Creative Wellness Letters - What motivates you to create? 🎨

Hi Reader, 

You may or may not have noticed that it’s Wednesday, not Monday, the usual day that you receive Creative Wellness Letters. Well, that’s because today’s topic grew into an article that's too big for email, and rather than pushing out a lesser version to meet an arbitrary deadline, I’d rather share the full, better quality version!

Most of you probably don’t care (which is fine!) but I wanted to mention it, to validate that you’re also allowed to give yourself some grace if you need to push a deadline back a bit. 💗

~~~~~

The book The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin is one of my favorite resources for understanding creative motivation. When talking with creative coaching clients about habits and finding space in their lives for creativity, I find myself recommending it often.

The 4 Tendencies help you understand how you react to expectations, which directly relates to motivation, which in turn is foundational to fueling your creative practice.

I’ve found this framework very helpful over the years, but I haven't seen anyone apply it to creative work specifically, so I’ll share how each of the tendencies’ reactions to expectations (inner and outer) might impact how you approach your creative practice, with tangible tips to help each tendency tap into creative motivation!

💡 Before reading, you might want to take the official quiz to figure out which of the four tendencies you are dominant in, or keep reading and trust your intuition to see which type you think you are.

The 4 Tendencies framework is all about how you react to expectations, both internal and external:

• External or outer expectations might be something like meeting a work deadline where you’re accountable to others, following traffic laws, or showing up to gigs on time.

• Internal or inner expectations are things that you've decided on for yourself are important, such as quitting some kind of a habit, or keeping up with your creative practice.

WHAT ARE THE 4 TENDENCIES?

Here’s a quick description of each tendency, along with the self-descriptive sentence that Gretchen Rubin uses for each one.

UPHOLDER:

Meets both inner and outer expectations.

“I do what others expect of me and what I expect for myself.”

QUESTIONER:

Meets their own inner expectations, but resists outer expectations, since they want to question everything.

“I do what I think is best according to my judgment, if it doesn't make sense, I won't do it.”

OBLIGER:

Meets outer expectations but resist their own inner expectations.

“I do what I have to do. I don't want to let others down, but I may let myself down.”

REBEL:

Resist both inner and outer expectations.

“I do what I want in my own way. If you try to make me do something, even if I try to make myself do something, I'm less likely to do it.”

Read the article or listen to Episode 59 of Being A Whole Person to learn my tips for each tendency to strengthen their creative motivation, along with some reflection prompts for each one!

⬇⬇⬇

Which of the 4 Tendencies do you identify with? Hit reply and let me know!

Stay well, my friends - I'm always rooting for you. My inbox is always open, so please feel free to reach out if I can help in any way. 

I always love hearing from you!

Have a lovely week! ⁠

Rebecca

• The Creative Contract - I loved this newsletter from Suleika Jaouad on discipline and making a commitment to yourself and your creativity . (Her book Between Two Kingdoms is also SO lovely and I highly recommend it.)
• Mediocrity means you get to have fun? - What if we dropped the pressure and just enjoyed ourselves, without fear of failure?!
• How to Stop Overthinking and Start Trusting Your Gut - Some good, tangible tips for trusting your intuition instead of fear.

• Ep. 59: Understand Your Creative Motivation Using the 4 Tendencies

• Mini-sode: Working With Your Spring Energy
  
  

Spring can be a much-awaited season, but the transition from winter into spring also can be a lot for our nervous systems to adjust to! I share a story about how this year’s transition has been for me, as well as some tips on grounding yourself if you’re feeling jittery, and noticing your own seasonal patterns.

Join us in Compassionate Creativity Coworking Club 

(Your first session is free to try!)

Book a free discovery call to learn more about coaching and get a mini-session

Coaching Offerings:

• Rise Above the Overwhelm: laser-focused 1-time sessions

• Creative Flow Intensive (1 month)

• Creative Season (3 months)

• Email Coaching (monthly membership, or discounts for paying quarterly!)