When challenged, the Dexterous Creative knows when and how to use both (or all six!) hands and the best tool at her disposal. When blocked, the Dexterous Creative is adept at finagling a way under, around, or between a rock and a hard place. And she also knows when to step back and let the challenge resolve itself or the block to remove itself. This writing prompt actually works to help you achieve your creative goals this year.

Today’s prompt revolves around Symphonic Activity. Symphonic Activity is an activity that brings together your mind, body, and aspirations like players in a symphony. The activity might challenge your wits in an optimal way, but all facets of your self move harmoniously. Examples include conducting your daily business and enterprise with elegance, giving a dynamic talk, orchestrating a party or social gathering, facilitating an event, writing a book or story, designing a project.

You can craft vision boards, find a year-long intention word or three words or phrase, perform a New Year’s Eve I Ching reading (that would be my wife and me), plan and plan and plan, and tell yourself 108 times each morning for a month that you’re a good person who deserves a fulfilling life.

And still, 12 months later, little beneficial change happens. Little gratification ensues. In fact, some of the above might be counter-productive.

So, what gives?

Is there a science or an art to manifesting our dreams and goal completion?

As a guy whose advice for creatives to flourish often goes something like “Find yourself in getting lost” and “Move toward the difficult,” and as a guy who shucked a comfy sure-thing academic job twelve years ago to pursue something…