58: The 3 Phases of Creativity: A Blueprint for Sustainable Success

We are diving into a topic today that is near and dear to my heart and also crucial to our success as creative entrepreneurs. It's actually a concept that we came up with a few years ago, and we ended up formulating an entire online conference around these specific three phases of creativity. Their inspiration, creation and rejuvenation. And so I'm excited to talk to you about them today, explain what they are, how to tap into them, why we get stuck, and how often we should be rotating through them. You know, I think as creatives and as business owners, we often hear this phrase of work, life, balance. And we're always seeing seeking that perfect balance in our lives and our work. And oftentimes things just kind of weave together in such a way that there's not a definitive difference between work and life. Probably most of all because we love what we do, which means that sometimes it might be work. I'm doing air quotes here, work. But we genuinely want and love to do it. So we're going to be exploring the idea of this balance and again, talking about these three essential phases of creativity, inspiration, creation, and rejuvenation. ICR for short.

I'm Bonnie Christine and this is where all things creativity, design, business and mind marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains, running a multi seven figure business, doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. But when I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to accomplish my biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today. I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world, but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you spend your life doing something that lights you up. I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, changes people's lives, gives you all of the freedom you want, and is wildly profitable. Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast.

So let's dive into some simple explanations and then we'll get to how and when and why to move through these three phases. The first phase is inspiration, and this is really that phase where we are gathering information and seeking inspiration. And so for some real life examples here, for me as an artist, this includes actually gathering inspiration, you know, going out into the world and into nature and gathering things that I'm inspired by. This is also kind of that soaking up of information. So it's things like listening to podcasts and reading books and taking online courses and really just soaking up all of that information that we want to use in order to create. The second phase is creation, and that's when we put everything that we gathered in the inspiration phase into work. So this is also called, like, the implementation phase. This is where we actually create. We create the thing, we utilize what we learned, and we're very productive. So we're creating specifically based on the stuff that we have gathered and learned in the inspiration phase. And then the third phase is rejuvenation. And this is a time that is so important for us to learn how to rest and play and take care of ourselves and refill those deep reservoirs of our creativity. And so, as you might imagine, this is like a circle that we move around throughout every day, week, month, and year, or at least we should be. But what we really identified is that people tend to get stuck in one phase or another. And sometimes we can get stuck in these phases for a really long time and not move from one to the next. And so let's take a look at what that looks like. If you are stuck in the inspiration phase, this is when you are just kind of almost obsessed with gathering information. This is taking one course or class and reading one book after another after another after another, and never actually moving into the implementation phase on what you have learned. This is honestly easy to do do, because information like learning is actually easier than implementation. And so I really discovered this as I was coaching this group of people through a whole bunch of stuff. And I would give them a lesson and then wait for all of the implementation to happen. And I didn't see very much of it. And I'm like, oh, we're kind of in that mindset of learning, and it's just tricky to move from learning to doing. And it's even trickier to just consistently learn, do, learn, do, learn, do. Right. We want to get kind of stuck in that learning and just soaking up all of the information. It's quite difficult to transition to actually implementing on the information that we learned. And so being stuck here looks like not actually making very much progress on your goals, but because you're soaking in so much information, but you've lost the ability to identify when it's time to move from learning to doing. Okay, now let's talk about what it looks like to be stuck in the creation phase. And I think that this is one that you're all going to resonate with probably fairly well. This is when you're stuck in the doing, meaning you find yourself saying, I don't have time. I don't have time to read a book or take that class or rest or play or take a vacation. I'm stuck in the doing. I'm doing all the things, you know, I'm working into the evening, I'm working on the weekends, I'm working on vacation. We're stuck in the creation phase because honestly, we need help in our business, but we're doing all of the things and wearing so many hats that we don't have time to learn something new or to rest. Right. And so I know that you've also felt this as well, likely. So there's a real risk in being stuck in this creation phase because it could lead to burnout. It absolutely leads to a lack of new ideas and a lack of growth and a chance of possibilities passing you by.

And.

And then we can also get stuck in the rejuvenation phase. This doesn't happen too often, but it absolutely can. It's just kind of getting stuck in that lack of motivation or drive. Like I just don't wanna. Right. It feels overwhelming to even start learning or gathering information. It definitely feels overwhelming to actually do or create. And so sometimes I think that this happens maybe when someone is trying to get a side hustle started, they have maybe a regular 9 to 5 job and all of that other stuff just feels so overwhelming that they get stuck in that rejuvenation phase. And so they end up, you know, watching Netflix instead of reading that book that they really need to or doing that work that they really need to. And so we can get stuck in rejuvenation as well.

