Guardedness

Creative work requires vulnerability, because you are putting your thoughts, perspectives, and skills on display for others to critique. It can feel very much like a judgment of your work is a judgment of your worth. Because of this, many creative pros become guarded over time in an attempt to protect their sense of self. They close off to others, only allowing select people into their world.While you should certainly be careful about those you invite into your personal space, I caution you against taking an initial posture of guardedness. When you greet the world around you with skepticism, you close your mind to possible new connections and insights. When you greet the world with a posture of possibility and hope, you discover bril- liance hiding in the most unlikely places.Don’t allow a patina of guardedness and skepticism to cloud your relationships or your experience of the world. Instead, remain open to others, ask a lot of questions, be curious, and choose to seek wonder in the most mundane of happenings. By doing so, you train your mind and your intuition to recognize creative insights in each moment.Guarded skepticism results in an increasingly closed mind. Hopeful curiosity yields wonder and creative breakthrough. Choose openness.When you close yourself off to others, you close the door to creativity.QUESTIONHow can you be more open and less guarded today?