Your personality is your individuality, your “spunk” , your flavor - and more formally - your habitual patterns, passions or qualities you have within. They can also be described as your behaviors, attitudes that bring life to who you are. When my personality comes into my passion and wha t I love to do, I get excited and take time to reflect about how the picture comes to life – if I am taking pictures; if I am writing, I am thinking about how to make the reader see it most clearly, so my head is in the thesaurus - if I am journaling, then it’s about noticing things about myself I haven’t noticed before.
I love when my distinctive qualities are introduced through y work and people say: Wow, I neer saw it that way before!” It makes me stand out and feel accomplished amongst my peers who do similar work.
Your character and quality comes out in your expression, if you care for your mind, your emotions and your spirit with great care. Nurturing your expression has everything to do with nurturing your SOUL. Your work is likely to be more lively and expressive!
Think about the approach and angle you’d like to take; but first explore and research what others have done in your field of creative expression. Somewhere along the way you will find what makes your work uniquely yours. You may even find your have been exercising a creative talent you didnt even know had a name!
The impression your work leaves with others is another part of your personality. Your passion is: your engaging qualities, your ideas, how you influence people intellectually, emotionally, sensitively, morally and even spiritually.
How does your values ( your beliefs and morals) fit into what you deliver?
I spoke to my sister about her photography during one EV session and we discussed these factors more intimately. she began to describe how she loves to show off pictures of her grandchildren. We brainstormed how great it would be to leave her grandchildren a book of all the pictures she took as a momento a legacy she could later share as her creative impression in a small book she leaves with their parents about them as they grow.
Another way our creative expression enhances our delivery is when our bodies have balance - we get enough rest, relaxation and are de-stressed! Actually the planning of setting this kind of work aside helps us to de-stress. Not getting enough exercise nor caring for ourselves impacts our health and our creative expression and we tend to not give our full effort into our work.
The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney – called The Introvert Advantage. It was for one time in my life it was like having my second bible, because it offers personal questions and advice to consider like the following:
The Three P’s of personal Power: ( We reviewed this in one of our Expressive Voices sessions)
A. Personal Pacing – How do you preserve your energy? Set your tempo and the rate at which you feel accomplished. Don’t allow anyone to rush you or slow you down.
B. Personal Priorities – Set them over your projects. This allows you to think about your goals with meaning and “good energy”? How do you prioritize them?
C. Personal Parameters - This helps you to create good boundaries that help us cope with life and living.
Creating boundaries around what stimulates you to bring you balance.
Take some time to review these 16 Personality Factors offer insight for us as to our pace and personality and how they relate to one another – Visit this link for elaboration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Personality_Factors
Motivational factors – five factors to help you recognize your strengths and things that motivate you.
Here are a few questions for your own personal self-evaluation:
Do I feel peppy or tired in the am?
Am I tense or relaxed by late afternoon?
Do I come alive or bottom out in the evening?
When do I like to exercise or do physical tasks?
When do I concentrate best? Am or at midnight – late evening?
When does my brain seem the most frazzled or full of electricity?
What time of day do I enjoy most being with people?
In order to make changes – you have to be more self aware.
Take time to ask your self these question and follow a few tips on how to set goals - (more thoughts by Marti Olsen)
- Determine what you want.
- Set goals by making a list.
- Set your priorities.
- Write a few steps you can take towards achieving your priorities.
- Ask your self what barriers keep you from achieving them.
- How can you overcome them ( with great intention)
- Re-evaluate your priorities. Make adaptations to your goals list.
- REWARD YOURSELF for any progress made!
Another Book Resource: “A Creative Companion: How to Free your Creative Spirit”. By S.A.R.K.