CREATIVITY + INNOVATION Page 10 of 38

8 ways to identify your passions and purpose

Posted on 2015-06-10 at 8:55 am.

As Confucius said, “choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” It’s great advice, but it’s not always that simple. Discovering what you want to do in life is, for many people, a life-long pursuit. Yet when you do eventually find your passion it is like finding your personal guide to happiness. You feel motivated, inspired, and so much clearer about what your next steps in life should be.

If you know you want to do what you love, but you’re not sure what that is, here are our top tips for pinpointing your passions:

1. Take a trip down memory lane

Often, our truest passions emerge in childhood, only to be squelched by real life pressures. So think about what you loved doing when you were little. Did you love animals? Taking care of people? Storytelling? Playing shopkeeper? Drawing? Painting? Speaking French? Revisiting these things could be the key to unlocking big dreams and doing what you love.

2. Relax your mind

When slow down and still our minds we listen to our inner voice and reconnect with our true authentic selves. Practicing yoga or Tai Chi each day, walking in nature, meditating and taking time to chill out, can help us find the answers we’re looking for.

3. Think about what makes you special

No one else has your personality and your unique combination of talents, wisdom, strengths, skills, and creativity. Identifying what sets you apart and what comes easily and naturally to you will take you a step closer to doing what you love. Remember that we are all here for a reason and we all have our own light to shine on the world.

4. Find the themes

What themes seem to show up aregularly in your life? What are you drawn to time and time again? What areas of your life are full of joy and light? When we recognise and acknowledge the re-ocurring patterns in our life, we can begin to understand what they are teaching us and act on them to take us closer to doing what we love.

5. Figure out what excites and energizes you?

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

What do you most look forward to in day-to-day life? What makes you smile? What activities leave you feeling mentally refreshed and energized? What hobbies see you losing track of time? Can you make a career out of this, so your passion can become your day job?

6. Think big, think positive and believe

If we are continually telling ourselves we can’t, then we will never believe we can. You can create affirmations, focus on the things you want, or make a vision board that shows your future success.

7. Forget about the money

If money were limitless, what would you be doing? Remember that being happy is not the same as being rich – you can always scale back. Focus on your interests and your passions, even if they seem farfetched; doing something you love will make you happier than being paid for doing something you hate. More on this at 5 Reasons You Should Never Work for Money.

8. Trust synchronicity and take action!

“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” ~ Milton Berle

When we trust our gut feelings and invite something new into our lives it can trigger a series of events that can, potentially, change our lives. For instance it was taking a calligraphy class that inspired Steve Jobs to start Apple. You’ll never know if you like something unless you give it a try so stop finding excuses and go for it! Learn a language, sign up for a class or course, try a sport you’ve never played before, become a volunteer for a cause you feel strongly about, or start the business plan you’ve been dreaming about, and it will take you another step closer to finding your passion.

The Do What You Love e-course will help you identify your passion and purpose. If you know it’s time to make a major change in your life – if you are seeking personal, professional or financial freedom and need support to find your way – don’t miss it! The course starts next week so find out more and register here.

Is your routine holding you back?

Posted on 2015-06-09 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

[Tweet ““If you think adventure is dangerous try routine. It’s lethal.” ~ Paulo Coelho”]

For me variety is the spice of life. I like every day to be different and I’ve always tried to avoid falling into habits and routines. So when I had my little boy, almost two years ago now, I’m the first to admit that being at home all day and juggling feeds, nap times, nappy changes, and everything else that a new baby brings, took some getting used to.

As any new parent knows, having a tiny little person relying on you for everything is hard work. You’re no longer have the freedom you used to. Even the simplest task, like meeting friends for coffee, requires an element of forward planning and spontaneity gores out of the window. Within weeks I developed my own little way of doing things. I was in the motherhood groove and and before long I had a routine!

My husband and I were in Brighton when I realised just how much of a creature of habit I’d become. It’s amazing how much clarity a change of scene can bring. Being by the sea, exploring a new city, and escaping the ‘daily grind’ left us both feeling inspired, refreshed and re-invigorated.

