Creative vs. Competitive

One of the most interesting -- and important -- aspects of The Secret is this: creativity is not competition. In fact, they're polar opposites.

However, in today's business world (and probably other worlds, too, such as some social worlds and recreation worlds) it's extremely easy to "believe" in the overwhelming power of "scarcity." And that belief drives us to compete, not to create.

One of the reasons that this is so challenging in everyday life, is that we can easily forget just what it means to create, and what it means to compete. In other words: we can, somehow, delude ourselves into thinking that we're creating when we're really competing. During these times -- and they usually happen when we're under stress and unaware of our present moment realities -- we could really use some simple, clarifying pointers to help guide the way. That's what we'll focus on today.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE COMPETING IF...

• you cannot "win" without making someone else "lose"


• your underlying motivation to take action is based on fear


• you are making decisions and/or taking actions that you know are not in alignment with your values -- but you have to "silence" this inner voice


• you cut yourself off from the feeling of what you're doing, and become completely cerebral and "stuck in your head"


• you do not honestly feel good about your accomplishments; instead, you feel empty, guilty or ashamed


• the value of your contribution has actually taken away something from the world -- it may be very small and perhaps nobody will notice, but YOU know


• if you met yourself (really, pretend that you did), you wouldn't be able to look yourself in the eye and clearly describe what you're doing, why you're doing it, and why you don't stop doing it

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CREATING IF...

• you can only win when other people win alongside you


• your motivations are self-generating; instead of "talking yourself into" doing something, you simply ride a wave of authentic enthusiasm that is beyond your power to incite


• you are not obsessed by the outcome of your actions, but powerfully aware that the means and the ends are, in fact, part of the very same contiuum and are "part" of each other (much as the cloud is part of the rain; and the rain is part of the ocean)


• you are open and adjust to reality and to nature; you don't impose your agenda on the world, but instead, embrace and respond to it


• you would do what you're doing regardless of whether anyone was there to applaud, appreciate, or pay you to do it


• if you met yourself, you'd give yourself a great big HUG for being so creative :)

As you can see, the difference between creating and competing is quite vast; it's the difference between a positive contribution and a negative contraction; between giving something fresh and new to the world, or taking something from it; something that could have been divine and celebrated.

Yes, of course, here in our nice friendly blog, it's easy to see the difference: it's day and night, white and black. But "in reality" -- particularly in the business world -- it's so easy to lose this clarity, and to start "moving" that line between what we know to be creative, and what we know to be competitive.

When those moments emerge in your life -- and yes, they will happen; that's the nature of life to test us in many ways -- then please consider coming back to this safe, friendly blog and re-reading this post (you may even want to bookmark it). It could be the clarifying wake-up call that you need to ensure that your path is the creative...not the competitve.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about something that many of you are going to find very, very interesting -- we're going to visit our old pal Charles Darwin, and re-create his so called "survival of the fittest" observation. It's something that will affect many of you and help you really understand whta Darwin meant -- and what it means NOW. Check back tomorrow and see for yourself!

Until then...