Creative minds usually have lots of confusions and recently I was asked some questions by a friend who has a creative mind which goes for a walk sometimes and leaves him with these questions. I have tried to answer them.
1. How do i play consistently in the game of life? (I know exactly what kind of life i want and i am working towards it everyday.. How do i bring in self-discipline, patience during times when things are not going my way.. and most importantly, stability of mind?)
A. I believe stability of mind is mostly disturbed by thoughts of different problems(some which we already have, some we anticipate that will happen in future). My usual idea to note down the problems (maybe on paper/else in mind). And see if it has a proper solution. If it has a solution then you already know the solution and can work towards it. This way you will at least know what problems are solvable and what are not. So whenever thought of unsolvable problem comes into your mind then you already know whether to worry about it right now or just postpone thinking about it as you know it does not have immediate solution.
Another idea is to try to postpone the problem for sometime, lets say for half an hour and maybe the need to think about it will be gone.
Like usually when I am about to go to bed in night, I always get two thoughts:
a. Have I wished everyone birthday on FB (easy task).
b. Have I delivered the pictures to all the clients? And replied to all the mails? (A little tough 
)
I tell myself that tomorrow morning I will wake up early and finish it all up. And go to sleep peacefully and it works most of the times.
2. My mind wanders a lot sometimes. I indulge in a lot of wasteful activities when I’m not feeling like working on my goals. How do i vent out myself constructively and be back to my goals with renewed vigor?
A. I think its human nature to be distracted. And new age also has reduced our attention span. The more we are forced to do some things at our workplace, more energy is wasted. And you can’t expect creative outputs when you are low on energy. You can challenge yourself to be away from Facebook for half an hour and keep increasing the time gradually. (Let me know how you can succeed at that )
Also a creative mind has a tendency to wander a lot. I also tend to like hundreds of things and my wishlist has lots of things to be done. But some are done, some are not.
3. Is it okay to follow somebody you aspire to be completely or you should be what you are and try to better yourself?
A. It is a very philosophical question I think. I personally do not aspire to be someone else. I try to keep comparing me with myself to keep improving and I do not try to push myself too much . I do have mentors who are much better than me and I keep seeking their guidance from time to time.
Facebook | Twitter | Orkut | Portfolio
Figured I would take a swing at these questions myself. Apologies, if it is unsolicited.
The disclaimer: I am not right-brain creative, rather a left-brain “observer” at best. So, what works for me may not work for you. If it does work for you, your mileage may vary. Know that I don’t know much about you to offer tailor-made advice.
1.How do you bring stability of mind when things don’t go your way…?
Recognize that life is not consistent. Circumstances and perspectives change. Life events happen which change perspective. The only thing you CAN control is… yourself. You can consistently “perform” through life but, keep in mind that you cannot always control the outcome.
You maintain FOCUS on your “performance”. And yes, compartmentalize problems and zone out distractions.
2. Find an activity that relaxes your mind (although the thinking brain never relaxes when you are awake – “rest is nothing but a change of avocation”). Try transcendental meditation. Improve blood circulation to the body through physical activity or yoga. Sometimes the venting is done best when indulging in an activity that is high in contrast to the “working on my goals” activity.
3. The fact that you asked questions 1 and 2 tells me that something clicked into place in your childhood/adolescence that made you “aware”. You are unique. Role-models and mentors are people just like you – with “a” thought engine. Their wisdom stems from the fact that their thought engines reacted in a certain way to a certain situation and they now have the knowledge of that outcome which helps them to extrapolate certain other outcomes. There could be some parallels amongst all and some thought engines, but no way can a creative brain “follow”. Ceases to be one if it does it, doesn’t it ? But you are welcome to use the wisdom of the role-models and mentors and use it freely as you see fit.
Hey! Thanks for addressing this! You rock! Wonderful answers..will implement it , for sure!