockery. And I am. And it scares me.
But whether I like it or not, no matter how traditional, less “hippie” people view it, the meaning behind the word Innerpreneur — it is my truth. And it will still be there with me whether I use this word or another.
photo credit: Furryscaly
