Once again my seemingly “random” steps off the beaten path lead me to another Internet gem.
I was searching Google, trying to find the technical literary term for when a writer lists three items in a row. I only took a semester of creative writing so I was really racking my brain. “I know there’s a name for it: “iameter” “pentameter” “diameter”…something like that.” I still haven’t figured it out.
However, a few clicks into my search I did stumble upon Mark McGuinness’ free eBook “How to Motivate Creative People (including yourself) – An eBook for leaders, managers, directors and other creative people.”
“I don’t really NEEEED to read this book”, I thought to myself. I’m not a manager and I’m not always sure if I’m creative, but it had a picture of Iggy Pop on the cover so I couldn’t resist.
I was surprised at how I was instantly immersed in this eBook. With each page I read I became more entranced and excited. If I had to put it into words, it would go something like this: “Dear God, somebody actually does understand ME! Maybe I’m not so weird afterall…I’ve just been around the wrong people.”
And that sort of is the truth.
I can tell you a gazillion stories about why I say that but here’s the bullet-point version:
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* I lived in a home where getting beat up and criticized was normal
* I lived on the Hupa (Hoopa) Indian Reservation
* I was a punker
* I did not understand how oppression and freedom could co-exist
* I wasn’t strong enough to do anything about it
* I numbed out
Fast forward
* I got off heroin, I got a little self-esteem
* I was around a lot of creative people, especially musicians
* I was excited about a new life
* I want to share with people how I did what I did
* I knew if I could do it, they could do it too
Fast forward
* Move into the black hole of the educational system and the “system” in general
* Feel the life being sucked out day by day
* Lose all hope, don’t even try to speak up
* “Remember, Last time you did that, you got fired”
* Forget completely why you ever decided to do this in the first place
* Begin doing your job on auto-pilot
* Become more concerned about doing it “right”, pleasing your supervisor, putting your name on the form correctly, etc. than serving the client
* Don’t talk about yourself
* Don’t share just any old information, only the approved information in the approved way at the approved time. Afterall, you wouldn’t want to get sued
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If any of this sounds familiar to you, read on because this eBook about motivating “creative people” could be great for groups of therapists and teachers to help them avoid burnout. It can help that person who got into the field to “change the world” but ended up feeling bleak and miserable, peering out from behind a mountain of papers.
If you’re a therapist or intern, give this to your supervisor and see if he or she will actually implement some of it. Use this to validate the fact that you’re not weird or wrong, you’re just creative. You can make a difference.
I teach at a community college and I have seen these motivational techniques work in the classroom. Many of my students are self-described “hoodlums.” They admit to being in gangs, using hard drugs, being homeless, not liking white people and any other number of “tough” things. Some of them are back in school for the first time after spending decades behind bars.
At the heart of it, they show up because they want to change the world. When they talk about their plans to open a homeless shelter or help juvenile delinquents, I see a sparkle in their eyes and I want to keep that fire alive. If you are a helper, healer or teacher, you do too. I know you do. I’ve talked to you on the phone. I’ve read your e-mails. I’ve met with you face to face. Now I’m telling you, read this eBook and see if you can get “re-lit” and go on to help others “get lit” too.
If you like McGuinness’ free eBook, you might also like my book, From Sabotage to Success. It’s filled with creative and empowering projects and worksheets like how to create your own visual or audio advertisements and how to write power-packed affirmations. There are easy-to-use tools like the Create The Life You Want handout and a diagram on how to make a creative goal chart that will break down your big dreams into manageable steps.
For those of you who love labels, tradition and recognized psychological jargon, you’ll be happy to know that everything in the book is an interpretation of cognitive-behavioral, psychoanalytic and narrative theories. I just simplified the concepts and made them creative to reach a wider audience and add some fun to the process of change.
Get your own copy of From Sabotage to Success today on Amazon or ask your local book dealer to get you a copy.
P.S. One of Iggy Pop’s songs is titled Lust for Life, you can get it on iTunes.
