Completion of the Creativity Challenge

From Joshuamaccluer.com

The Creativity Challenge is now finished! After one year, I am happy to announce the completion on what has been without doubt the best project I have ever done in my life.

The project was such a benefit as it motivated me to create much much more creative work that I would have ever done otherwise. I produced music, essays, paintings, guided meditations and visualizations, qi gong videos, recipes, and a big e-learning instructional series.

There were so many benefits of this project, it’s hard to even mention them all but the biggest ones I can see were:

1) Higher creative output– This project motivated me to produce much more content than I ever would have normally, probably several hundred percent more over the course of the year.

2) Making creativity a habit- This project made creativity into a habit, instead of just a once-in-a-while activity. Having the energy of creativity in my daily life was a tremendous improvement in my day-to-day happiness and feeling of purpose.

3) Contributing to the world- This project motivated me to begin to contribute content that I believe can help others, such as the guided meditations, coaching writing, and the music e-learning series.

4) Beginning new creative pursuits- Over the course of the year I did many things I have never done before and I began several new creative pursuits. These included coaching meditation and visualization, playing the bass, singing, playing the ukulele and painting, which has quickly become a favorite pursuit of mine.

5) Helping me see the universal power of creativity- As I discussed in a previous essay, the power of creativity is tremendously important. This project helped me see this as I felt the power of creativity affecting my life and those around me.

6) Inspiring others- Several people that were following this project decided to go forward with their own creative projects and I believe this project was an inspiration for them. I hope it continues to inspire others to follow their own creative dreams.

I decided to commit publicly to this project back last September, and that turned out to be a very important decision. Many weeks I was busy, tired, distracted, or unmotivated, but the public promise was a big part of why I kept going. I recommend public promises, at least to friends and family, for any time we really want to achieve a goal.

Looking back on all that has been accomplished in the last year I am overwhelmed with gratitude thanks on all of those who helped me with this project. There are so many people to thank and without all the tremendous personal, artistic, logistical and other support this would not have been possible. Thank you all so much.

Here’s a quick rundown of what was produced in this project:

Guided Meditation, Qi Gong and Visualizations:

Easy Qigong for Relaxation and Energy (Week 1)

Standing Meditation for Grounding and Alignment (Week 5)

Guided Meditation for Rest and Relaxation (Week 10)

Change Your Breathing, Change Your Life (Week 17)

Foot Massage and Opening with Maika and Josh (Week 19)

Guided Meditation for Foot Opening (Week 20)

Visualize Your Shadow to Overcome Performance Anxiety (Week 31)

Guided Success Visualization (Week 35)

Guided Visualization for Body Shape Transformation (Week 37)

Meditation for “Finding our “Why?” (live) (week 50)