need.input.: changing the world

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This Year's Top Five Inspirational Books For Your Summer Reading List

Now that the weather is scorching hot (seriously, fellow East Coasters, what happened to spring?), we all could use some new reading material. Here are my top five books from the first half of 2011 that will inspire you as you huddle by your air conditioner this summer:

1. Poke the Box by Seth Godin

Seth Godin has incited a following (or Tribe, as you might know it as...) for a reason: he's incredibly inspiring. His latest book, published under his new experimental publishing platform, The Domino Project, falls nicely into this category of inspiration.

Poke the Box is a quick read packed full of ideas about how to stop asking for permission and just do. It will call you to action and encourage you to take initiative.

So shake up your life and read it!

2. Do the Work by Steven Pressfield

Do the Work is Steven Pressfield's followup to The War of Art, the book where the thought-provoking author introduces the concept of Resistance to the world.

This new manifesto is designed to take you through a project from A to Z, helping you work through the entire process of its creation - from the inevitable sticking points in the middle to the fear-inducing shipping point at the end. Do the Work will inspire you to not only do your real work, but to finish and ship it as well.

3. Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination by Hugh MacLeod

I love this book. Read it. Enough said.

Just kidding. I'll give you a little more information - but I do just absolutely love Evil Plans.

For one thing, the title rocks.

And the book itself is incredibly inspiring. It introduces the idea that everybody needs an EVIL PLAN to get away from boring, dead-end jobs they hate, and to start doing something they love.

Ignore Everybody will inspire you to do something that matters - and to have fun along the way.

4. Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy Kawasaki

For anyone interested in business (and we all should be - who really wants to be a starving artist?), the newest book by Apple's former chief evangelist is a must-read.

The book outlines Kawasaki's method of how to enchant and draw customers into your business by using technology, and emphasizes trust and likability as key points on the road to success.

Whether you're part of a small business, an artist or entrepreneur, Kawasaki's art of how to influence others is a fascinating, inspiring read.

5. Bossypants by Tina Fey

Yes, I realize this book doesn't fit in exactly the same category as the others. It's not a self help-book, and won't tell you what to do to change your life. But the 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live star is insanely funny, and hey, everyone needs a good laugh sometimes.

Plus, Tina Fey's story is incredibly inspiring - being a woman comic takes balls (chuckle), and she's got 'em. While you may not be itching to become a comedian superstar anytime soon, her life may just infuse you with so much warmth and fuzziness that you become motivated enough to do what you were always meant to do in this world.

Become a Creative Doer, Not Thinker

Everyone loves a great beginning.

At the beginning of a new diet, it's easy to be motivated (not so much so after a few weeks).

At the beginning of a new relationship, both people easily look over one another's faults, spending their energy instead on the intoxicating feeling of new love.

At the beginning of a road trip, driving sounds fun (not so true by the end).

Let's face it: beginnings are exciting.

And the conception of a new idea is one of the most exhilarating beginnings of all.

But when it comes to ideas, not only is it important to be passionate and motivated at the start, it's crucial to stay enthused throughout the process of making the idea happen, or you'll risk turning into a thinker, not a doer.

Committing to an idea

When creative people first conceive a new idea, the idea is treated as if it's the most brilliant, exciting thing ever dreamed up. As someone with an idea, if you're really passionate about it, you may find yourself jumping up and down, telling all your friends and family, and becoming obsessed with the idea. It's going to be the greatest business/book/website/product ever, you'll tell yourself.

But as the reality of actually doing the idea sets in, your enthusiasm will most likely fade.

You'll realize it's going to take a lot of work. It may also take time, and money, and make your friends and family mad at you because you no longer are focused on them, and take away any social life that you previously had.

In fact, after giving it a lot of thought and maybe even trying out the beginning stages of creating your idea, you may start to doubt that this idea was ever that good in the first place.

If you're a freelancer, or thinking up a project outside of your normal workplace, you'll become highly aware of the fact that you are trying to tackle this idea on your own, with no one to be accountable to, no one to tell you what to do, and worst of all, no outside support. You may suddenly realize what you hadn't fully thought of before: it's all on you to complete this idea.

As if all that isn't enough, you'll also become hit with the reality that this idea, if you actually try and do it, will take over your life, leaving you no room to tackle any other brilliant ideas that may come your way. Everything else will be put on the back burner - this idea, if you make it happen, has the potential to take up months, years, even decades of your life. (Whoa!)

Facing Resistance head on

The actuality of completing an idea and all the work that you'll need to put into its creation is scary enough in itself, and Resistance doesn't make it any easier.

Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, explains Resistance as the negative force that keeps you from doing your real work.