Getting a new perspective

Zack was now a few months old and having adapted to being parents things were becoming much easier. We realised that while there are always going to be jobs to do, and obligations and responsibilities to fulfil, life doesn’t have to feel like Groundhog Day.

Exploring a new city

On the journey home we agreed that while some routines are helpful and even necessary, especially for Zack, others had seen us get too comfortable and complacent. So we decided that some things needed to change.

Things that changed after our trip:

I left my 9-5 and started writing part-time for Do What You Love. Now I’m free to work wherever and whenever I choose and to do all the things I love – be a mum, go running, do yoga, and be creative. Embracing new opportunities and connecting with interesting new people is part of the job so no two days are ever the same. I want Zack to grow up understanding that my work makes me happy and that I have my own hopes and dreams.
We stopped complaining about how much time we waste watching TV and now, instead:

– we limit the amount of TV we watch

– we have regular date nights

– we have dinner as a family and talk

– we socialise more in the evenings with family and friends

– we spend more of our free time being creative and working on our own passion projects

We looked at our finances to see where we could cut back and save money for a weekend away every few months.
We both started doing more exercise. I joined a gym and my husband started running with colleagues at work.
We made a 5-year plan that will help us live the life we really want and create our own special memories along the way.

10 simple ways to shake up your routine today:

Change your schedule. Get up with the sun and take an early morning walk. You’ll see your world differently, sense different emotions in the people you meet and hear different sounds.
Change your style – do your hair or make-up differently or experiment with clothes to find a new look.
Commute a different way to work, or instead of going by car take the bus, train, walk or cycle.
Take a class or a course in something you’re interested in, who knows what doors may open.
Pick a different place to hang out. If you meet friends at a local bar, try a local restaurant. Or do something different – go to a sporting event watch a gig or have a dinner party.
Have a conversation with someone new. Make this your daily mission and who knows, you might make a friend for life!
Make more of your lunch break. Go to museums, try new restaurants, meet a friend, walk in the park, do something you’ve never done before or go somewhere you’ve never been before.
Have a mini-adventure at the weekend. Do a road trip, go hiking or camping or explore a new city.
Be inspired and get creative. Watch this playlist of TED Talks to kickstart your creativity, or read this excerptfrom Pico Iyer’s TED Book, The Art of Stillness.
Take a day off and give yourself permission to do anything you want. Go for a long, solitary walk; write poetry; bake; go shopping; read a novel; watch a blockbuster; paint; make something for a friend; have a picnic in the middle of nowhere and then lie in the grass and look at the clouds.

[Tweet “Have you ever felt stuck in a rut?”] Do you follow the same routine, day in, day out? What small changes could you make to mix things up today?

Rachel

The Do What You Love e-course will help you ditch bad habits and boring routines, and lead you to see what you really want (or need) more clearly.

“I am now far more open to ideas and willing to say yes to opportunities. I think, well, what’s the worst that can happen?!” Shona W., Do What You Love participant, Jan 2015

Join us this June for the experience of a lifetime.

Why more time is not what you need, and other productivity tips for writers

Posted on 2015-06-05 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

This is a guest post by one of the UK’s leading experts in digital distraction and digital detox and author of The Distraction Trap: How to Focus in a Digital World, Frances Booth. Find out more about Frances here.

[Tweet ““If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~ Toni Morrison “]

Whether you work as a writer, aspire to be a writer, or use writing for business, these tips will help you be more productive with your writing. This is the second post in a two-part series. For more productivity tips, you can read part one of Top Productivity Tips For Writers.

Today we’ll look at the pressures around writing, creative fuel, and why more time is not what you need. Try these strategies for staying productive as a writer.

