Power Tool Assessment Name: Yuliya Goloskokova Date: 23 March, 2012 Student ID: 265453 Email: yulia.a.g@gmail.

com

Complete your Power Tool in the space below and then email as an attachment to assessment@icoachacademy.com

Creative guidance vs. rigid guidance. Reading -----------All throughout our lives we are guided. There is a multitude of guides around us that affect the way we live, think and develop. These guides range from external, such as people, circumstances and needs, to internal - our emotions and feelings. There are also unexplained occurrences of inner guidance that are often called divine guidance, inspiration, intuition or sixth sense. Lets call them creative guidance. Often influenced by the creative guidance we come up with powerful solutions that surprise us. As much as we prefer to learn to be independent in making our own decisions and living our life the way we want, at this point in time we exist in the world where anything and everything exercises influence over us. We are under influence of stars according to some and economic turbulences according to

others. It is very obvious that people close to us influence us greatly too as well as people who may be living thousands of miles on the other side of the globe. All these influence our moods, actions, decision making abilities and as a result the way we live and develop. As many have tried, we can, of course, run away into the mountains or some other peaceful place in hopes of maintaining the pureness of thought and mind in order to live right. Yet even in such pristine places we will remain under some kind of influences. Ability to come up with creative solutions has often been attributed to people with extraordinary gifts that allow them to somehow create things and develop solutions that others cannot think of. Yet, can we learn to be creative and be guided by that creative force to answer questions, find solutions to situations, etc? Recent studies show that yes. How then can we learn to make the choices that are right and beneficial for us and others using our inspired creative side? How can we learn to be attuned to those guides that help us achieve our higher purpose and avoid those that prevent us from moving forward in our growth? We have a choice to let one of the influencing us forces take the upper hand. As the old tale of a hunter and his grand son goes, in each one of us there are always two wolves that fight for dominance, the kind one and the unkind one. And which one wins? The one whose side the person is on. What is creative guidance? Inspiration, literally meaning to be breathed upon, has always been connected to higher powers. Creativity is often linked to being inspired by higher powers. Yet it is a skill that each one of us can learn and develop. Interestingly what helps us develop our ability to tune in to creative guidance is problems. Its all about in what spirit we deal with them. Creative guidance is something that each one of us has encountered personally or at least heard about once in our lives. There are stories of miraculous guidance and sudden insights that have affected our or someone else's life in a deep way. It usually comes from within and at the same time from without, a sudden thought or solution that becomes key to solving something complex in an unexpected and an unthought-of manner. Many have been in a situation when our mind was open to a seeming outside suggestion to not go someplace for no apparent reason and arrived there only to find that the shop, office or whatever they came there to find has moved, closed down or vanished altogether. You wasted time going there and you knew before
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hand that something was not right. Well, this is a classic example of letting the unkind wolf win :) or not listening to a your intuition/higher guidance. According to recent studies there are things that help us develop receptivity to creative guidance. Amongst them humor and relaxation or simply lightness and positive outlook. When we are in the state of lightness, we are less focused on going by the book to do things right. . Although we live in an age that worships focuswe are always forcing ourselves to concentrate, gulping caffeinated drinksthis approach can inhibit the imagination. We might be focused, but were probably focused on the wrong answer. The research also explains why so many major breakthroughs happen in the unlikeliest of places, whether its Archimedes in the bathtub or the physicist Richard Feynman scribbling equations in a strip club, as he was known to do. It reveals the wisdom of Google putting ping-pong tables in the lobby and confirms the practical benefits of daydreaming. As Einstein once declared, Creativity is the residue of time wasted. Not all revelations come through the medium of relaxation and lightness. There is also a need for hard work, of course. Yet in the world driven by guidelines and deadlines and hard work there is room for light work too. This relentless form of creativity is nicely exemplified by the legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser, who engraved the slogan Art is Work above his office door. Mr. Glasers most famous design is a tribute to this work ethic. In 1975, he accepted an intimidating assignment: to create a new ad campaign that would rehabilitate the image of New York City, which at the time was falling apart. Mr. Glaser began by experimenting with fonts, laying out the tourist slogan in a variety of friendly typefaces. After a few weeks of work, he settled on a charming design, with I Love New York in cursive, set against a plain white background. His proposal was quickly approved. Everybody liked it, Mr. Glaser says. And if I were a normal person, Id stop thinking about the project. But I cant. Something about it just doesnt feel right. So Mr. Glaser continued to ruminate on the design, devoting hours to a project that was supposedly finished. And then, after another few days of work, he was sitting in a taxi, stuck in midtown traffic. I often carry spare pieces of paper in my pocket, and so I get the paper out and I start to draw, he remembers. And Im thinking and drawing and then I get it. I see the whole design in my head. I see the typeface and the big round red heart smack dab in the middle. I know that this is how it should go. The logo that Mr. Glaser imagined in traffic has since become one of the most widely imitated works of graphic art in the world. And he only discovered the design because he refused to stop thinking about it.
