Before my clients call or email me for consulting they are usually fully entrenched in mission creep. These creative clients see so many opportunities that they can hardly sit still and they bounce off into all directions. They do a little of this and a little of that, following every new idea that comes along, hoping this is the one! They eventually find themselves spread so thin in all their efforts, trying to keep all of their ideas a float that there is not time or money or energy for any of their endeavors. I believe mission creep also comes because creatives have a fear that the work they want is not attainable and more importantly a fear that there will never be enough money if you follow your dream.
Well, meaning loved ones also help with mission creep as they offer suggestions for work that is “like” what you’re real intention for work is but is not exactly what you really dreamed you would be doing. The problem is that you take a job “like” what you want to do then that leads to another “like” it but a little further away and another and another until finally you are so far away from your original mission that you are burned out.
Here is a page from the workbook, Better, Smarter, Richer. This client had a huge awakening when she sat down and finished this exercise. Do the exercise yourself and see if you suffer from Mission Creep. If you find yourself fully entrenched what can you do to avoid mission creep? (Hint: The next exercise in the workbook has all the answers to this question.)
Do you suffer from Mission Creep?