Give yourself less time

Having unlimited time to write isn’t always helpful. We might dream of that sabbatical, that year off, or retirement … when we’ll finally write that book. Then the huge chunk of time we’ve been waiting so long for finally arrives … and we don’t get round to writing. Would you believe it, we’ve got too much time! Huge swathes of time can leave us without a structure, and without any pressure to get on with our writing. Of course, too much pressure isn’t healthy either, but we’re looking for a balance that encourages us to write.

So, give yourself a bit less time. Give yourself one day a week to work on your book, rather than waiting for the whole week. Give yourself three hours to write that blog or article, rather than waiting for a whole day. What happens when we give ourselves less time? We’re forced to prioritise, we’re forced to say no to things that don’t really matter, and we’re forced to leave to one side – never to be done – the unimportant tasks we were filling our time with.

The drama lives on the page

It’s easy to get dramatic about writing. The turmoil! The angst! The difficult plotline! But getting dramatic about why it’s such a struggle is energy spent on the wrong thing. Tension should be in the words and the sentences you create. If you’re making a big fuss out loud about that piece, that chapter, or that blog that is so impossible, then ask yourself why. Yes, writing is difficult, and yes, we need methods and strategies to deal with the blocks and fears we face. But being dramatic isn’t going to solve it. It will just slow you down. Do some work on dealing with blocks or on sustaining yourself as a writer instead.

Creative fuel

Two of the main reasons writing grinds to a halt is that a writer is either blocked or has run out of steam. To solve the running out of steam problem, make sure you’ve given yourself enough creative fuel. This can seem counter-intuitive as a productivity strategy. But switch off your computer, get up, go out, and do something inspiring. Go for a walk, visit a gallery, or potter round a shop – do whatever you feel like doing to explore. There’s no agenda here, and you don’t have to write about what you’re doing. You’re simply gathering creative inspiration. When you return to your writing, if you’ve stocked up on creative fuel, the words will flow more easily. Staying inspired is one of the best ways to stay productive as a writer.

Don’t talk about it. Do it

We need to be careful how much we talk about our writing. There is a danger that we can spend energy and time on talking about writing, rather than actually on writing. For example, we might tell everyone about the book that we have ‘all ready in our head’. But we’re talking about it instead of actually getting it down on the page. It isn’t a book or a blog or an article until it’s actually written. Talking about our writing can also dilute our focus. It can scare us too – we put pressure on ourselves unnecessarily. It’s better to just get on with the piece. Get productive and get writing. Then you can talk about the piece when it’s finished.

Dealing with the pressure

Lots of the time we waste on writing is because we’re scared. We’re scared of pressing publish, we’re scared of people reading our words and we’re scared of being judged. When we write, we make ourselves vulnerable. We need to acknowledge this pressure so we can be more productive with our writing. We need to work through our fears – this is important work that needs doing and is worth spending our time on.

Some of the ways we react to this pressure include spending time checking, checking, and checking again. Or, we finish a piece, or a book, or a blog, but we never submit or publish it. All we’re doing is protecting ourselves. But like starting, the finishing line is another point where you can save huge amounts of time with your writing. How much time are you spending delaying or procrastinating once you’re finished? Clearing that final hurdle and pressing send is an important part of the process. So once you’ve finished, don’t delay. Take a deep breath and press publish.

Dream a little dream

Posted on 2015-06-01 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

Make your dreams come true!

The Do What You Love e-course will encourage you to reconnect to the real you, deep inside, in order to uncover what you really love. Understanding yourself and your passions will help you map out your perfect road ahead.

“This course is like pressing a pause button on your life – to take stock and help realise your potential.” Course participant, January 2015

Join us this June for the experience of a lifetime.

Ideal environments

Posted on 2015-05-26 at 5:04 pm.

Written by vbnz

Our environment has a huge effect on not only how we feel, but how we live our lives. When was the last time you thought about where you want to be as opposed to what you want to be?

When have you last been aware of what kind of environment makes you feel alive and gives you a sense of possibility? Is it in a bustling town centre or is it in a cottage overlooking a dramatic sea landscape? Week 1 of the Do What You Love e-course encourages you to explore what changes you want to see happen by visualizing your ideal life, and that includes where you feel the happiest.

