Stop Dreaming and Start Creating

binoculars cinemagraph

Creative people have a tendency to be dreamers. We can get lost for hours letting our brains drift off into endless possibilities. Sometimes though, we can become lost in the dream and forget to ever take action.

I imagine it to be something like standing on top of a skyscraper overlooking an enormous city. Nobody up there but you and your thoughts. The skyline sings with endless possibilities. The rhythmic song of activity rises from the city below. It’s beautiful up there. Just you and your thoughts. So much potential.

One might be tempted to stay a while, to take out a quarter, stick it into the high-powered binoculars and search endlessly letting their imagination run wild.

new york city cinemagraph

It can also be paralyzing. So much potential, so many opportunities, how could you possibly focus on just one. If you stop to focus, you might miss out on an even bigger picture!

Then the questions creep in…

  • What if you fail?
  • What if you succeed?
  • Can you handle it?
  • Are you ready for it?

Too much dreaming and too little action will eventually poison your dreams and sabotage your creativity.

When you dream big and let your mind soar over the cityscape high above the streets of possibilities you nourish the creative fibers. When you don’t take action it’s like the onset of creative obesity. You begin to get bogged down by ideas seeing none of them come to fruition. Your confidence begins to shake under the weight of stored brilliance, solidifying into fatty masses around your creative muscles. It becomes harder and harder to move.

Stop dreaming, start creating.

Take action now. When you’ve made your visit to the creative ledge and let you mind soar it’s time to put your ideas into action. You must leave your balcony of artistry and hit the pavement of productivity.

Do something to turn that creative juice into tangible progress.

Your will gain confidence with every piece you put together. Each step bringing more momentum propelling you forward faster. When you’ve finally brought the idea into full bloom, seeing the fruits of your creative seeds, there is little that will be more rewarding.

Then you can return to your balcony to dream another dream. The confidence you’ve just acquired will give you the boost you need to exceed even your dreamiest of dreams.

Have you, like myself, been guilty of overindulging in dreaming with not enough action?

[Photos via Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg]