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creativity motivation

Creativity Takes Courage

It might not work. Some will like your style while others don’t. There are those who will get what you are conveying while others have no clue. Let’s face it. Matisse knew what he was talking about!

Creativity takes courage.”

Henri Matisse

Whenever we do something new, we are going to welcome critics. Let’s face it, we don’t get what others are creatively doing either. We have our tastes and preferences. An artist could spend years working on a technique that appears effortless. And that appearance of effortlessness will make others dislike it.

Creativity is messy. It is also noisy. After all, one person’s musical symphony is another person’s rude noises!

Cartoon of two girls and two boys
Copyright ©2017 Kevin Spear & Kidzmatter Magazine

Perfection and Creativity

Not every creative endeavor is meant to make money or be popular. Who can really predict what is popular next week anyway? If we make those our goals, we may be in for a disappointment.

The pursuit of perfection can kill creativity. If we are searching for the perfect pitch, technique, or approach that will knock everyone’s socks off, good luck! That pressure will squelch creativity.

Besides, my view of what is perfect can be very different from yours. How can perfection be defined in artistic endeavors? Is it the reaction of the public? Or the guarantee of an award-winning project? Perhaps it’s the approval of a client. What if they had a bad day and you didn’t know they hate that shade of purple?

Business and Creativity

If we are working with businesses, creativity takes courage. Very few business leaders have that chutzpah. Editors will turn down books that become bestsellers. Movie producers will reject movie concepts until they become popular and demands sequels. That song that a producer was convinced was a flop is suddenly his favorite when it becomes viral on TikTok.

Creativity takes courage. It isn’t easy to put our ideas out there. But it is worth it. It is far better to try something and see whether it works than to stay safe and churn out the same old concept.

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motivation

Failure is an Option if You Want Success

The fear of failure grips us all. Who wants to look foolish? All of us would like to nail a challenge the first time. We all would like to appear perfect, flawless and successful.

The problem is that none of us know what will be successful from one moment to the next. What worked last year doesn’t this year. What doesn’t work now may be a viral success in the future.

We can create, but we can’t guarantee our creations will be a success. Hollywood is a great example. How many movies miss the mark? Yet nobody working on a movie wants it to be a bomb. How many movies were failures when they first came out, only to become cult classics?

Failure is an option if you want to create anything, try anything new or make a difference. Success doesn’t come from doing everything successfully. Success comes from showing up and doing the work consistently.

Categories
creativity

Michael Hyatt | 7 Ways Successful Creatives Think Differently than Unsuccessful Ones

Today, I got a great reminder from Michael Hyatt on the keys to being a successful creative.

7 WAYS SUCCESSFUL CREATIVES THINK DIFFERENTLY THAN UNSUCCESSFUL ONES It Takes More Than Talent

It’s definitely worth reading. Too often, creative people rely on talent. It also takes the right attitude, the ability to work with teams and do the hard work. It’s a great reminder that talented people don’t get a free pass to be difficult geniuses.