As we go through some of the Do What You Love exercises this month, we have asked Vickie to go through the “Ideal Environment” exercise. This is her mood board below.

All images courtesy of @vickieinwonderland

“The way a certain environment can make you feel is very powerful and finding a place where I can be happy and feel alive is as important to me as finding my “crowd”. When I travel, I often get somewhere, look around, sink in the atmosphere and think “I could live here”. It’s always a combination of things that makes me feel that way, but if I break it down, my ideal environment would have to include these three elements: water, gardens & markets.

Water is calming and invigorating at the same time and it’s ever changing. You never look at water twice and see the exact same thing. Whether it’s the sea or a small stream at the bottom of a garden, water is in constant movement and it reassures me to know that something in constant movement can still be calming and permanent.

For me, gardens are havens of peace. It is important for me to have even a tiny patch of garden somewhere. When I lived in a small London flat, I converted a little corner of my kitchen into a garden, with fake grass and pots with different plants and flowers. I had less space for cooking but I could have breakfast in my “garden” and nothing would make me happier than seeing the sun come through the window onto my plants after a tiring day at the office.

As much as I love the peacefulness of water and gardens, I also love a bustling marketplace. They make me feel like I am a part of a community of great people, even if I don’t know anyone there. Markets are friendly and happy places and although they can get a bit hectic, to me they are always rather comforting. They are like huge street parties where strangers come, share things and go away with a sense of belonging and a smile on their face.”

The Do What You Love e-course will help you understand that you can choose the kind of life you want and gives you the tools to explore what your ideal life would look like so that you can start building it for yourself.

“This course has been very important for me to understand myself in a deeper way, and make the right choices.” Cinzia R., Do What You Love participant

Join us this June for the experience of a lifetime.

Why your writing matters (aka birthing my first book)

Posted on 2015-05-25 at 4:28 pm.

Written by Beth Kempton

Last weekend I joined a workshop in London run by Hay House, the largest and most influential self-empowerment publishing company in the world. It included a whole half day session with Reid Tracy, President and CEO, who shared a host of valuable insights into how to get published.

As I sat there in the room of 250+ people, scribbling madly to capture all the wisdom being shared, I thought about the extent of the potential impact that single workshop could have. Even if only 20% of the people in that room ever get published – by anyone, not necessarily Hay House – and if they each go on to sell only 10,000 copies of their book, assuming that everyone who reads a good book shares it with at least one other person, that’s over a million people who would be reached, supported, or influenced. That’s both huge and exciting.

You could see in the faces of everyone who stood up to ask a question, queued in the break to speak to Reid or one of the authors, sat in the corner furiously making notes, or chatted animatedly to other participants, that dreams were taking shape in that room. The practical guidance, motivation and success stories shared showed that it is possible, even if it takes a lot of hard work. It also made me believe more strongly that our stories are there to be shared, we just need to learn how to share them in a way that connects with other people.

If you were to write a book, what would it be about? Would it be fiction or non-fiction? Advice based? Autobiography? Rooted in research? It’s an interesting question to ask yourself, and see what comes up.
Personally I have had a book in my head for the past 3-4 years, and it feels like it’s time to start bringing it to life. It’s a big thing, that needs a lot of planning and attention, but mostly it just needs me to sit down and write it. That’s a scary thought, knowing that the only thing stopping me from writing it is me. But that’s also a good thought – because it means I can change that in an instant. (She says as she pulls out a brand new notebook…)

So for me, even though I will be on maternity leave for the second half of this year, I plan to use this time of birth, nurturing and space away from work to start my first book. That’s the idea anyway – who knows how it will turn out! If you are working on a book this year let me know – I’d love to share the journey with you.

