How I Increase Creative Output

"Courage doesn't come from an absence of fear; it comes from being afraid and moving forward anyway." - Paul Jarvis

Creating something from nothing is hard work. You have to pull ideas seemingly out of thin air and make them physical. This is true of writing, painting, music composition, building companies, etc. Whatever these “ideas” are, eventually come to an inflection point where they either get put into action or shelved away for another day. Ideas aren’t usually the hard part—at least not for me. There are more than enough problems out there that need solving, but deciding and running with just one idea is terrifying. As soon as you “commit” you can't spend as much time fantasizing about different outcomes, you have to focus. But in the long run, what’s more fun--thinking about creating amazing work, or actually making awesome stuff?

Overcoming The “Gap”

Where’s the gap between wanting to be super creative and actually making things? Intentions are only a small portion of the equation--the other part takes a hell-of-a-lot of discipline and willpower. Even then, you can’t expect every executed idea to be a hit. That’s unrealistic. Instead of obsessing yourself with "home runs", my strategy is to simply practice the art of consistently shipping. Every time you throw ideas against a wall you take a leap of faith. What if people don’t like it? As long as you’re creating for yourself, the only audience you need to please is the person looking back at you in the mirror.

Originality

The real “secret” of creating is to remind yourself that you're the only you. I always find it fun when people debate, “the original” vs. “the cover.”  By definition, the original is always better. I realize this is a bold statement and that some covers are so great that it’s easy to put together a compelling case. But, the cover will never be the original. The original is always one-of-a-kind, and comparing originals with covers feels like apples to oranges.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a life time to paint like a child.” – Pablo Picasso

Embracing my differences stops me from comparing myself to others. I can emulate the style of others, but ultimately, I will have my own style. If you truly want to be remarkable, you wont do so by copying—people will just think of “the original”.

Remarkable creative output requires the courage to be different and the best part is that you already have the key ingredient--you’re the only you. Don’t let it go to waste.