Day 20: The Soul Of Your Product

Some time ago I listened to an interview by Danielle LaPorte. The woman she interviewed has the beautiful name Hiro Boga and you can visit her website to learn more about her.

Hiro had a message I can’t recall ever having heard before:

Your product, your project, your website, your work, your creation actually has a soul of its own.

This might seem strange at first, but it actually rang a bell deep inside of me. It is something I have experienced many times before and would like to share with you, because I believe this is something so profound, that it might raise your work from good to great, from struggle to easy flowing.

When I was younger, I would do a lot of drawing. I loved i, but, you know, at school you had to deliver something specific at a certain date.  And of course you’d get a grade on it.

I really wanted to deliver a good drawing, something that would match all the requirements. So I would sit down and think about it. Then I would try to draw it. I could see it all in front of me – but my hands just wouldn’t follow. No matter how hard I tried to make them do what I thought they had to do in order to get a good grade, they would just refuse to do it. This really sent me into huge frustration and I started panicking, because everything looked so awful and actually even the idea had become somewhat ridiculous in the first place.

What the hell was going on?

It was such a simple task, and yet…

After all this struggle I finally would come to a point (usually towards the deadline), when I sat there and simply let go. Because, you know, it just wasn’t working. I stopped thinking about it, I stopped trying to build it logically. I surrendered.

And THEN…

...there was a rush of energy deep down inside of me. I could feel how the piece of art wanted to come out of me, I could feel it burning. It found its way to my hands, which started drawing, and drawing, and drawing. I didn’t know what the hell they were up to, but I could see that it was good. No, not good, GREAT!

All the struggle was suddenly gone, all those hours spent thinking and trying so hard. There it was, my perfect drawing, come to life with such an easiness, such a joy.

What I realized then was that somehow it had existed all along. Yes, it had some of my character inside of it, and yes I could clearly see that it was created by me. It had my imprint on it.

And yet, the moment it was on paper, it also had it’s own character. It stood for itself. Just like my daughter resembles me in looks and character, and yet she has a total life of her own. She has her very own soul.

So this is what I want to tell you:

Whenever you create a new product, or a new campaign, or whatever, and just seem to struggle without ever getting presentable results, dare to let go.

You might do that by taking a break and doing something completely different until the Idea hits you (which can actually happen), or you can become very still. Watching your breath is a very good thing to do so. Let go of all your thoughts. Let go of the pressure. Just watch your breath coming and going, in and out, in and out.

And then, just when you have become really still and peaceful, then you will be able to listen and see the outlines, the soul of your project, burning and waiting to be created by you. You will feel and see it in all it’s beauty, rising from a place of complete peace, joy and love, and all you have to do now is bring it to life.

I would like to invite you to try the above and tell me what you have seen by leaving a comment below. If you liked it, you might also go ahead and share this article with your friends via facebook, twitter…