Do What You Love – the e-course starts June 15 – this is the LAST time we will run the course this year

As I am taking five months off for maternity leave, the June DWYL class will be the last one this year. If you are feeling stuck in a job you hate, frustrated with the lack of balance in your life, weighed down by obligations, creatively stifled or otherwise not doing what you love, I urge you to join us. This mind-opening online course has helped people from countries all across the world to identify and follow their passion, learn how to monetise it or find a career that really makes them feel alive, and live a happier, more fulfilling life as a result.

Don’t miss out – join us! Book your spot here.

This week we challenge you to consider what would need to be different for you to honestly say you are doing what you love every day. Share your thoughts on Facebook or Twitter @DoWhatYouLoveXx.

Until next time!
Beth and team

[Tweet “Why your writing matters (aka birthing my first book)”]

UPCOMING COURSES

Our new creative course ‘The Ultimate Portfolio Builder’, brought to you in association with top trade show Printsource, starts TODAY. Plus, one lucky participant will win a FREE BOOTH at Printsource New York, plus $1000 towards travel! If you are an artist or designer looking to build your commercial portfolio, and haven’t yet checked out the course, watch this short video featuring course leader Rachael Taylor to find out what is included (hint: it’s jam packed and amazing for your creative career!)

You can still squeeze in if you are quick – book your spot here.

Child’s play

Posted on 2015-05-21 at 2:41 pm.

Written by vbnz

We’re a week closer to the beginning of the next Do What You Love e-course, and this week we’ve been doing one of the many exercises designed to help you excavate your story. We asked Rose to take a trip down memory lane and draw a picture of what ‘play’ looked like for her as a child. Here’s what she came up with.

“My initial reaction was an all too common one – ‘I can’t draw’. I like to think of myself as artistic in other ways, but drawing, especially from memory, definitely isn’t my forte.

But, as Vickie pointed out, this isn’t a drawing competition. So I set to work. As a child I remember playing with baby dolls, making dens, running shops and holding tea parties for my toys. My strongest memories are of those tea parties, so I started drawing. As I drew, that carefree feeling of being surrounded by my much-loved toys crept back up on me, and I started to really enjoy it. I began to remember seating my toys next to their ‘best friends’ and serving them from my miniature polka dot teapot and stripey tea cups. If I was lucky, my mum would help me bake miniature cupcakes for the occasion, too.

Doing the exercise got me thinking about how that early love of entertaining stuck with me as I grew up. I spent ten years in the hospitality and events industry, and although I left it behind me in favour of more regular, sociable hours, I look back so fondly on the days of working in a team to make those big birthdays and wedding receptions completely unforgettable. It’s clear that I’ve always loved making those special occasions happen, for both toys and humans, and I know I always will.”

“This course is like pressing a pause button on your life – to take stock and help realise your potential.” Course participant, January 2015

Join us this June for the experience of a lifetime.

10 things I learnt leading a co-working tribe in Bali

Posted on 2015-05-19 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

This is a guest post by Ben Keene. You can find out more about Ben here.

My nose is running. My sun-tan is already fading. I’m even shivering a little. Its not mid-winter but spring in England and British Summer Time has just kicked-in. So why the doldrums? Well, I’ve just got back from three months of fun and fulfilment in Bali piloting a new Tribewanted project focusing on co-working. I’ve learnt post-tribe fatigue is inevitable. I’ll be back in the game shortly.

So, in this moment between tribes (I’m back at The Escape School next week) — what did I learn?

1. Check-ins are the superglue

At least 4 times a week we would meet at Hubud and ask 2 questions to everyone:

What are you getting done today?

How can we help?

The simplicity and regularity of these sessions helped us take small steps forward daily and accelerate towards our goals.

2. Location. Location. Location.

I knew from my research that Bali, and Ubud especially, would be a good destination for coworking and startup inspiration but my expectations were smashed.

Bali’s spiritual, creative, natural culture is powerfully seductive — you can’t help but be wrapped up in its glow. This layered onto a canvas of volcanos, ocean, reefs and the bright green quilt of paddy fields and its popularity is unsurprising.

