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?
