On my walk yesterday morning, I caught myself doing that thing I’ve done a thousand times before… trying to figure out and strategize my future. Things like… planning out my 70s, what my Fall calendar will look like, and even the next version of my career. It came from a subtle place of fear — like if I don’t map it all perfectly, it might all fall apart and I’ll be left with nothing.

And yet, here’s the learning I’m living into: when we over-strategize our future, we rob ourselves of the creativity that’s waiting for us in the now.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-strategy. Strategy has its place. But when it’s rooted in fear or control, it can become a trap. A joy-stealer. A blocker of the magic and mystery that creativity brings.

I had a mentor years ago who looked me in the eye during a moment when I was freaking-out and said, “Rick, you’ll figure it out when you get there.” On a good day, that phrase lives in me even to this day. And it’s one I offer to my clients all the time — especially the ones who are second-guessing themselves into paralysis.

When I look at my life — and the lives of so many I support — things rarely unfold according to the perfect plan. Clients show up from unexpected places. Opportunities arise that never made it onto a spreadsheet. Here’s what I know: Life is much more creative than we give it credit for.

Even in crisis — whether it’s a health scare, an economic shake-up, or a bomb going off in your own hometown (yes, that happened here in Palm Springs recently) — what emerges is often not strategy, but creativity. People stepping up. Solutions being born on the fly. Courage that only appears in real-time. It really is All Made Up.

So here’s the invitation: Let your life be a co-creation. Show up responsibly, yes — but leave space for wonder. Leave space to figure it out when you get there.

That’s where the joy lives.
That’s where the aliveness lives.
That’s where you live.

Because at your core…you’re a “creative genius!”

Blessings,
Rick