As I watch my middle child grow up, I realize that she is more and more like me every day. She has a way with words. She can sit and write in her notebooks all these beautiful and interesting stories. She draws pictures to bring her words to life. Her love of words fills me up because that is how I was at her age.
There are days I feel a twinge of jealousy. Sometimes her stories seem to flow out of her so easily that she can’t keep up. I want to have those days. Days where writing just flows out of me and I can’t stop it. I want those days to show up consistently. I want those days to happen more frequently so that I can give my blog readers and myself the best of me.
THE CREATIVITY SECRET THAT I DISCOVERED BY ACCIDENT
We all want to have creativity that seems endless. Where we could just sit down at our computers and type the day away, creating these magical blog posts that just resonate with our readers.
If you have been blogging for a bit now, you know that you won’t always be inspired to write but you still need to do it. I have also learned that you just can’t wait until you are inspired to write. Otherwise, there would be no blogs available or books to read. It is about being dedicated and focused on writing.
With all of my clients, I talk about having specific times of the day where you focus on writing. Everyone is different and it takes some self-reflection. Try to write at different times of the day and see which one works best for you.
I find that I am more creative in the evenings. Especially before I go to bed. I try to spend my time in the evening writing what I can. It is currently 7 pm as I am writing this post.
There are ways to help you overcome creative blocks. I cover 6 ways to overcome your creative blocks in this blog post.
Today though, I want to talk about 1 creativity secret that I have really noticed has made a HUGE difference in my life.
Walking.
Okay so maybe it isn't much of a secret but it is something that I didn't think would make such a big impact on my creativity. It seems so simple but honestly, I have had some major breakthroughs, ideas and thoughts come to me while I am just strolling through my neighbourhood. I am incredibly surprised by the impact this one thing alone has had on my blog.
HOW WALKING WISDOM CHANGED THE WAY THAT I BLOG
In August, I started creating a social media post called Walking Wisdom. It was summer and there were days that I would get up and walk around my neighbourhood by myself. In the moments of silence, I would have random thoughts that would come to me. I would write them on my phone and continue on.
I really didn’t give it much thought and I stopped doing the posts because I stopped going for walks. Life got busy and I decided I just didn’t have time to do it anymore.
In January, I started a challenge called the I Am Enough 160 KM Challenge. It is a walking/running challenge that started on January 1, 2021. There is no time limit to get the 160 km in but my goal is to get them in by February 5.
I once again began to walk and I quickly realized something. These thoughts came flooding back in. There were some walks that I couldn’t put my phone away because I was continually having something come to me that I needed to write down and not forget.
My life is busy. I have 3 kids. I run a business. There is rarely a quiet moment in my house during the day living with a rambunctious 4-year-old. Life is fun, loud and crazy most days. I don’t get a chance to sit in peace UNLESS I am outside walking by myself.
TIPS TO HELP YOU CREATE A WALKING ROUTINE
I am writing this when our weather is so cold (-20s with windchill) that I haven’t been walking. Friday it is supposed to be normal temps again and I can’t wait to get back out and walk.
There are a few things that I do to help design a walking routine that works for me.
Tip 1| Download the Map My Walk app. I absolutely love this app. It tells me the distance that I have walked, the time I walked and the steps I took. It even gives me the elevation gain. I keep track of my distance because of the challenge that I am in but it is fun to see how far you can walk even when not doing a challenge.
Tip 2| Download the Podbean app. There are some days that walking in silence just doesn’t work for me. I love to listen to podcasts but my house is usually too loud to be able to enjoy the podcasts. Walking is the perfect time for me to listen. I love Podbean because I can download the podcasts to listen to when I am walking and not have to worry about using my data.
Lately, my favourite podcasts to listen to are…
Build Your Tribe by Chalene Johnson (I am working on a blog post to talk about my favourite podcast episode by Chalene.)
Tip 3| Walk around the same time every day. For me, this falls between 11 am and 1 pm. I will leave the house between that time and give myself between 1-2 hours of walking time. I find that is normally the time the sun is out and it feels a bit warmer. This will really help keep you consistent on your walks.
Tip 4| Have your phone ready for when ideas come to you. Honestly, there are days when it feels like I am constantly typing on my phone. The ideas and thoughts just keep coming to me. Sometimes it has nothing to do with me personally.
I remember there was a thought that came to me once and I wrote it on my phone. I had no idea what it meant and why I thought of it. UNTIL… I was talking to a client and she was talking about an idea she had. I told her what I wrote down on my phone and it was a perfect fit for what she was talking about.
Tip 5| Go by yourself if you can. I love my children but my walking time is me time. It gives me time without having kids yelling and screaming or trying to get my attention. This really helps the ideas come to me because there is no outside noise. Well, except for the podcast that I am listening to.
Tip 6| Put your phone away when not writing your ideas in it and soak in nature. I have found so many beautiful places in my neighbourhood that I didn’t even know existed. Nature is such a great way to inspire yourself. Let it inspire you.
Tip 7| No matter how much you don’t want to go, put those shoes on and just go. There were days that I just didn’t want to leave my house. I had a to-do list that had a thousand items on it. Items that I was trying to convince myself were more important than my walk.
I then just went. Forced myself to go and I would instantly feel better. The irritations of the day would disappear. My legs were sore but I felt so much better by the time I got home. I had new ideas on my phone and a smile on my face.
Tip 8| Make it a competition with yourself. I always try to beat my longest distance. I challenge myself. I never would have imagined myself walking 3 km, let alone 5. My longest walk so far is 7.07 km and I am so proud that I did it. Now to try and beat that on Friday when I finally get back out there and walk.
Walking really is an easy activity for you to add to your daily life. It is a great way to reconnect with yourself and reignite your creativity. Start small and work your way up if you need to. This is my creativity secret that I wanted to share with you.
What do you do that really helps you break through the creativity mould that you may be stuck in? I would love to hear what works for you.
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