how to be creative

Source: how to be creative

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So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are
some tips that have worked for me over the years:

1. Ignore everybody.

The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be
able to give you. When I first started with the biz card format, people
thought I was nuts. Why wasn’t I trying to do something more easy for
markets to digest i.e. cutey-pie greeting cards or whatever?

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2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to change the world.

The two are not the same thing.

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3. Put the hours in.

Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what separates successful
people and failed people is time, effort and stamina.

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4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big
shot, your plan will probably fail.

Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.

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5. You are responsible for your own experience.

Nobody can tell you if what you’re doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile.
The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is.

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6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in
kindergarten.

Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with
books on algebra etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the creative bug
is just a wee voice telling you, “I’d like my crayons back, please.”

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7. Keep your day job.

I’m not just saying that for the usual reason i.e. because I think your idea
will fail. I’m saying it because to suddenly quit one’s job in a big ol’
creative drama-queen moment is always, always, always in direct conflict
with what I call “The Sex & Cash Theory”.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies
that champion creativity.

Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius.

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9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth
to climb.

You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you
don’t make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow-line, years
later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel
is emptiness.

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10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would
not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver
Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would
SERIOUSLY surprise me.

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11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the
actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new
market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young
hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong.
Find a new one.

From: THE GURTEEN KNOWLEDGE-LETTER