Creative Pep Talk #106: You Really Do Know

Over the years, I’ve come to the often frustrating conclusion that we know more than we think we do. I tell you why in this short episode.

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Transcript: You Really Do Know

Please note: This is an unedited transcript, provided as a courtesy, and reflects the actual conversation as closely as possible. Please forgive any typographical or grammatical errors.

Nancy Norbeck [00:00:06]:
Welcome to follow your curiosity, ordinary people, extraordinary creativity. Here’s how to get unstuck. I’m your host creativity coach, Nancy Norbeck. Let’s go. Hey everybody. This is Nancy Norbeck here with this week’s Creative Pep Talk. And, you know, many, many moons ago when I started working with a coach, and then of course when I worked with a therapist, I was confronted as you may have been by what I think is probably the most infuriating question you can be asked, especially if you’re feeling confused or lost, which is, you know, what, what is the answer to whatever your question is? And when you say, I don’t know, the response comes back, yes, you do. As I think about this, I think in many ways that’s too easy and it’s too glib.

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:01]:
And I always found it frustrating and infuriating because if I already knew the answer, what the heck would I be doing talking to you? Right. I’d be going and doing the thing and, and we wouldn’t need to be here. But I also know from being a coach and working with people that we do tend to actually have the answers that we need. And it’s a matter of somebody coming along who can ask the right questions to help us find those answers. It’s part of why I like Kaizen Muse Coaching, because it’s not focused on telling you what the answers are. It’s, it’s really all about helping you find them with some tools and awarenesses and things that you might not have at your disposal to help things out. But it fascinates me that most of the time, we really do have the answers. Sometimes we need a little help or we need a little bit more information.

Nancy Norbeck [00:01:56]:
But a lot of the time, we, at the very least, have the fundamentals of what we need to know somewhere inside us, and we can’t get to them. And I think a lot of the time, that’s because someone or something, some sequence of events or something we heard or, you know, something like that, something we observed happen to someone else, has come into our lives at some point and taught us consciously or not consciously that that thing that we know is true is either not true, not possible, not okay. For some reason, it’s out of range, is out of the question. And so having convinced ourselves that that’s the case, we proceed as if it is a complete impossibility to the point where we may not even remember that we ever considered that possibility, that we ever wanted that thing, that we ever knew how to get around whatever it is that’s getting in our way. So I’ve been thinking about this, and I just wanted to come here and mention it because, yeah, it’s frustrating and it’s infuriating. But I think a lot of the time, it’s also true. And so if you’re stuck and you’re wondering what the answer is, I just invite you to kind of peel back the layers. If somebody told you that you could do whatever it was that you wanted to do to solve a problem, to get to the next step in your career, to pursue whatever art you want to pursue, whatever it is.

Nancy Norbeck [00:03:42]:
And that you didn’t have to worry what anybody else thought, or possibly even what the laws of physics were, what would you know you wanted to do? And then look at that thing honestly, and from a perspective of, is this actually as impossible as I think it is? Get your try to pull your feelings out of it so that you can really, really look at it and say, okay, is this thing possible? And if I’m really convinced that it’s not possible, is there somebody else that I should check with to see if they have a different perspective on whether or not it’s possible? And if it turns out that it’s genuinely not possible. I mean, if your thing is, I really believe pigs can fly, you might have trouble with that. But most of us, it’s not something like that. But if it’s genuinely not possible or deeply unwise or for whatever reason, you know, it’s probably not really gonna get you where you wanna go. Is there some piece of it or some related way of looking at it that might actually get you there? So, like, you know, if it’s not your best idea, what’s the best idea? Because a lot of the time we just throw out the idea completely without considering, is there a best? Is there maybe a best if best doesn’t work? And, and working our way through those options, we just toss the idea out and go look for something else when there might have been some truth in there somewhere. So think about what you actually do know that you might not be letting yourself know. I know that’s tricky, but see if you can do that and then see what you can get out of the answer that comes up. Even if at first blush, it seems like it’s absolutely not possible for whatever reason.

Nancy Norbeck [00:05:37]:
I think if you start to do that, you’ll start to find that actually there are ways that you hadn’t seen before. Maybe, you know, some forking paths that aren’t quite what you had in mind, but might get you very, very close, or closer than you would have otherwise. It’s worth an explanation. Exploration. So possibly an explanation too. You never know. But either way, just give it a try. You might surprise yourself.

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:04]:
And I think that’s one of the best ways to be surprised in this life. So see what happens. As always, feel free to let me know, and good luck, and I’ll see you next time. If this episode resonated with you or if you’re feeling a little bit less than confident in your creative process right now, join me at the spark on Substack as we form a community that supports and celebrates each other’s creative courage. It’s free, and it’s also where I’ll be adding programs for subscribers and listeners. The link is in your podcast app, so sign up today. Next week. Follow Your Curiosity is produced by me, Nancy Norbeck, with music by Joseph McDade.

Nancy Norbeck [00:06:45]:
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