Creative output cannot be forced, but it can be encouraged. Anyone who has tried to do any kind of creative work on a regular basis knows that inspiration can be difficult to control. It is a mysterious force that seems to arrive in an instant and disappear just as quickly if not channeled to our…
Author: Robert Van Valkenburgh
Co-Founder of Kogen Dojo of Severna Park and Taikyoku Mind & Body
Start With Your Limitations
Know your limitations, push them, but also respect them. We are who we are and, event though we can become better versions of ourselves, there are certain aspects of our nature that we simply cannot overcome. Instead of constantly fighting against these perceived limitations, we must learn to live with, embrace, and even accentuate them….
If You Can’t Be Better (Be First)
If you can’t beat them, own your own category. Often, when we think about success, we think about beating the competition, trying to win a race to the top of our chosen fields, above or ahead of others in that field. If the competition has a head-start, however, whether in timing, in resources, or in…
Courage to Act (Impractically)
Courage, by definition, is impractical (and practicality is not courageous). Doing what is safe and practical keeps us moving in the same direction, at the same speed. The problem with this strategy is that life is moving faster than whatever speed we feel is safe and practical. For this reason, instead of getting us ahead,…
Inhale Creativity to Exhale Creativity
“People don’t buy books. They buy the time they think they will have to read them.” -Henry Rollins There are only twenty-four hours in the day. After eating, sleeping, working, and tending to whatever other obligations we have, there are very few left over for what we call ‘free time.’ Given the limited amount of…