Half the year has passed as I write this article, and I’ve been reflecting on the progress made. As a career coach, I know a mid-year review can be very beneficial for both our career-based activities and personal goals. (If you’d like to complete your own mid-year review, this article shares how)

This year, like the last four years, I’ve embraced an intentional approach to my goal-setting and the feeling I’d like the year to have. Many people want to have a word of the year for this purpose, and proponents have shown that keeping the chosen word top of mind can increase clarity and confidence. Similarly, for the past three years, I have selected a phrase to guide my year, which has provided many of the same benefits as a word, but with an extra degree of depth.

Inspiration, Creativity and Consistency

Why am I sharing this, you may ask? Because recently, a colleague asked me how I stayed focused and came up with new ideas for articles. She has admired my consistency over more than seven years of regular sharing of recent articles and, at the same time, was bemoaning her lack of consistency. This colleague is consistent in other areas, and two of her signature strengths are a love of learning and curiosity, which means she is very consistent with exploring new ideas and learning new things. But by consistently exploiting the love of learning strength, she was less consistent in utilising her creativity.

I suggested inspiration can come from anywhere and everywhere, and we are wise to be always open to the possibilities in situations and circumstances. Personally, sometimes inspiration for one of these articles can come from reading an article written by someone else, a book I’ve read, a podcast I’ve listened to or simply the way the sun is shining on a particular day; all of these can inspire or spark an idea.

My colleague also revealed she was struggling to pursue her creative interests. She has many ideas but finds it hard to do anything with them. She wondered how I moved from inspiration to action.

So this article shares my intentional phrase of the year and how it has contributed to consistently creating content.

Two Key Phrases

Aside from knowing that inspiration is everywhere, the other two phrases that keep me focused are; curate and cultivate, and create before you consume. Utilising these phrases as intentional reminders, affirmation mantras, and even habits has significantly impacted my productivity, which supports consistency.

Delaying reading books until after content was created improved Productivity

For example, in a four-week period, I wrote three blog posts, four newsletters, wrote the content for three podcast episodes, and umpteen social media posts, ran a successful catering program for my child's high school music concert, AND wrote over 45,000 words for my new book as well as all the usual tasks that come with running a business, managing a household and being a parent and wife, daughter, friend, and so on.

(Side note – it did mean I read fewer books during this period 😉)

Now, I acknowledge that is a lot; perhaps you are wondering why I am sharing this with you.

Here’s why; I didn’t feel tired after creating so much content. Instead, I felt exhilarated and full of energy. I felt clear about what I wanted to do (write) and confident I had the time, resources and energy to do so.

And feeling clear and confident is gold for ALL of us. For me certainly, but also for you and my clients. We all want to feel clear about what we are doing and why and be confident to make it happen.

We all want to feel clear about what we are doing and why, and have the confidence to make it happen.

Let’s explore what these phrases mean and how they can benefit YOU in your career and life. And, if you are not a business owner or feel you are not creative, I’ve got you. There are many opportunities to apply my approaches within your career and life.

Curate and Cultivate

Curate and Cultivate is my intentional guiding phrase for this calendar year. And yes, I know, it sounds like a gardening term! Indeed, some elements could relate to similar concepts as those found in gardening, but the idea behind this phrase is to be more intentional. Curate and cultivate is about being selective and deliberate about what brings joy and then cultivating it, that is, doing more of it.

Curate refers to being selective and deliberate, but it also implies gathering information from multiple sources and then identifying the best. The word curate is my gentle reminder to be intentional about what I choose to do, who I engage with and even what content I consume. Just like we would be intentional with the food we put in our bodies, I am selective and deliberate about the “food“(content) I read and listen to.

And Cultivate is to improve or to grow, or to nurture or to develop. And so the words work together. When you curate, you intentionally select the very best of things. Then, cultivating means making those ideas, concepts or things even more impressive. To improve, grow or nurture it.