My daily commute cycling through Ubud monkey forest in the early heat, hopping round cafes for meetups, into galleries for inspiration, hiking through paddy fields, disappearing into bamboo paradises and the endless swimming opportunities meant that you couldn’t not feel energised. The challenge is fitting everything in — life was full in Ubud (I didn’t even make it to ‘ecstatic dance’).

3. Sunshine (and thunderstorms) are caffeine for the soul

The island climate at this time of year is dramatic — one minute intense heat, the next a monsoon. At night cracks of thunder that would crack into the core of your being. I found the drama of the weather an energizer. Bugs aside, there’s nothing like a tropical rainstorm to awaken your senses and reflect on what you’re doing. You can’t detach your work from the natural environment in somewhere like Bali and that’s a very good thing.

4. Give and you shall grow (pay it forward without expectation)

We did a lot of skill sharing. I can’t think of an occassion when this didn’t build stronger relationships and increase impact. We planned to split our time 50% (our projects) 25% (each others projects), 25% exploring Bali. With this mindset I saw a lot of people supporting each other with no questions asked about ‘how much time’ or ‘will I get it back.’

5. Tools rule

Whatsapp is our watercooler (we’ll get to ‘Slack’ at some-point), we gather round it to share our meetup plans, pictures, jokes and rapid feedback.

Strikingly is our ideas accelerator — the difference between people talking about their ideas before they visualised them was always obvious.

I watched Loretta, a consumate international development professional unleash her inner entrepreneurial creativity once she got a handle on a couple of tools and the permission to go wild with them — now, she’s an ideas machine.

6. My weakness is your strength. Baby.

Tommy: Young travel blogger taught himself how to build a following and engagement on instagram and then shared his lessons with us. In under a week he had become the ‘instagram’ expert.

Philippa: Teacher and novelist shared her creative writing tips and in return was motivated by the tribe to churn out her novel.

Bob: Corporate HR guy turned ethical recruitment missionpreneur shared his hiring tips and gained feedback on how to keep it lean.

7. Random acts of storytelling are exactly what you were looking for

Every Thursday we invite a guest to share their story with us. These included:

Vlatko: How (and why) I spent 6 years filming the Croatian coastline.

Kadek: Why I started Yoga Barn and the Bali Spirit Festival

Eiji: What I learnt making ‘The Happy Movie’

These might seem like irrelevant interruptions in our busy schedules, but often we found these fresh perspectives and inspiring stories would reinforce or shift our thinking around what we were doing.

8. Feedback in the tribe is rapid (and crucial)

Lisa: ‘So I’ve spent all night thinking about changing the name and brand to ‘your news assistant’. What do you think?’

Tribe: ‘But we love ‘Newspresso — your shot of daily news.’

Lisa: ‘Really?’

Tribe: ‘Yes!’

Lisa: ‘Ok, Newspresso it is!’

9. Not everyday is perfect. Even in Bali.

I’ve been to enough islands to know that paradise is a state of mind and not a perfect place. Bali is a handmade society, still struggling with corruption, traffic, pollution, rampant tourism, poverty, climate change and more. It looks perfect on the surface — this is what makes it a great holiday destination.

But when you’ve come to explore your future career or kickstart your business idea, there are days when the wifi is too slow, the bugs bite too much and, yes, when its just ‘too hot.’

This is when your tribe matter the most — they pick you up, remind you why this decision was a good one and that you’re not on your own (even if most people ‘back home’ think your in paradise).

Our Chief Experience Officer, Gusti Badra

10. Mindsets shift through community

This is something that Rob from The Escape School (my next tribe) said to me. It resonates perfectly. For all of us in the ‘behaviour change’ game we know that the key to making a positive and sustainable impact on someone is by connecting them meaningfully with others who share their outlook, intention and values.

If we can build a community — a tribe — around things that matter to people, then minds and behaviour will shift. Its a huge lesson and one that is becoming clearer by the day.

