Creating is just like doing a bike exercise class!

Some of you would have heard of a Les Mills Sprint or RPM class. And some of you know that these classes are challenging gym classes with an instructor at the front taking you through a wild ride of fun, hard work and tons of sweat.

It is simply a 30-45min exercise class on a stationary bike at a gym.

Creating is very much like a bike class.

It starts with the idea, ‘I’m going to do RPM or Sprint tomorrow’ and that’s where it starts.

This is the first, what I like to call ‘Commit or Dismiss’ moment. At this point you will either talk yourself into committing or you will dismiss it straight away because of some condition you think of at the time, such as

‘Nah, I need to sleep in and get some rest’.

Whatever you think, you are right. What the? Yes, you can convenience yourself either way and you will also convenience yourself that it is the right decision.

Now, the true creator among you will commit and rock up to the early morning class the next day.

‘Okay, I'm at the gym. I'm committed. I'm here. Well done’. And then you meet and greet your instructor or class coach who Is prepped and ready to take you on a wild ride.

You begin to head out, probably fighting the thoughts of ‘I should have stayed in bed, ‘this is going to hurt’, or ‘I don’t have the energy to get through this class’. And if you are really lucky, you might set an intention just to make it to the end of the class.

We all start with a goal at the beginning of the class. It might be as I said, just to finish the class without dying, or it may be that you want to hit 140 RPM and stay at 140 for the entire speed track.

I guarantee there will be many moments where you think to yourself,

‘Nup, can’t do it. Can’t reach that RPM’, or

‘I’m so sore I can’t go on’, or

‘If I just hold on for the next 30 seconds, I know I can make it’.

The self-talk really ramps up. But why? Why now when you are in it?

It’s simple, its tension.

Tension rises when you are focused on something you want to achieve, but you are not there yet.

You physically feel the tension in your body, your legs and you feel the psychological tension in your mind by the myriad of thoughts that race through.

And what tends to happen is you will either cut down on your goal ie you will tell yourself yep Im at 135 RPM that’s good enough, or you might just give up all together and think ‘you see, I knew I should have stayed in bed’. Or the creators among you, will actually find the will to continue regardless of whether they are hitting the 140RPM or not, they continue to keep their eyes set on the prize.

Enter ‘Commit or Dismiss’ decision point 2.

You have another opportunity here, to cut down, give up or persevere.

The creator who stays the course (pardon the pun) approaches the last few minutes in the class and then hears the instructor yell,

‘Don’t give up, you are nearly there’.

Funnily enough this is when tension is high, you are over it, sore and tired and here enters ‘Commit or Dismiss’ decision point 3.  

This is the time where you make a decision to either hold the tension or resolve it somehow. Some of you will hold the tension until the very end and have a renewed sense of energy that propels you to the end. Others will resolve the tension, so it doesn’t hurt anymore and be like,

‘Nup, I’m just going to back off, I did well to get here’.

Whilst others will just throw their will out of the window and just plod and accept defeat, making excuses as to why they couldn’t hold on.

So, what’s the moral of the story here and how does this relate to creating?

Those who can hold the tension, use their will to stay in their end result, in this case it might be just to finish the class even though they wanted to give up so many times, will achieve their end result and finish the class. They may reflect later and think they didn’t maintain the 140 RPM in the speed track, but still reached the end result in a different way. It really depends if the end result is to just finish the class, or it is to hit 140RPM, or both. So, they may achieve their end result or a variant of it, but they still stuck with the tension nonetheless.

Although this is a simple, basic example, it is a good representation of creating.

You go for something (intention), you stay the course (focus) and do what is obvious (intuition and will) and you achieve it (end result).

And notice the role of the instructor in this bike example.

Is the instructor/coach doing the work for you?

Are they pushing and pulling your feet in a clockwise motion helping you to physically achieve 140 RPM?

No, of course not. They are not doing the work for you.

An instructor, facilitator or coach sets up the journey, they hold the space and they provide you with a structure, but it is ultimately up to you to apply the work.

They provide the opportunity for you to stay connected to your true end results, to stay on the path you set for yourself.

They hold space for you, particularly when you are really struggling to hold the tension or to even see the obvious next step yourself.  

An interestingly, just like in the bike class example, when you are really struggling to hold the tension you feel in your legs, and you look around and see your fellow bikers grinding on the uphill ride, there is something magical that happens. You somehow get a sense that you aren’t in this alone. There are others going for their own end results, holding the tension and sharing their journey with you. And somehow this synergistic energy you feel from your comrades helps to spur you on, stay connected until the very end. This is community!

A creative facilitator is not different to the bike instructor/coach. The synergistic community is what they create around them as they choose to be around like-minded people, not because they think their ‘magic’ will rub off on them or others, but they choose to be around others who are also striving for end results and who understand the structure and apply it and ultimately hold the tension.

The creative development structure includes intuition (insight), intention, focus, creative tension, and will, supported by a like-minded conscious community.

Are you ready to jump on that bike and go for gold? Your gold?