Resistance will undoubtedly show itself differently to different people, but here are some of the ways Resistance may show up when you try to make your idea happen:

You may all of a sudden think you're not a good enough writer/artist/musician/businessperson to complete your idea
You may be so obsessed with being "perfect" that you never actually ship your idea to the world
You may encounter writer's block (if you're a blogger, novelist, etc.) or a block in your creativity
You may become deathly afraid of failure
You may become deathly afraid of success

Resistance can show its head in countless other ways, but it always acts as a form of doubt - the voice inside your head that tells you that you can't do something.

Don't let Resistance steal your dreams

Don't give into the Resistance. Yes, attempting your idea will take a lot of work, time and maybe even money, but if you're really passionate about it, if you really believe in it - it will all be worth it in the end, I promise.

Don't think. Do.

The world needs you to make your idea happen!

Writing Challenge: Trust Yourself

To my fellow writers and creative thinkers out there:

I've made a commitment to take on a writing challenge inspired by the great Ralph Waldo Emerson himself. The challenge encourages you to look within and trust yourself, and will act as an opportunity to reflect on the now and create direction for your future.
The #Trust30 challenge starts May 31, 2011 and continues for 30 days. Here are the rules:

Each day a prompt will be posted (and e-mailed to you if you need a reminder) by an original thinker and doer on http://ralphwaldoemerson.me.
Fill out the pledge on the challenge website to commit to participating.
Blog, journal or create something on each of the 30 days.
Tweet using the hashtag #Trust30 to show your support and involvement.

Pretty cool, huh?

I will be using Twitter to post my daily prompt responses but I will also use this site for longer thoughts.

Join me in this challenge!

How to Rediscover Your Creativity

I've spent a good part of my life telling myself what I wasn't.

I am not an athlete.

I am not a good public speaker.

I am not good at math.

I am not creative.

That last one, boy did that last one get to me. As a kid, I was an artist - I drew animals, I painted (though not very well), I did oodles of craft projects and wrote tons of children's books (I even won some small awards for them).

But somewhere along the way I decided I was no longer creative. Somewhere between junior high and my sophomore year of high school, I lost the passion I'd once had to change the world, and along with that, my desire to create.

Not doing anything creative was boring and uninspiring. But it was the belief that I wasn't creative, that I couldn't be creative - that's what sucked the life out of me.

Until a few years ago I was left with nothing. I was no longer anything, or open to becoming anything.

Open yourself up to the possibility of being creative

I know I'm not the only person who has gotten the creativity sucked out of them over the years. As kids, we all used to do something artistic, whether it was to play an instrument, color with chalk on the sidewalk, or make amazing sprinkle-laden desserts (my specialty as a 5-year-old). But at some point, most of us decided that following those creative passions weren't realistic enough. So we gave them up, got 9 to 5 jobs where we're told what to do every second of the day, and live our lives in a slumber.

I credit much of this dysfunctionality to American-style schooling, where we are given confusing messages about following our dreams and passions while being encouraged to fit in and follow a stable career, preferably one in the field of law/medicine/business.

Athletes are given an exception, since our society loves a good sports story.

Creativity is left out of the mix almost entirely. As students, we are given support to follow our creative passions - as long as they're on the side.

You're good at painting? That's great, do it on your own time.

You're a singer? Join the choir (you'll have to get up extra early since choir these days tends to be in zero period, sorry those of you who aren't morning people). But don't plan on making a career out of it - that's ridiculous.

Cartoonist? Musician? Creative writer? We are taught that these are not legitimate careers, that sure we can keep them as hobbies but if we want to survive in this world we have to get a real job.

Go back to your creative roots

Pick up your old guitar. Start doodling again. Anything you can do to get yourself out of this non-creative rut.

Take small steps.

Rediscover your creativity, and you'll find your lost self in the process.

Why you Should Stop Focusing on Being Original

Most of us assume that all the great ideas in the world came from brilliant thinkers who had only original ideas.

This is intimidating. It means that the rest of us need to use our average minds to come up with an equally dazzling idea that no one has ever thought of before.

But this way of thinking stops any of us from even trying. It's too big. Too scary. Too impossible.

Pablo Picasso famously said, "Good artists copy, great artists steal."

It's okay to take ideas from other sources. Pick out things from movies you love, books you've read, other people you've talked to and put it all together to make your own creation. It will be original because of the way you put it together, not because the idea itself never existed before.

After all, Apple didn't actually invent the computer, they just made it better.

Learning to Fail, One Step at a Time

I moved to Amsterdam three years ago full of dreams of how I would spend my time there, yet it took only a year of constant failure to make me feel like a worthless human being.

I had certainly run into my fair share of bad luck. My husband worked for Nike at the time, and we moved over there thinking I'd have no problem getting a job (a bright young college graduate with exciting ideas - who wouldn't want to hire me?). But I had plenty of factors going against me:

The recession had just hit the US and was quickly radiating to the rest of the world, including Europe.
I didn't speak Dutch (this turned out to be a much bigger issue than I'd thought)
Being a relatively recent college graduate, I didn't have the mandatory 3-5 years of experience required by most of the companies there.
I didn't have an area of "specialty."

