So first, a celebration: My story, “Milk Tea With Pearls” got an Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train’s “Family Matters” contest. 🙂

Second, a confession: My first reaction was disappointment. “Oh, I didn’t win.” 

(It’s a really good story, and I wanted to win first place!!)

(There’s some learning here, of course. :-))

I have big visions. I want big things in my life. 

Sometimes I want so much, the dream gets intimidating, and it’s hard to take a first small step.

Does this happen to you?

You dream of writing a novel that shakes open the way people look at life–AND wins all the big prizes and sells like crazy. Or making the movie that breaks out at Sundance and becomes a multi-million dollar box office hit.

Then when you sit down to work, the WEIGHT of those desires is pressing on you. The tension is too much, so (just for a moment!) you click away to check your email. 

From there, you know the story: You quickly take care of one thing, then another. (You’re a highly competent person who takes action, after all!) You take a moment to check The New York Times. You send an article to someone.

Before you know it, you’ve gone down a hole and your momentum is gone, your creative energy drained.

There’s a connection between this and my story of subtle disappointment.

Often, with the the big dream comes the big creative block.

After all, if nothing but big success is good enough for you, that’s an awful lot of pressure on your creative work. 

That pressure makes it hard to actually do your creative work. (Ask me how I know!)

(This doesn’t mean you give up the big vision. No way. I champion ambition. I hold the vision of success for myself and my clients. And those successes are there: agents, exhibits, The New Yorker, Emmy awards, money…) 

However… Between you and the multi-million dollar, Nobel-prize winning career, there are a few steps.

Ease up on the pressure and expectations. 

Do your work. 

Expect some failure. Know it’s part of the process–and a valuable source of information.

Celebrate every small success. 

Let yourself feel the ups and downs. 

Love the adventure like it’s the most exhilarating roller coaster in the world. 

And give yourself and your creative work so much love.

Have you been seeing my messages about creating your breakthrough masterpiece and thinking: “But I’m not ready to create a masterpiece!”?

“I’m still early in my professional career.”

“A masterpiece takes decades of work–it’s the culmination of a whole career.”

“I’d be sad to think of my work now as a masterpiece–it would be all downhill from here!!”

Let me to suggest another possibility:

We can create more than one masterpiece in a lifetime.

This isn’t the only masterpiece you’ll create–just the first one in a series leading to more and more success!

If you have a long and illustrious career, what you create this year likely won’t be the defining masterpiece of your career… but it CAN be a masterpiece relative to what you done so far.

And it CAN be a high-quality creative work that establishes you as a serious professional in the field.

So, ready to create your masterpiece?

If you’re not doing your creative work because you’re spending time making money, what’s the answer? Make more money in less time.

Really?, you might wonder. To make more, won’t I have to work harder and spend more time?

Actually, no.

What if you could SEE what’s really valuable about your talents and skills? What if you could SHOW people that? And ASK for more money with confidence?

That’s how you make more money in less time.

Here’s what that means in real world terms:

You sign more clients.

You get better-paying clients.

You find a better-paying job, with more flexibility and fewer hours.

You ask for–and get–a raise.

You create more and earn more with your creative work.

(MY CLIENTS HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS–often in one to three months.)

If you did just one of those things, think how much easier it would be to do your creative work–and how much more you could get done!

This is why FINDING TIME, SPACE, AND MONEY to create is one of the five major things we focus on in the CREATE! Mastermind.

(If you haven’t heard about the CREATE! Mastermind, it’s my hand-selected group of ambitious, talented writers/ artists/ creatives who are committed to completing a high-level, career-changing piece of work: a breakthrough masterpiece.)

When you make more money in less time, you can finish your big creative project that much faster.

You have the time and energy to do it at the highest quality.

You accelerate your ability to establish yourself professionally.

Here’s what’s possible when you set up your TIME, SPACE, AND MONEY to support your creative work:

* I made enough to live comfortably in NYC, working only half the year. The rest of the time, I wrote fiction, went to artists colonies, traveled to do research for my book, and had relaxed days where I stayed home and read.

