Not feeling very creative

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I have been in the graphic design/advertising field for about 20 years in studio, corporate, and agency environments. Considered starting own business along the way, but didn't really feel passionate about it and wasn't sure I had what it took to be successful. I have been pretty good at what I do and worked up to Assistant Creative Director level. I am at a crossroads now career-wise and not feeling praticularly creative. But this is what I do. Any ideas on where I may go from here?

-- Roberta (purple403@hotmail.com), October 17, 2000

Answers

It may be helpful for you to know that the question you ask about where to go from here, is being asked by a million other people but the reason those other million are not going to be an inch closer to their destination because they think the answer lies in someone elses hand. I always recommend Robert Bolles - What Color is my Parachute as a book that can help people determine that question. Here is the rub, no matter how many times I recommend that book, very few are committed to work through the inventories or find other material where they can use tools to open up their thinking. The easy answer unfortunately doesn't lay prepackaged and nicely ribboned out there.

What I do see is that in between the promise of the crossroads you say you are at, you have thrown in a huge bomb called a self-limiting belief. Only you can move past "But this is what I do". Most people are BUT people. They all roughly know what they want and then comes the "but...". What I do know is from my own experiences is that to move your butt you have to remove your but's.

Take this watershed or crossroads (whatever you personally call it) as a refreshing opportunity to create a new life. Unfortunately, just like a beautiful piece of architecture, a new life takes work to plan, but I am sure you can do it.

-- Mark Zorro (zorromark@consultant.com), October 17, 2000.


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