Combine these external factors with the reality that I didn't know what the hell I actually wanted to do with my life, and it's pretty obvious why I may have had a lot of failed attempts.

Try and try again

Though I had been a journalist before moving to the Netherlands, I realized pretty quickly after moving that I would have to be open to different opportunities.

So I tried getting a job at my husband's company. No dice (not enough experience/no specialty).

I tried working as an English-language correspondent for a Dutch newspaper. They told me I needed to learn to read Dutch better - though I thought I could do the job just fine using a dictionary and Google translate (if you're wondering, I did take Dutch lessons, but it is not an easy/desirable language to learn).

I got my personal training certification and tried working at a gym just to have something to do. Again, not enough Dutch (mind you, every Dutch person can speak English, they are just stubborn about it because they know Dutch is a dying language).

I applied to every job I could think of with no luck. Eventually I just gave up.

Learning to fail

Giving up was the worst thing I could have done. It made me lose my hope and my passion for life. It made me think that I was worthless, that I used to be smart/interesting/ambitious/creative but that somewhere along the line I'd made a wrong decision and there was nothing I could do about it. I was doomed to live an unfulfilling life. In short, I was screwed.

But of course I was having a tough time. I was living in a foreign country where I had no contacts, resources or people to help me. I missed my family. I was lonely. The worst recession since the Great Depression had hit just as I had graduated college. It was a tough time for a lot of people. It still is.

Things gradually started to pick up for me, but only after I started accepting the following:

That I never want a real job (I define a real job as a 9 to 5 job at some sort of company or corporation, involving lack of freedom, creativity etc., but feel free to add your own interpretations).
That I actually am a creative person, and I do have something to say and contribute to the world.
That I haven't chosen the easiest path, but ultimately it will be the most fulfilling.

Everyone fails. The key to success is to keep trying and to learn from your mistakes.

I know I'll get it right eventually.

Do the Work

Do the Work by Steven Pressfield

I finally finished Steven Pressfield's follow up to The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battle today. Do the Work took me three days to complete, but only because I was simultaneously reading three other books.

It was well worth the read.

Like Pressfield's previous book, Do the Work focused on the forces that keep us from doing great things. He calls these forces Resistance, which he loosely defines as fear, self-doubt, procrastination, addiction, distraction, timidity, ego and narcissism, self-loathing, perfectionism, etc.

I can relate.

Excuses, excuses

How easy is it to say that we don't have the time/money/motivation/support/desire to do big things? Too easy.

The following passage particularly struck me as I was reading:

You may think that you've lost your passion, or that you can't identify it, or that you have so much of it, it threatens to overwhelm you. None of these is true.

Giving in to Resistance

Growing up, I would get so passionate about things (saving the world, photography, education, animals, etc.) I could barely hold the tears back. I was overwhelmed, and didn't know how to put that passion into action, so much of it was wasted.

Then, a few years back, I moved to Europe. It was an amazing experience, don't get me wrong, but I lost my passion somewhere along the way. I thought I had missed my opportunity somehow; that I was meant to do big things, world-changing things, but alas, I'd chosen to get married and move to Europe instead so I'd deliberately directed myself away from that path. It was too late for me, I'd cry to my husband - I was no longer a passionate person.

Feeling empty and void of ideas didn't suit me particularly well. I became depressed and hopeless. But I now know that the feelings I experienced weren't due to actually losing my intelligence and passion for life - it was just Resistance talking.

Finding your passion (again)

I may not know exactly where I want to put that passion yet (i.e. can't identify it), but I know it's there, and I'm doing all that I can to bring it forth.

And you can do the same.

PS. I would highly recommend Steven's book. It will get you off your butt and doing those amazing things you always wanted to do. Plus, the electronic version is currently free on Amazon, curtesy of GE.

Hello, World!

Welcome to need.input blog.

This blog has been a long time in the making. I've started a number of blogs before this one, each fizzling out eventually as I lost interest in the subject matter and since I hadn't actually given the blog URL to anyone, got bored writing just for myself.

Need.input will be partly about me, so I better introduce myself - my name is Krista Stryker, and I'm from the beautiful Pacific Northwest, currently living in New York City. I'm a creative generalist, meaning that I don't specialize in any one creative genre. I'm curious and sporadic by nature, so my inquisitiveness has led me to various outlets from photography to journalism, copywriting to pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.

My goal with this blog is to encourage you to become just as excited and inspired by the creative, fascinating world around us as I am. I plan on publishing posts three times a week to start (more if I just have too much to say), and will offer my take on creativity, personal growth, business, balance, education and other subjects. I am a creative generalist, after all.

Thanks for reading.

Krista

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