I’m also a collaborative learner. Once I’ve absorbed new concepts in quiet reading, I need someone to bounce ideas off to help them sink in. I absorb much better that way than by simply engaging in quiet reflection.
As you develop a new skill at your own pace, you’ll start to identify your learning preferences. Do you prefer to start with details and work your way up to larger concepts? Or do you need to make a mental map before you can absorb specific facts and figures? You’ll have to discover that for yourself. When the information doesn’t gel right away, it doesn’t mean you’re bad or you don’t have the necessary talent. It just means you need to try another approach to the material.
Mastery is never an end in itself; it is always a by-product.
Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There’s no other route to success. – PABLO PICASSO.
No one is coming to save you. Experts are valuable when you’re learning new skills, but neither experts nor institutions are going to nurture you, guide you, or make your creative dream a reality. You’re on your own path. It’s all up to you. This isn’t a bad thing, either. Your creativity gives you the capacity to design the life you want.
There’s a reason it’s so hard to follow our calling. The whisper of intuition telling us what we’re meant to do and how we’re meant to live comes from within, but it leads away into the unknown. Once I finally started listening to the call, I found myself on a new path. Not the path designed by my career counselor, encouraged by my parents, or suggested by society. My own.
Though it was nonlinear and nonsensical, my path made perfect sense once I truly started walking it. I’d finally discovered an outlet for everything that had been trapped inside me.
The only way to “fail” at creativity is to stop walking the path altogether.
When it comes to creativity, no effort is ever wasted. Ever. Every unfinished manuscript, sunk business, crumpled charcoal drawing, or abandoned musical instrument represents another step forward. Once you understand that your entire creative journey – every clueless mistake, every stinging failure – is an essential part of your path, you will see that there is nothing to lose by taking the next step, no matter where it leads.
Imagine what you want to create – without limitation. Design a strategy to make your dream a new reality. Execute your strategy and smash through obstacles. Amplify your vision to create the impact you seek.
My answer to her was simple: Begin. Rekindle your creative craft for a few moments every day. Don’t worry about the rest right now; simply sit down and make something.
There used to be a prescribed path for entering any particular career. This is no longer the case. Beyond a handful of professions, many of the most rewarding jobs today are intrinsically creative. They involve doing things that didn’t even exist when the people doing them were still in school. The prescribed paths are crumbling away.
Listening for the call is easy, but only if you know what you’re trying to hear. Is it the murmur of the crowd – your parents, your peers, the tired cultural narrative as a whole? No. It’s that quiet voice inside. Your intuition, your heart. You know the difference.
The “soft” intuition we’ve been taught to ignore is actually the most vital gift we are given, not only as creators but as human beings. After a lifetime of being conditioned to ignore your gut, however, it may be difficult to tap into and trust your intuition.
Your life has two big arcs. The first is about acquisition; acquiring knowledge about yourself and the world – figuring out how to meet your own needs. What am I going to do to make a living? Will I get married? Buy a house? Have kids? The second arc is about contribution. You start thinking about how you can serve others and make a lasting impression on the world. We take, and then we give.
Creators create. Action is identity. You become what you do. You don’t need permission from anybody to call yourself a writer, entrepreneur, or musician. You just need to write, build a business, or make music. You’ve got to do the verb to be the noun.
Pros go to work whether they’re inspired or not. They allow for imperfection in their work. They finish what they start. They share their work when it’s finished. The exceptions only prove the rule.
Life is messy, and without creativity, it’s incomplete. Creativity is not a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. Think of it as putting your own oxygen mask on before helping others in your row. If creativity keeps getting bumped, it’s flawed prioritization.
You are not your art. The greater the separation between your ego and the products of your creative efforts, the happier and more productive you’ll be. So let go of all your assumptions and think. Ask yourself what creative activities you might enjoy. Don’t worry about the product yet or where it will go.
You don’t have to be good at anything yet. You can learn. In fact, you’ll begin to see the process of learning as a joy, not an obstacle. The only question that matters here is, what would you be excited to try?