One of the biggest bottlenecks that I see creative entrepreneurs and small business owners experience is made by juggling multiple platforms trying to manage their online business. Can you relate from your website to your email list, to your sales pages? It can be overwhelming and time consuming and sometimes you have to wonder, are you a creative or do you just connect the back end of the entire Internet and hope it works? But it honestly, it doesn't have to be that way because I want to tell you about the platform I use called Kajabi. Kajabi is the all in one platform that I personally use to manage my membership, my online courses, my classes, my workshops, my sales pages, my opt in pages, and honestly, even my actual website is hosted on Kajabi. And let me tell you, it's a lifesaver to have everything under one roof. And so my website, bonniecristine.com and the podcast's website professionalcreative.com are all entirely built out on Kajabi by me. I didn't have to hire a programmer or anyone else to come in because the designer is that easy to use. Kajabi honestly lets you say goodbye to the headaches of managing multiple platforms and connecting a million things. And it's like having a personal assistant for your online business because it has a super intuitive interface and easy to use tools that help you manage your courses or your memberships or your digital products. Kajabi's customer service team is also top notch. They are always there, always happy to help, and they're always rolling out new updates and they're always there to help you succeed. Trust me, I've put them to the test. So if you're ready to simplify your life and take your online business to the the next level, head on over to bonniecristine.comresources and sign up for Kajabi Experience the free trial. I think you are going to love how it streamlines your business.

