January 2010 Contents
I. Climate Change
II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room, and the Shrink’s Couch
III. Friends in the Media: When you feel like reading, listening, surfing the web
IV. Newsletter and Info: Share this newsletter, subscribe, or unsubscribe

I. Climate Change
My new calendar has spaces for daily tasks, ten of them. I like to think that my experience as a coach has taught me to use a gentle and wise shaping of calendars to fit my style. But I can’t fend off the influence of those little boxes that appear for each and every day. Should I be doing 10 tasks every day? Should I be tracking when I do and don’t do them? I was just pondering what to put there (nothing? Cartoons? Doodles? Affirmations?) when my ear caught one of those reviews of 2009 and I shifted scale to the many changes some folks expect in the coming year, changes way bigger than how my datebook is laid out.

People keep saying big changes are afoot – in communication, in energy use, in how one works and, perhaps, even in how we support each others’ health. It may truly be a New Year. We’ve already had the shake-up of 2008 and 2009 to get us ready by loosening the soil around any well worn ruts of routine. Taking things for granted is no longer an option and millions of folks have already absorbed that message.

Perhaps your world has been sheltered from some of the changes, but the creative artist in you can use your awareness of the changes going on around you. The awareness of energy for change in the climate can support the aspects of your work that are creating the new, pushing boundaries further, and heading off into brand-new paths. At other times, of course, you will also need to mourn the passing of the familiar, resist some of the inane changes flying by, and even retreat a bit from creative work itself. You may need more time to nurture, cocoon, and re-affirm those habits and values that support you well, whatever the outside climate.

This is not a year for artists to rely on simple goal-setting. Yes, that’s useful, but a bare minimum. Depending on your creative style, it’s a time to take stock of where you need changes and put out your feelers for the many folks who are ready to help you make them. It also is important to recognize our own deep conservatism, that is, to identify and cleave to those human values we hold most deeply. A time to say out loud or in a journal or a blog how these values will continue to be expressed through what we create, especially in the face of pressures to abandon them.

So, yes, set goals. But only after taking some time to assess how the changing climate affects your art. Think through which of your creative values new climates will uphold and which may be eroded in the year to come. Since it may be a New Year in new ways, I invite us all to take an afternoon or morning to welcome it into our creative world with a discerning eye and heart.

II. Energy Management: Translations from the Psych Research Lab, the Board Room and the Shrink’s Couch
If you don’t already have a favorite way of checking in with your closely held values, here’s a laundry list of resources to start you off.

          - There are several online lists for “values clarification” on the web.  http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/library/Tools_and_Homework/Other_Homework/Values_and_Goals_Clarification.pdf
          - A favorite review guide for me is Stephen Covey’s Second Habit: Begin with the End in Mind. He guides us to a bird’s eye view of our whole life to crystallize what our core values are. Covey, Stephen. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit 2. 1989.
          - Another approach is to think through your basic needs. I like the sextet offered by two experts in personal growth: Chloe Madanes, a groundbreaking family therapist and Tony Robbins, well-known motivational speaker. Of the six areas, I’m guessing that the need for Variety/Uncertainty might be worth clarifying for creative types, especially as balanced by the need for Certainty/Comfort. Consider writing at least a paragraph about each of the six needs and then arranging them in order of importance for you and your creative life: 1. Certainty/Comfort, 2. Uncertainty/Variety, 3. Significance, 4. Love/Communication, 5. Growth, 6. Contribution. Madanes, Chloe and Robbins, Tony. Relationship Breakthrough: How to Create Outstanding Relationships in Every Area of Your Life. 2009. The book is mostly about life change and relationship troubles but the website has some more accessible info about needs. http://www.robbinsmadanes.com/about.html
          - Many of your values will be reflected in your strengths which can shift over time. You can re-assess these at www.authentichappiness.com (VIA Strengths).
          - And, finally, my favorite organizational guru, Dave Allen, has included a list of life sectors (physical, emotional, etc.) in his year-end newsletter.  Check out these areas for annual review and his guide questions for creating your New Year of 2010. David Allen [newsletter@davidco.com ] and  http://www.davidco.com/newsletters/archive/1209b.html.

III. Friends in the Media: When you feel like reading, listening, or surfing the web
Schneider, Katie. All We Know of Love. 2000.
A value I hold strongly for myself and for artists of all stripes is Rest and Renewal. In that vein, I enjoy recommending novels that include artists and the creative process. Schneider’s main character here goes about living and creating in that winding way that seems to wander off and yet gets the work made. Enjoy a fiction reading break as part of Rest and Renewal in your New Year.

IV. E-mail changes. To change your e-mail address, subscribe, or unsubscribe please e-mail connect@dianereardon.com. If you use a spam filter, please add this e-mail address to your list of approved senders. This material is included on the breakTHROUGH Creativity Coaching (website www.dianereardon.com) All material is copyrighted ©, 30 November 2009, Diane Reardon. All rights reserved. Visit the website for back issues and details on scheduling a complimentary one-hour coaching session.
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