Thank you to my tribe buddies from Bali for leaping into the unknown and sharpening this conviction for me. Loretta says it best: [Tweet “A Tribe is a powerful thing.”] Being part of this one is an experience I’ll never forget!

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Tribewanted Startups Bali in numbers (so far):

In numbers… 45 tribe members. 60 ‘check-in’s. 62 new ideas (in one night). 3 volcanoes climbed (in one day). 30+ strikingly pages. 4000+ juices. 1000+downward facing dogs. An unlimited amount of hugs…

Meanwhile, just beyond the monkey forest, the adventure continues.

Collecting moments

Posted on 2015-05-13 at 5:56 pm.

Written by vbnz

Our next Do What You Love e-course is starting in June, and over the next few weeks we’ll be offering you a taste of what’s to come. During the course, you’ll be asked to go out with your camera and take pictures of things that put a smile on your face or a spring in your step, before turning those pictures into a mosaic or collage for safekeeping. Since this is one of Vickie’s favourite exercises from the course, we asked her to share her experience of it with you.

“I love to go exploring with my camera (these days it’s with my phone) and I have become a fan of Instagram over the past couple of years. You just can’t take a bad picture with Instagram. Editing the picture and adding those filters and effects are all part of the fun; they are a great way to capture the mood of that specific moment even better.

This exercise reminded me of how much I love taking pictures, and whatever I do in the future I want photography to be a part of it somehow.

Taking pictures is much more than just gathering memories, and the process is as important to me as the final picture.

It allows you to be more observant of what’s around you as you look for the perfect shot
It makes you think about light and contrast, colour and movement and you might find that you’re more creative than you thought
It allows you to live in the moment, be focused on what is happening here and now
It gives you an excuse to wander off the beaten track and explore places you wouldn’t go if you were just walking around. You’re not a random wanderer, you are a photographer on a mission!
It surprises you when you look back at your pictures that you have developed a style of your own – it makes you feel proud
It makes you think about what you are drawn to, what you like and which moments are important to you

Small moments, big wonders

My mosaic is about freedom, wonderment, sharing and playfulness. From top left and clockwise:

1/ Spring has arrived in Brighton and I love to feel the heat as I walk along the street. Feeling the sun on my face makes me smile and want to spend more time exploring outdoors. It makes me feel braver, as if I don’t need any protection anymore, I am free with my movements and choices.

2/ I am lucky enough to live by the sea, one of my favourite environments. My office is close to the seafront and I can pop out whenever I need a break. The sea is always there but it never looks the same. It makes me feel refreshed and full of new possibilities. When I go back to the office, it’s always with a new idea or solution in my head.

3/ Sharing afternoon tea with a friend I hadn’t seen for a long time. A lot of my friends live abroad and people sometimes ask me if I miss them. I don’t. I love the idea that there are people scattered around the world with whom I have a special connection. Just knowing that they are there is often enough. Meeting up after several months, years sometimes, and getting along as if we only last saw each other the other day – those are always magical moments.

4/ I got these vintage roller skates second hand and just looking at them makes me smile. This is something I used to love doing as a kid and hadn’t done since then. I recently had to go to a specific location for work and decided to skate there to make the ride more interesting. Well I wasn’t disappointed! Although I did have muscle cramps the next day (and a bruise on my left thigh), it was totally worth it!

5/ Every year during the winter hundreds of thousands of starlings gather around Brighton pier in the evenings to roost. It’s completely mesmerizing to watch them dance around the pier in the sunset. It is one of those wonders of nature that you watch in awe without completely understanding what’s going on.

6/ The month of May in Brighton is festival time. Streets and venues fill up with artists, musicians, comedians and it’s not rare to bump into tightrope walkers or even cowboys on a street corner! This was a man making giant soap bubbles. Soap and water. That’s all it took for kids and adults alike to let go ooohs and aaaahs as the bubbles danced into the wind and popped silently over our heads.”

Victoria (@vickieinwonderland)

The Do What You Love e-course will encourage you to explore in so many ways. We believe that knowing ourselves and our environment is key to having the confidence to achieve big things.

