Your Creator Archetype

Are you using your Creator fruitfully?

The Goal or purpose of the creator archetype is ‘creation of something new’. Fairly self explanatory then, so let’s look a little deeper. The gifts of this archetype or the resources available include creativity, vision, imagination, following your vocation and identity.

This archetype should be most obvious when we’re brainstorming, problem solving and setting the vision for our business. It should be allowed expression so that we can create our desired reality. However all too often it’s stamped down or worse out by the processes and conditioning of life. Children are initially very creative with make believe friends but as adults we do not approve of this, so they are encouraged to leave behind this form of creativity. Now I’m not suggesting for a minute that we have imaginary friends at work, but somewhere along the way perhaps some of us have had the creative stuffing knocked out.

People who can easily access the creator archetype tend to have many ideas, flights of fantasy, what if moments, and they’re not too attached to them in the first instance. It’s only when they’ve dwelled upon an idea that attachment forms. So these people are good at innovating and coming up with ideas to solve problems (both practical and impractical) they just don’t filter for a start. Of course if as an individual or a business you get too creative, then you need to ensure there is enough space to make things happen (and there is some element of market reality or demand) or you can go in to overload and nothing happens.

If we look at this from a leadership perspective then the creator archetype allows us to come up with the vision and describe it in such a way that others buy in and want to follow. If we look from a brand perspective then this archetype is about producing wonderful works of art a good example would be Apple Macintosh, especially the ipod.

Now of course if you draw upon creator a lot, then you may find yourself shying away from boring or routine work and people who lack imagination. On the other hand people may perceive you as eccentric or just weird. The Creator is also about vocation and identity, which means that if you’re working with people who see their work as just that, you may clash or just want more for them than they think they’re entitled too. Again our conditioning can mean that we see having a vocation as a luxury or worse still aspirational but totally unrealistic. Plus if you meet someone who’s playing roles, or bullshitting then you’re likely to kick off at their inauthenticity. You see a pure creator attitude would be “I have a dream…now I’m off to make it happen”.

Working with your creator archetype…..

If you’re a high creator then you should watch for the tendency to have too many ideas (not all market relevant) and not be able to act on any of them. Learn to get choosy and let go of things which no longer serve a purpose. You should also watch that you’re not a workaholic, with just one more thing to do before you go home.

If you’re a low creator then give yourself permission to have the odd daydream or flight of fantasy. Listen to your intuition and follow it a little longer. In fact spend the first 10 minutes of every morning mentally creating the perfect day, how do you want your meetings to work out, what do you want to achieve, how do you want to feel. You may begin to notice how more of what you dream becomes reality. Then again a few of you may notice that what you day dream and what really is has a large gap – if so this could be a sign that you’re in the wrong job or you’re having to curb your true identity in order to ‘fit in’.

We’ve all had dreams, some of us still have them and sadly even fewer go on to make them happen. Be one of the few, follow your dreams. If you’re not following your dreams you’re sure as hell following someone else’s and who decided theirs was more worthy than yours?

Death of my iPOD

Tragedy struck last week when my iPOD decided to die.  No amount of TLC, resuscitation or talking to it made a bean of difference, and in the depths of Switzerland my first iPOD died.  The shock wasn’t so much that it died but that I’d become so dependent on it when I travel.  One of the ways I manage to travel so light is because I have so much audio material.  Anyway I’m now the proud owner of iPOD no. 2 and this week has been the delight of uploading everything again, Bob Proctor, James Ray etc etc.  Plus this time I’ve acquired a video feature but lost the voice recording feature - why???  I’m sure I’ll learn to love the video bit but why loose the voice recording bit - unless I’m being really thick and it’s hiding somewhere.

Try

"There is no such thing as try, only do or do not do" Yoda

Now he is a Sage (following on from my archetype post).  Anyway back to the word ‘Try’; a wonderful word that says reason for not doing it is already in the bag.  "I’ll try and get that report to you by Friday", is very different from "I’ll get it to you by Friday", the latter is confidence, certainty, promise.  Most of us hate to break promises so we hesitate and try is that word that isn’t disobedient or confrontational. 

Observe yourself, are you saying try because you’ve never done X before; are you saying try because you don’t want to do X.  What’s the reason that you already know which would stop you completing X?

If you want to walk you talk, live a more authentic life, then quit trying.  Either decide to do something, go for it 100%, get the feedback and make any course corrections.  Alternatively decide not to do it.  Trust me, whichever you decide it’ll free up your energy.

Archetypes v Stereotypes

Had an interesting discussion this week on the difference between archetypes and stereotypes and their effect on establishing your identity. 

My take is that archetypes are an energetic blue print and as such have a deep resonance or not with the recipient.  The reason we like certain films or characters is because they embody an archetype we respond to.

Stereotypes are general views held about an entity based on past experiences (not necessarily your own).  e.g. Librarian’s are quiet.  Now I know a few of these plus I used to be one many years ago, and I can say now that quiet is not a word by itself that people would use to describe me.  I can think of some who were very bookish and archetypally sage.  Which brings me back to the resonance.  If Sage isn’t an archetype you sit comfortably with, then meeting someone who is very strong (either positive or negative) in this energy isn’t going to be a rewarding or easy experience for you.

Just set yourself up in business?

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve met a few people who are just setting themselves up in business and quite naturally they’re looking for some top tips.  A constant one is to work on your business as well as in your business.  One of the reasons many people experience the boom/bust cycle of work is because whilst they were working in the business no-one was working on it, so the pipeline for the future is dry.

The E-Myth Revisited - is a good read on this subject.

To change or transform?

Are you undertaking change or transformation and what’s the difference?  Well change is doing something a different way.  Sleeping on the other side of the bed, eating something you’ve never tried before, are simple examples of change.  The end result of course is still the same, you’ve slept and you’re fed.  Transformation on the other hand is where there is a major shift, a little like a caterpillar going to sleep and waking up a butterfly.  At some point the caterpillar knew it had a butterfly inside and to become that, it needed to let go so the inner self could emerge.

When you set a goal the courageous question to ask yourself is " given everything I am currently can I achieve this goal?" and in some cases the answer is no and what’s required is a major shift.  So if you still choose to achieve your goal you embark upon the journey of transformation.  The journey can months or even years and because transformation is called for it will have moments of pain and vulnerability, and as you keep moving through and towards your goal, you realise it is this process of transformation that is giving you the resources you need.  There is no by-pass or quick fix, it just helps if you’re clear beforehand how committed you are to achieving your goal.