Overcoming the Challenges To Being More Creative

We have a tendency to place blame: on the system, the hierarchy, the compensation, the incentive schema, the competition, the global economy.

But when it comes to creativity and its offspring, innovation, the fault, as Shakespeare noted, is all too often in ourselves.

And most of that self-criticism, as the following article explains, is rooted in our own fears. Of a lack of competence, or genius, or inadequacy by comparison to Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, et al.

So the challenge lies not as much in re-engineering systems, or organizations, but in allowing ourselves to overcome the fear of the unknown, of failure - or even the uncertainty of success. JL

Thomas Oppong comments in Medium:

Creating is a process. You create, make mistakes, change and improve with time. Eventually it leads to the recognition of a valuable contribution to the world. You can confidently share value if stopped focusing on what could possibly go wrong and focus on everything that will work in your favor.

“I’m not really a creative person” should not be your mantra. Every one of us is creative. In fact, we are all extremely creative. People have so much they can offer the rest of us but they are afraid to even try. They feel inadequate.

Millions of people are still living in their comfort zones because they think a lot can go wrong. The good news is, you don’t have to be perfect to start anything. You don’t have to seek perfection when you are ready to create your life’s work. You just need to get started.

Creating is a process. You create, make mistakes, change and improve with time. Eventually it leads to the recognition of a valuable contribution to the world. You can confidently share value if stopped focusing on what could possibly go wrong and focus on everything that will work in your favor.

If you have still not launched, started, created or made any significant step towards your amazing work, these are the signs that you are afraid to live a more creative life.

1. You’re afraid you have no talent

Everyone has the potential to be amazing at something. People have strengths and weaknesses in the different functions and capacities of the brain. It takes practice. A lot of it to be amazing at what you do. One of greatest impediment to creativity is our impatience.

The almost inevitable desire to see results in the shortest possible time can kill your desire to create anything worthwhile. What you lack is confidence in your abilities to do better. Follow your curiosity and find yourself in the process. You will be amazed at what you discover about what you can do and what comes easily to you.

2. You’re afraid your best work is behind you

Fear cripples potential. If you start believing your best work is behind you, will stop dreaming and ultimately stop creating anything meaningful. People who have achieved a lot in life can fall into the trap of thinking they don’t have anything else to offer. They shut off the ability to imagine and start new projects.

Others are afraid to push themselves because of their age. “I am too old.” is always the excuse. At 50 years old, Henry Ford launched his first manufacturing assembly line. He still believed he had something to offer the world.

Next time you find yourself in a similar situation, remember your best work is always ahead of you if you master the courage to get started. It doesn’t have be a big leap. But it matters that you show up and start. Your future is definitely bigger than your past.

3. You’re afraid of being rejected or criticized

Rejection is inevitable if you intend to do anything original. The fear of it creates a very damaging pattern of behavior that can stop you from starting something new. Once you begin to feel that you are not good enough, you can never push past rejection to create your life’s work.

Being creative is about making fresh connections so that we see things in new ways and from different perspectives. You can benefit a lot from feedback to improve your idea or project. Every confident creative don’t take rejection personally. Learn from your criticisms and focus on making your work better than your first iteration.

4. You’re afraid your ideas are not good enough

Millions of people are trapped in the “not good enough” mindset. You’re afraid there’s no market for your work, and therefore no point in pursuing it. Others are constantly beating themselves up and thinking that whatever they intend to create won’t be good enough or what they’ve created is not worthy to be shared. The desire for perfection keeps them from launching, publishing or hitting send.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” explains:

“Perfection is the death of all good things, perfection is the death of pleasure, it’s the death of productivity, it’s the death of efficiency, it’s the death of joy. Perfection is just a bludgeon that goes around murdering everything good.”

5. You are afraid someone else has done it better

Before Google, there was Yahoo. But Larry and Sergey launched it anyway. Mark Zuckerberg was not threatened by MySpace because he had something else to show us.

Forget about all the reasons why you shouldn’t launch or start your life’s work, and focus on the one reason why people should know about it. If you genuinely believe in what you want to do, find a way to build it, create it, ship it or simply get it out. If it moves you toward your ultimate potential, do it.