“I was and continue to be floored by this course – it was so valuable. I felt like it helped me focus on me, my interests, my desires, and what was holding me back from those things. I was more painfully honest with myself than I have been in years, but I also allowed myself to play more than ever. Since joining the course, I’ve blossomed into a new person. I feel like the course will continue working its magic for ages. It has a killer curriculum covering all the bases. I’m so absolutely pleased I chose this as a way to start turning my life around.” Course participant

Join us this June for the adventure of a lifetime.

Boost your creative power with The Little Beach Hut of Dreams

Posted on 2015-05-13 at 8:55 am.

Written by Beth Kempton

UPDATE: The Little Beach Hut of Dreams has been sold as we no longer live in Brighton and only residents are permitted to own beach huts there. This post has been archived for reference but we are no longer accepting applications for Dreamer-in-Residence. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Dreamers-in-Residence for being part of our adventure, and to Towergate Insurance for awarding The Little Beach Hut of Dreams runner up position in Beach Hut of the Year 2015. She was very proud!

Whatever you do for a living, or in your free time, creativity is an important part of life. As human beings we all need to find a way to express ourselves in order to feel fulfilled. But as Erwin Raphael McManus wisely said: “True creativity does not come easy; creativity is born of risk and refined from failure.” Whether you’re making music or art, writing books or poetry, taking photographs or designing the next big thing, creative blocks happen to even the best of us. So how can we break through them and return to that sweet spot where our ideas flow easily?

“Change of pace + change of place = change of perspective” ~ Mark Batterson

Sometimes we just need to slow down or switch off altogether, and often a change of scene can help too. Just by getting out and exploring the sights, smells and sounds we experience on our travels, we feel alive and invigorated. As Nick Skillicorn, CEO of Improvides, explains his TEDx Talk: “When the mind gets into a habit, it is actually very efficient at working on autopilot based on memory. If you provide new sensory input and make new decisions, such as going somewhere new for lunch, studies have shown you will have a short term boost to your creativity.”

Visiting new places and inspirational spaces can re-ignite our creativity and get us thinking in different ways. And this is one of the many reasons why Do What You Love has created The Little Beach Hut of Dreams; a tiny bolthole on the southern English coastline, with an uninterrupted view of the sea, where lovely people can escape to relax, dream, ponder, plan, create, wonder, and just be. And you’re invited to borrow it for a day – for free!

7 reasons why you should apply to become a Dreamer-In-Residence today:

1. There’s no electricity or wifi so it’s the perfect opportunity to switch off and enjoy a daylong digital detox.

2. You deserve time out to nurture your mind body and soul.

3. Being beside the seaside is good for your health. As well as helping you to feel relaxed and rejuvenated, the fresh sea air has purifying properties, which can help to eliminate negative emotions and promote natural healing.

4. It will remind you that life is magical and full of possibilities. Nothing beats gazing into the horizon to make you realize the amazing potential that lies within you, and that anything is possible.

5. You can reconnect with nature and be more mindful. Often we are so busy going about our daily lives that we forget to appreciate the amazing little things that make the world beautiful, like the clouds floating past in the sky, the waves crashing on the beach, or the sun setting on the horizon. But research shows that experiencing gratitude, and other positive emotions, boosts our creativity enabling us to do things like remember fine details vividly, think outside the box and link seemingly random ideas.

6. You can watch the world go by – strangers strolling gently past in no hurry to get anywhere, families eating ice-cream on the beach, couples wandering hand-in-hand along the Pier – and who knows, you might even make some new friends!

7. You’ll be inspired! The Little Beach Hut of Dreams is full of little surprises – like gorgeous books and fun little activities that will spark your creative thinking.

Everyone needs time and space to dream. We have built the space. You just need to find the time…

Apply to become a dreamer-In-Residence TODAY!

The deadline for applications is Tuesday, May 19. Find out more and apply here or click the image below.