To have a successful career as a creative person it stands to reason you must do creative things. But what things should you do, learn and understand in order to maximise your potential future and enjoy it?
Firstly you should understand what the creative process actually is.
Csikszentmihalyi (1996) notes the creative process is the act of taking external influence and making new creative resources (such as information, music, paintings etc.)
I’d argue though that the creative process has been achieved not on 100% completion of the creative resource or by acceptance by society (as Csikszentmihalyi states) of a desired product but with as little as 0.1%. If new thoughts are created then the creative act has taken place — albeit internally.
Thoughts alone do not lead to successful careers — action leading to manifesting consumable creative resources does. Having your work accepted by society will usually be shown in an increase in fans, opportunities and payment.
Being creative isn’t for a select few. By the above definitions posting a comment on Facebook is a creative act (I would argue it’s not on the same scope as composing an orchestra) so it’s important to remember everyone has the potential to be creative — You’ll just need to develop what types you use.
Monkey see, monkey do something different.
Secondly you must be motivated and actively want to create.
Creating creative resources is a process that takes time away from natural human instincts of hunting for food and water. Music might be your life, but your body will need to replenish itself physically.
Psychologists such as Herzberg (1959) Maslow (1943) McClelland (1961) Murray (1938) and Ryan & Deci (2000) differ on thought as to how essential this is, but we can assume that — assuming you have met your base psychological needs;
- If you’re not able to enjoy or have fun doing it (pleasure)
- If you don’t have your reasons why you are doing it (motive)
- If you can’t look forward to doing it (positive anticipation)
You’ll find it difficult to get started. Your intrinsic motivation will be focused towards other options.
If you don’t need or want to create you won’t do it.
Thirdly you’ve got to be prepared to grow and develop as a person and in your abilities.
Who you currently are could be enough to be successful. But if you had already achieved your maximum potential, would you be reading this article? There is always room for improvement.
What are your personal and career goals? How dedicated are you to your own goals? Discussed by Willink (2015) as “Extreme ownership” the concept requires that you take full responsibility for the outcomes of your actions and steer yourself towards your desired goals. Never blaming anyone else other than yourself for the failures you may encounter.
Developing a daily routine that gives you novelty and forces you to engage in your creative acts will push you and refine you.
If you are not growing and developing you are withering and decaying.
Fourthly you’ll have to learn to deal with change and maintain useful habits
It takes discipline to stick to the daily routine you’ve set out, while changing it and developing it and yourself. Change is normal a part of life — you’ve changed by reading this — and can be painful, but as Robbins (2012) explains;
“People will do more to avoid pain than they will do to gain pleasure.”
If you are too comfortable, you won’t want to change. Always keep developing even if it brings discomfort.
Greene (2012) notes that it can take up to seven years to achieve levels of mastery needed to be on the forefront of an industry and 10 to be considered a pioneer. He notes shortcuts to this, which we’ll discuss in the next article.
Remember who you are, who you can become and who you will be along the way.
Fifthly you’ll eventually enter the flow state whilst working.
Ever been doing a task you enjoyed and hours have gone by but it felt like minutes?
Named by Csikszentmihalyi (1975) flow is explained by Marer et al (2016) as;
“a mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment. Flow, creativity and happiness are related.”
From a Neurochemistry standpoint Kotler (2014) addresses that you take in more information, process it more deeply and quicker. In a talk with Big Think (2015) Kotler explained:
“The brain produces a giant cascade of neurochemistry. You get norepinephrine, dopamine, anandamide, serotonin and endorphins. All five of these are performance enhancing neurochemicals.”
Once you’ve achieved a basic level of competency and are comfortable in getting involved without being negatively judgemental or self-conscious you’ll often enter the flow state when working.
Get in the zone. It’s good for you.
Finally — You’ll have to become a part of the bigger world
This article covers several key points of information you will need in order to continuously enable your own creativity and develop it far beyond the ability levels of others. In the next blog we’ll look at how your creative process interacts with others, including collaboration, building an audience and sales.
References
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
Greene, R. (2012). Mastery. London: Profile.
Herzberg, F., Mausner, B. and Snyderman, B. (1959). The motivation to work.
Kotler, Steven (2014) The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance.
Marer, P,. Zoltan, B,. and Vecsey Z. (2016). Missing Link Discovered: Planting Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow Theory into Management and Leadership Practice by using FLIGBY, the official Flow-Leadership Game.
Maslow, A. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. 1st ed.
McClelland, D. (2010). The Achieving Society.
Murray, H., McAdams, D. and Barrett, W. (1938). Explorations in personality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Robbins, A. (2001). Awaken the giant within. London [u.a.]: Pocket.
Ryan, R., and Deci Edward. (2000). Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being.
Willink, J. (2017). Extreme Ownership