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But this raises an obvious question: If we need different motivating factors for different problems, how do we make sure that we are using the right process at the right time? The good news is that the human mind has a surprising natural ability to assess the kind of creativity we need. Researchers call these intuitions feelings of knowing, and they occur when we suspect that we can find the answer, if only we keep on thinking. Numerous studies have demonstrated that, when it comes to problems that dont require insights, the mind is remarkably adept at assessing the likelihood that a problem can be solvedknowing whether were getting warmer or not, without knowing the solution. Curiously also, the solutions that are provided through creative guidance are more often than not benefit the well doing of others, whether we immediately see it or not. Creative guidance shoots higher targets with a higher purpose. It somehow thinks of "larger" harmony. It helps being aware of a larger world. It expands our vision of how we affect the world around us. And it reminds us that we are the product of what we build and create around us. The creative guidance works when we are in the space of thinking about OUR world. What is rigid me guidance? When we approach life being guided by the "I" guidance, we think what is good for ME. There are shoulds and musts and this has to be done this way mode of thinking. We tend to see clearly only that which concerns us and whatever obstructs the achievement of the purpose created by the "I" is considered to be the obstacle that has to be destroyed. Simple example. Dan: I want that toy! (Therefore I should have it.) Dad: Ok, let Mary finish playing with it and you can have it. (Think bigger. If she is happy, she will gladly share with you.) Dan: No! I want it NOW! (grabbing the toy from Mary) ( I am bigger and stronger and I can have it now if I want to.) As children and grownups we have encountered this attitude in ourselves and in others. If we consistently performed actions that promoted our "I" only, we lost friends and missed out on much fun of being with others. If we got into a company with such people, soon enough we would find ourselves wanting to end the relationship. It is difficult to be constantly demanded of, receiving little to nothing in return.
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The "rigid me" guidance appears when we are in the space of thinking about MY world. When we live from the rigid me space we are often inflexible and have a difficulty seeing the world outside our me window. We rarely consider looking at a problem from another perspective to find a solution. We look for a precedent and simply try to solve the problem using a chop and drop method. The path of least resistance is preferable and initiative in finding a different solution is simply too hard to consider. How to recognize if we operate guided by the creative me or the rigid me? Starting fairly early in life we learn the joys of living for ME. There are so many things that there are to experience and as kids, we are impatient because life is just all too exciting and we want it ALL and NOW. Time passes and we learn that patience is a virtue and that most greatest things in life are shared. Yet when the fear of not getting as much as we think we are worth gets in and starts transforming our "high" thinking into the "I" thinking. We get too attached to that "thing" and become obsessed with possessing it, no matter what. That blinds our awareness. When you share your happiness, your joy multiplies. When you hoard your happiness, your joy wanes. A good question to ask oneself in order to understand what is a guiding force in times of making a decision is: - Am I open to considering all possible implications of my decision and am I willing to modify it in case there is an unforeseen circumstance the outcome of which will be undesirable? If the answer is a double yes, you are most probably thinking out of creative awareness. If the answer is a no, it may be wise to raise your rigidity awareness level. Unless it is your intention, there is a big chance of broken relationships and damage that might need to be repaired in the future. SELF APPLICATION --------As coaches we can be affected by these two guides as well. If we are focused on our performance as a coach, if we desperately desire to make a sale, to get a client, to show ourselves from our best side to get a contract or to attract a customer, we may be very blinded to the needs of the person who came to us to get support.
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This will prove counterproductive with time. On the contrary, the higher self motivating us to act out of the desire for greater good of those we interact with shall always yield dividends. Coach that is there for her or his client shall be rewarded. People will see your genuineness and respond. REFLECTION -------- What motivation guides me in my actions and interaction with others? As a coach how can I be more aware of the influences that affect me and choose only the ones that benefit my ability to be the best support for my clients? What structure can I create to support my creative side? What can help me to be a sample of lightness that may motivate my clients to develop their creative self?

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