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Rest and the Sticky Middle🌱

Published almost 3 years ago • 2 min read

The slump continues, kinda...

So now that I am in week three of my creative slump/funk/burnout cycle I thought it was time to take a serious look at what's really going on here.

I'm in the sticky middle. The what? It's a phrase I started using a while back because it's the best way I know to describe these difficult moments in the journey where you're working hard and it feels like nothing is happening but you know you have to just keep going.

Think of it like baking a loaf of bread. You've mixed all the ingredients but now you need to give them time to work together to rise and then you need to deflate them, form them and let them work once again before you can put it into the oven.

Each time you let the dough rise you're in the sticky middle. It feels like nothing is happening. You have to just step back, let it rest and know that the work you have done is slowing paying off.

FAIL

  • Thinking that rest isn't a necessary part of this process.

Lesson

  • Rest is the key ingredient/part/step in so the growth of everything.
  • You plant a seed, let it rest and it grows into a tree
  • Sleep helps our bodies rest, grow and recover
  • Letting the dough rest means it will rise properly to create bread

Resources

  • Learning to rest but still create. This takes time and is a very individual process. My best advice is work when you're feeling the urge and if you aren't just stop.
  • Figuring out what work will move the needle forward while you rest. Check out Khe Hy's 5 day free $10K bootcamp for actionable steps and resources
  • Keep writing things down, trust me your brain isn't as great as you think it is at remembering everything.

This week on Talks With SaraNoSocks

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My guest this week was Kacie Brennell, an extrovert who by day is a Manager at Mission Edge and by night is a recovering side hustler who completely ditched all social media in February 2021. Her story is raw, powerful and a cautionary tale of what happens when you ignore your instincts.
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Her insights on failure: "I didn't realize that the way I was doing things was a little bit out of alignment for me, but I was determined to follow a process and to get to get across a finish line, at any cost. And that blew up in my face, as one would have guessed."

Her advice: "You're not going to find any answers in a screen. You're not going to find any guidance in your TV or in your phone, or in your laptop. Everything that you need is already inside you. And if you don't spend time trying to explore that, you're kidding yourself."
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Full episode drops Friday, May 21st at 12:00 am PST.

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Have an amazing week friends!
Sara

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Hi! I'm Sara 🩴

I'm the voice behind Helping Creatives! Bringing creativity to operations and on a mission to help creatives....create! Join my newsletter for a weekly idea on how to rest, a new resource to help your journey and a few reflections of my own on from the past week!

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