I talk about art, design, and creativity
1, Be a fan of your own work.
2. Don’t belittle yourself.
3. Don’t tell yourself that you suck.
4. Make time for your creative hobbies.
5. Invest financially into your growth.
6. Know what kind of feedback to listen to, and what kind to ignore.
7. Do it for yourself.
The number one way to cure a lack of inspiration when writing, is to allow yourself to produce writing that is poor.
That means being okay when you don’t like your own work.
It also means being okay when others don’t like your work either.
We all go through dull, grey, uninspiring periods.
Don’t let that stop you from the act of creating something new.
Only, it never starts.
I draw a blank.
15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes later…
Nothing.
But I’m adamant on pulling through and making it work. And so here I am at 1AM trying to piece together the parts of my brain that make the writing process possible.
But this post isn’t about productivity, drawing blanks, or time management.
This post is about making creativity work for you, even when you’re not feeling on top of it all.
Turns out, you can still write a valuable blog post or tell a great story despite not feeling inspired to create.
Creativity is built much like a muscle. If you practice it enough times, you won’t to rely on a fleeting stroke of inspiration in order to do your art.
What do you write about and how do you write it?
Most people don’t start writing because they don’t know how to start. Now that you have this simple framework, go share something you care about.
What if it’s not any good?
What if something goes wrong?
What if we don’t get any sales?
What if we get a bad review?
The hypothetical scenarios are endless.
Sure, lots of things can happen and we won’t have the answers to every single possibility out there.
But never going past the What If questions won’t get us very far.
Go past your doubts.
See what’s on the other side.
I’ve found the secret.
You can extend your day by a full hour.
Any day of the week.
All you have to do is this.
Stop overthinking what you’re going to do.
You’ll get back 1 hour of your time (or more) very quickly.
Why bother trying your best, even though those who aren’t doing their best around you are getting the same, if not better, results?
Why bother smiling (or try to seem friendly) at a customer service job, even when the girl next to you doesn’t and gets paid the same if not more?
Does it matter that your clients don’t know you’re not giving it your all for their big commission?
Is it important to care about the little pieces of user experience that string together something much bigger?
Why bother?
Who cares?
Turns out that someone who does care will take notice. And if you care to be just a bit better, those efforts will be noticed as well.
On a day by day basis, it might seem like nothing has changed. Nothing has grown, no new momentum has been set in motion, even if you’ve been working on something for a few days.
The thing is, progress isn’t always something you can see or track.
Progress can be invisible.
Most important of all, progress needs time.
Don’t feel bad if you don’t have anything to show after 2 weeks of hard work.
Progress isn’t always obvious.
Last month I caught myself.
I was waiting for the right moment to start a project for our restaurant.
Weeks passed by.
I waited.
I was looking for a slow period where I could direct my attention into this new project.
Only this moment never came.
I don’t see it coming in the foreseeable future either now that I think about it.
Through this, I realized something.
The right moment doesn’t exist.
Really.
You’ll never end up feeling fully ready at the starting line.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment.
Don’t wait until you have your hypothetical game plan laid out (unless you’re a doctor, engineer, or in a profession where other people’s livelihood depends on you).
The right moment will almost never come.
Especially if you’re waiting for it.
You’ll just have to take a deep breath and go.
Maybe it’s your first blog post.
Or you’re starting your first business.
Or you’re walking into your first client meeting ever and you don’t know what to expect.
The first time is always nerve-wracking. It doesn’t matter how prepared we try to arrive.
But the second, third, fourth…
It gets easier.
We figure it out.
All it takes is the first step.
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