Creative Flow: Following Excitement, Trusting the Turns

Most of us want a clear end goal. We crave certainty, a guaranteed outcome. But creativity doesn’t work that way.

Flow asks us to start where the energy is—to follow our excitement as far as it takes us—and then trust ourselves enough to pivot when the river turns.

Following Excitement

When I was writing my book, I began with countless possible paths and spent months, if not years, playing them out. Most didn’t make it into the final manuscript, but following my excitement down those trails had to happen. It taught me what the book wanted to become.

One of my (favorite!) clients had a similar experience. She was convinced she wanted to build a particular kind of app, so she brilliantly taught herself to code, worked her tail off, and even launched it—only to realize her heart wasn’t in that direction. What emerged instead was something even more aligned. By trusting her creative process, she found greater satisfaction—and more fun—than if she had forced herself to keep going down the original path.

Another client thought he knew exactly where he wanted to live. With the freedom of working remotely, Paris seemed like the dream. But once he dove into the details, he realized the city didn’t feel right. What surprised him was the pull toward Croatia, so he followed that lead instead.

Each of these stories began with clarity and enthusiasm for a certain destination. And each shifted into something new.

The Dance Between Plans and Flow

The essence of creative flow is honoring your initial spark, pursuing it fully, and releasing attachment when it leads you somewhere unexpected.

Plans are useful. Goals matter. But the point isn’t to force them into being. The point is to trust your inner compass enough to change directions when the moment calls for it.

The Invitation

The next time you find yourself gripping too tightly to an outcome, remember: the river may want to turn. Can you let it? Can you trust that your excitement—wherever it leads—is never wasted, but part of the process?

And yes, I know it sounds cliché, but it’s true: joy lives in the process, not just the end product. Your mind will insist otherwise—it’s a goal-achieving machine—but in my experience, creativity and fulfillment are always found here, in the moment, in the flow. Never in the future.