* A client went from his day job to making six figures doing meaningful creative work.

* Another client started writing regularly for the first time in years, finished his TV pilot, and got an agent.

* Another client added more than 50% to her income (working the same number of hours) and put on a live performance of her work for the first time in years.

When you join the CREATE! Mastermind, you’ll set up your life so you have the time, space and money to create your breakthrough masterpiece.

You’ll also dissolve resistance and anxieties. Get into the flow of regular creative work. Bring out your most profound and brilliant work. Find the people and resources to take your craft to the next level. Discover—and transcend—the hidden barriers to doing your best work. And keep going until you’re done.

AND for those who step into this round, by May 21, I’m offering a special bonus designed to help you make more money: live training in 5 Simple Steps to High-Paying Clients. This is NOT a regular part of the CREATE! Mastermind… and it includes incredible valuable training that past clients have paid thousands for.

This is the incredibly powerful approach my past clients have used to get results like these: Build a successful freelance business from zero. Add more than 50% to their income. Raise their rates twice in three months and sign new clients at those rates. Make $21k in a month.

So, if you’ve been considering the CREATE! Mastermind, this is your chance to add an extra boost to your income.

Over time (in some cases, a very short time), you can make back your investment in the CREATE! Mastermind many times over.

But you have to step in by May 21!

Interested? (Email me and let me know!)

“I’ve had trouble writing for so long–can I actually get over it and finish my book?”

Yes, you can! Even if you’ve been crawling along on your creative project for years or decades.

In fact, it could be a LOT easier than you think.

Here’s why: Often a block will seem huge because it’s been around for a long time. But, in reality, you just haven’t addressed its true source.

You’ve been trying to deal with your block in the wrong way.

Maybe you’re trying to fix your schedule–when the real problem is that you’re avoiding your creative work out of a deep-seated fear of failure.

Maybe you’re working with a therapist to get over creative anxiety–when the real problem is an underlying belief, passed down from your ancestors, that you can’t have what you want.

Maybe you’ve tried five different kinds of healing work–when all you really need is accountability and a working environment that lets you create freely.

Maybe you’ve done all kinds of creative and technical exercises to deepen your work–when what you need is to follow the true soul inspiration that comes when you bring play into your work.

You see, there are FIVE types of blocks that can keep you from creating:

• Physical (problems with time, space, money, health, your environment)
• Mental (limiting and negative beliefs that hold you back)
• Energetic (lacking the courage, will, “fire in the belly” or motivation)
• Emotional (emotional patterns or states of being that keep you from creating)
• Spiritual (not being connected to the divine flow of creativity)

If any ONE of those is blocked, your creative work is blocked. (Sucks, doesn’t it?)

So, I’ve put together a new program to support you in all five of these areas… to help you finally finish your big creative project.

The CREATE! Mastermind is a circle of ambitious, talented writers/ artists/ creatives who are committed to completing a high-level, career-changing piece of work–a breakthrough masterpiece.

In the CREATE! Mastermind, we work on all five levels of creative block—how it shows up in your body, mind, feelings, energy body, and spirit. Besides that, I also share some very practical techniques to get past blocks (because sometimes it just takes a small practical tweak to solve problems that seem really big).

Between all this—and the community of support—we can transform blocks, no matter how big or old they are. People who have been had trouble creating for years or decades have completed their creative projects.

Just as importantly, the CREATE! Mastermind is designed to address all the elements necessary to help you create the “breakout” work to establish yourself professionally.

• Support to make sure you’re “ALL IN”—instead of stymied by internal fears or resistance.
• Coaching on how to set up your life so you have the time, money, and space to create.
• Guidance and structures to help you actually DO your creative work.
• Support in doing the highest QUALITY of work—including how to find the best classes, artists group, or resources to hone your craft.
• Accountability and coaching to keep you going until you FINISH.

Interested? (Email  me and I’ll tell you more.)