Creative Reminders From a Fireworks Display

“When I pray to God I say, ‘It’s your call - when it’s time to go it’s time to go. But as long as you’re going to leave me here then I’m going to cause much ruckus!’”
- Prince

Fireworks are exploding across America this weekend, and every booming burst is a reminder to us creative types, spoken in language we can understand (color, design, sound).

Here’s what the fireworks have to teach us about creativity:

BOOM!

1. Be spectacular. Get a reaction from your crowd.
Whatever you create, why not strive to make something that’ll make your audience gasp “ooh!” and “aaah!”? That’s what Michelangelo did. That’s what Spielberg does. What about you and me?

SHHHHHHH!

2. The quiet moments in between the (creative) explosions are necessary.
After a firework explodes, the sky goes black and things stay quiet for a while. Nothing happens. Suspense builds. New fireworks are being loaded. What will they look like? This ‘nothing’ period is part of the whole experience, isn’t it? We can’t explode creatively non-stop, can we? Nope. Breaks are necessary. Time to reload.

BANG!

3. Keep the crowd guessing.
Each firework explosion is a surprise that delights us. This one is red and bursts in huge streaks. The next one is blue, glitters like diamonds and sssssizzzzzzles. Every explosion is different; a different color, shape, and sound. When you listen to a Prince album, it’s the same thing. What about your creations? Are you surprising us each time with something a little bit different?

BOOM! BANG! BOOM! B-BOOM! BOOM! B-B-BOOOOOMM!

4. The grand finale.
The finale is the most exciting part of the show. It’s when they pull out all the stops and give us everything they’ve got. When we give all we’ve got creatively, there is nothing more thrilling or satisfying, is there?

Any dazzling insights you’d care to share? Leave an explosive comment, and have a great weekend!

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“Questions are the answer.” - Tony Robbins

Here is one of the coolest, most practical, most empowering things I ever learned - it’s from Tony Robbins:

It’s the power of questions.

It pretty simple and it goes like this: if you ask your brain an empowering question, you’ll get an empowering answer. If you ask a disempowering question, you’ll get a disempowering answer.

For example:

If you ask, How come I’m not more successful? your brain will give you answers - answers that make you feel lousy.

But if you ask, What can I do to feel more successful? or What’s already successful about me? you feel a positive shift immediately.

Other examples: if you dread doing a certain task, instead of asking How come I have to do this? you can instead ask, How can I do this and enjoy the process?

Even more examples:

I can’t afford it
becomes What can I do to earn enough money to buy this?

Why me? or Why did this happen to me?
becomes What can I learn from this? or What’s good about this? or How can I use this?

If your answer is still negative, ask a follow up question:
What would be good about this if I wanted to find something good about it?

Here’s one I particularly like when I’m feeling angry, embarrassed, or fearful:
What’s funny about this?

Isn’t it amazing how a single question can change your entire outlook? How it can motivate you to take positive action, or close your mind to possibilities?

I don’t apply these questions all the time. I get caught up in the doldrums like everybody else. But they sure do help in a pinch and they’ve made a huge difference in the overall quality and happiness of my life.

For a more indepth study on the topic, I recommend buying Tony Robbins’ Powertalk CD on The Power of Questions. If you contact his people and ask for it by name, they’ll find it for you. It’s around $30.

Do you apply the power of questions in your life? Leave a comment.