The Cultivate part relates to developing the activities I care about. This includes my relationships with loved ones, passions and interests. And this includes finding content sources (e.g. books, podcasts, articles) that, like good food, restore and replenish me, and then actively choosing to engage with those.

What does this look like?

Implementing curate and cultivate looks slightly different depending on the day and the task.

Curate and Cultivate. For example, this can encompass knowing there are certain writers whose work I always enjoy and that support me to feel informed, educated, entertained, enthusiastic, joyful or inspired, and intentional in connecting with those writers. I invoke this phrase when choosing which news sources to refer to for my daily news headline summary. By being selective and finding high-quality, credible, and reliable sources, I ensure that, like my food, I consume the best quality information that feeds my thirst for knowledge.

Here is an example of how this phrase has influenced my decisions. After I’ve completed my content for the day, and it’s my time to read other people’s content or listen to someone else’s podcast or audiobook, I am intentional and selective about what I choose to engage with.

Creation and Consistency

Over the last few months, I have started actively using an additional phrase, which I had previously paid lip service to, and it has elevated my content creation and boosted my clarity and confidence.

2. Create Before You Consume

Create before You Consume = Completing my written Tasks before listening or reading others work

This phrase is about creating your content before consuming other people’s content. That means prioritising my work before I read or listen to other people’s thoughts, views, or comments.

For example, this approach means I prioritise creating content in the morning rather than reading the news headlines. Instead, I read the news headlines when I take a break at lunchtime. And when I am walking our dog, Rufus, early in the morning, I might dictate content or enjoy the scenery in the park. Before embracing this phrase, I would listen to an audiobook or a podcast whilst walking the dog.

Once my content is created for the day, I can listen to an audiobook or podcast when I walk Rufus again in the afternoon. So I didn’t miss out; I just switched up my day. In this way, I was inordinately productive.

Why does this approach work?

We are all influenced by what we read or listen to. Whether it be the news headlines, a podcast, the radio, music, or books – we take on board the language and messaging contained within each of those media forms. This is one of the best things about media. However, when you want to create your new content, it can be very distracting.

By focusing on creating your own stuff first, you ensure the ideas you capture are your own and are clear and unmuddied by others' views or opinions.

I have found the early morning is a peak time for creativity as my mind is well rested after a good night's sleep and full of creative ideas, rather than being influenced by other people’s content.

I don’t do creative work; how does this approach apply to me?

Create before You Consume = Complete Your own key Tasks before responding to Emails

Many clients have expressed this to me over the years. They believe one of two things;

1) their work is not creative, so they don’t use creativity in their career.

2) they are not creative full stop, and therefore none of this applies.

The beauty of the create-before-you-consume approach is that it works for whatever you are doing in your life.

Let’s take your career. Many of us scan our inboxes and deal with email first thing. This seems like a sensible approach until we realise that how we spend our day has been dictated by the demands of others via email. Instead, when we are intentional and prioritise our work, that is, we focus on our own tasks first, we will find we have created before consumed and are highly productive. By way of example, when we send the emails we need to send, write the reports or whatever other essential tasks we have, and then deal with emails from others, we are demonstrating our clarity about what matters and confidently prioritising, leading to greater productivity.

Why is this relevant?

Whether in business for ourselves, working in an organisation, or running a household, we can all benefit from an approach where we choose to curate, cultivate, and create before we consume. These twin lenses assist us in being more intentional with our lives and ensure we stay aligned with our values and purpose, which leads to enhanced clarity, improved happiness and greater confidence.

Further support

Creativity is one of the 24 character strengths. If you would like to learn more about your strengths and have greater clarity about utilising them for improved confidence in your work and life - I can help.

Through the twin lenses of intentionality and strengths-based work, career coaching with me is designed to tap into what makes you tick. Exploring your hidden talents and utilising your unique gifts either in your existing career, when considering a future transition to your dream role, or in your personal life - within this framework, you will feel more fulfilled, with a greater sense of meaning, more engaged and have better job satisfaction.

Learn more about coaching with Rowena