So let's go back to phase number one, the inspiration phase. Again, the risk here is that you get stuck and you don't make progress towards your goals and you become like that perpetual learner. The times that I've gotten stuck in this inspiration phase for me has been due to overwhelm, meaning the actually doing the work feels difficult. It feels like it's going to require a huge amount of my brain power and maybe I'm a little bit afraid of getting started if I really think about it because I'm afraid that whatever I put my hands to won't come out the way that I want it to. Maybe it won't be as beautiful as I had hoped, or maybe it won't be as successful as I had hoped. And so I'll just stay in this learning phase. Right? So if you find yourself stuck in the inspiration phase, it's really time to just implement. It's time to put it on paper, create a schedule for yourself, create a routine, create a deadline to, to implement on what you've learned. It's really just kind of this forced action of like, okay, I know enough. I don't have to know everything. I'm going to move into implementing. I actually think that this I often see in females more than our male counterparts that oftentimes women just feel like we need to learn a little bit more before we get started. We need to know just a little bit more before we start taking action. So I want to just encourage you that if you've been learning, if you've been in this inspiration phase, then it's Time to take what you know and implement, knowing that after you're done implementing, you're going to rotate back through this learning phase. We just need to get the ball rolling, this wheel turning to where you're moving through all three phases in a consistent way. So the creation phase is probably the one that I'm most familiar with being stuck in. And this is when I'm doing so many things in my business that I don't even have time to learn something new. This, for me, is really reminiscent of, like, 2019, when I very much needed to hire help in my business. And I remember feeling like there's this book on my shelf and I would see it every day and there was just no time. I. I mean, like, months and months went by with me wanting to read this book, book on a business, and I just didn't. I just couldn't. I didn't have time to do it. So that's a real red flag. Okay, we're stuck in the implementation. We really need to move first of all to rejuvenation to avoid burnout, and then we can start going and gathering information again. And so for me, getting unstuck from the creation phase very much has to do with either slowing down or getting help so that we have time to learn new things. That's the fun part. And so that anytime I feel like, oh, I don't have time to take that class or listen to that podcast or read that book, that's a big red flag because I need to be able to move into information gathering on a routine basis and then stuck in rejuvenation. For me, the example that comes to mind for me was when I was moving out of kind of the years where I was having children and then moving back into really being business focused. I ran and maintained my business while I had children, but I definitely felt like I was just kind of doing the bare minimum and keeping my head above water. I wasn't really creating anything new, and I wasn't having time to really learn anything new. And it felt hard. It felt difficult to move out of that. You know, there's like three. Three years where I just feel like I was either pregnant or nursing and having babies. And, you know, there was this big shift to kind of, okay, I've been rejuvenating, I've been resting, I've been enjoying, and now it's time to start learning and implementing again. And so that's what comes to mind for me. It could be something different for you, but really understanding where you are requires some Self awareness and really recognizing and understanding not only the current phase that you're in, but what phase you might need to move to next as well. And it makes these conscious decisions important so that you can allocate your time and your energy, but also your creative flow and your creative progress appropriately as well. Recognizing when it's time to transition from one phase to the next is absolutely going to keep you consistent. That's the beautiful thing about this, is that it consistently moves you forward and in a balanced way. It's going to prevent stagnation, it's going to prevent burnout, it's going to prevent overwhelm, and it's going to ensure that you have continued progress along your creative journey. This increases your resiliency. Meaning balancing these phases allows you to better handle all of the ups and the downs in your creative process. And increased resiliency means that if you do kind of have a bump in the road, you're. You'll be able to bounce back even quicker again. This is also going to really help you in your long term consistency. You know this about me. I 100% believe that the only way to success. Success. Well, it's long term consistency. So maintaining balance between these three phases is going to help you with your goals. It's going to help you avoid those extreme swings of energy and motivation. And it's going to help you show up consistently and feeling well. And because of that, you're going to have continued growth as well. You're going to cycle through these phases of inspiration, creation and rejuvenation. And that ensures that you're always learning, you're expanding your skills, you're implementing, you're doing the work and being productive. And then you're nurturing your creativity and really rejuvenating and honoring all of the hard work that you did. And all of those things will lead to both your personal and your professional growth. And then of course, this helps you avoid burnout as well. Burnout is such a big topic that I'm going to do a whole episode on this in the very next episode, which is going to be coming out later this week. That's episode number 59. So come back for that as it relates to this incredibly closely. So now that you have your mind wrapped around these three different phases, let's talk about when you should be moving from one to another. And I actually love to move through all three of these phases. Phases on a daily routine, a weekly routine, a monthly routine, and an annual routine. So let me explain that to you because I think that we're moving through these phases in a lot of different ways. So for instance, I love to move through all three on a daily basis, meaning every single day I'm learning a little, I'm implementing a little. I'm. And I'm rejuvenating, right? So I'm dedicating specific times every single day. Maybe I gather inspiration or learn something like listen to a podcast or read in the morning. And then when I get to work in the afternoon, it's all about doing, creating, implementing. And then my evenings are sacred and they're preserved specifically for rejuvenating. I also like to implement this on a weekly basis. So I like a weekly rhythm that incorporates all three of these phases with certain days focused more on inspiration, others on creation. And then usually it's the weekend, definitely Sunday, set aside for rejuvenation. And then I also implement this on a monthly basis. I'll typically pull maybe six, several days out of a week or sometimes a full week to really focus on one thing or another. So maybe I'm really rejuvenating on one week of the month or I have something very special set aside. So maybe on a monthly basis I'm doing like this big in information gathering or inspiration gathering thing. Maybe I'm going on a trip to gather inspiration or maybe I'm taking an online class like that one big thing thing for the phase. And then usually I know that I can take on kind of one big project per 30 days. So if I'm redoing my portfolio, for instance, or I'm working on a new class to promote, if I give myself that one big goal in a 30 day time period, I know that I can pretty much do that. So that can be my one big goal for that phase. And then I also have one big goal every month for rejuvenation. So maybe this is like a massage or just something a little extra. And then I have annual here as well. Because I think it's so important for us to realize that we all have our own kind of annual cycles. For me now this is probably going to be different for you, so you'll have to reflect on your own like personal balance. But for me, every single year I feel a little uninspired through the summer. And so for years this would happen and I wasn't taking note that it was happening again. It was just happening. And I would always feel like, well, I guess I'm done. I've got no more ideas, I have no more motivation. And so I guess I'm just going to gonna, you know, be irrelevant. Now and then in the fall, though, something always happens and I get this upsweep of energy and inspiration and new ideas and motivation. And I'm so excited to kind of put my head down and get back into gear. This happens again in January, and so that's that new year energy, I think. And so I finally realized that, well, this happens every single year. And it probably happens for you as well. You've got certain times of the year that you feel incredibly motivated and inspired and focused. And then you have other times of the year where you're kind of just going on maybe cruise control, like you're kind of just resting a bit and keeping things afloat. I think it's important just to realize that and know that it's gonna cycle and trust that process. So I'm curious as to whether this has resonated with you. Do you feel like you are moving through these cycles? Can you identify which one you're currently in? And maybe more importantly, can you identify which one you really need to move to next? I want to encourage you just to reflect on your current phase and perhaps the one that you are going to transition to next. You know, your creativity is so precious. It needs to be nourished and encouraged and taken care of. And finding that balance among these phases is going to help you achieve your goals and really, really find consistency in your creative career. So as we wrap up this episode, let me leave you with some simple take action steps that will help you kind of achieve this balance regarding these three phases of creativity. So again, reflect on where you currently are. Are you in the inspiration phase, the creation phase, or the rejuvenation phase? And then which phase do you need to transition to next? Second, make a plan to maintain balance between these three phases on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual routine. Maybe you create a schedule that dedicates little time blocks for each phase or something in the month that is specific to each phase, just to make sure that you're routinely moving through them. And third, be patient with yourself. You know, we all get stuck in one phase or another from time to time. And it's okay when you feel stuck or maybe overwhelmed, because that's part of the journey. And balance is just part of our goal as well. It's kind of elusive. It's not something that we can have every day, every day of the year. But it is important to maintain a goal to have that balance. And so celebrate your progress, celebrate your accomplishments, and make sure to nourish your creativity. You will learn and grow and explore new ideas. So, so much as you move through these three phases, remember, you have the power to create and achieve incredible things. So keep pursuing it. Create the beauty that you want to see. Come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you. I'll see you next time. Bye for now.