5 Ways Improvisation Helps You to Create Something New in Your Life
Did you ever find yourself in a situation where you wanted to start something new in your life, like a new project, a new hobby, a new job… but you were postponing again and again, with more and more frustration building up inside you? I bet it sounds quite familiar.
The creation process often doesn’t start because of your fears, worries and, sometimes, maybe also laziness. To be honest, I do believe that behind laziness there is in reality some sort of resistance to go to “the next level” in your life, but this will require another window of exploration.
When we think about “Improvisation” we often associate it with something negative, like being unprepared, superficial, etc. In reality, behind improvisation (called also “Improv”, the one used by actors on stage with no script) there is a specific process to follow, that helps also in everyday life to manage uncertainty, ambiguity and resistance to change.
Improvisation skills can help a lot in creating something new in your life. How? Let’s explore it together.
When you improvise, it doesn’t mean you don’t have clear in mind your goal or you are not prepared. Often you are prepared, but for your brain your preparation is never enough. You feel insecure anyway. Improvisation teaches you to go ahead step by step, no matter if you are hesitant. The show must go on.
Even if you don’t have yet a clear idea in mind of what you will do or create, begin, don’t wait. Like improvisers on stage, often you get insights along the way, and the more you take actions the more you understand where you want to go, where you don’t want to go, and what you want to achieve.
In improv, It’s about progression, not perfection. Mistakes are part of the process. Most of the times, when you say or do something wrong, it is not the end of the world. Actually, mistakes are often learning opportunities. That’s where innovation takes place.
Improvisation shows how to have fun along the way. If you don’t have fun, chances are you are engaging in activities where you are not playing any of your strengths. It might be worthy to go ahead anyway because of the end result, it might be not. Creating something new requires anyway efforts and focus. The fun component part is a precious ally for you to get going.
Even if you feel you are alone in your creation process, in reality it’s often a co-creation journey, or you should make it like that. Let’s suppose you are creating a new product, service, even an object for your house…The more you involve your stakeholders, the more what you build is going to be a success. Improvisation teaches you to involve your people and make them feeling part of your journey.
If you are interested in knowing more about how improvisation and coaching skills can help you, check out my book, “Improvise and Succeed”, available also in Italian.
If you want to hear how improvisation and coaching helped me to start building online courses, watch this free masterclass I created. It’s also a great opportunity to learn the basic steps to put in place to create and publish your first on demand digital training.
Photo by https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema