April 5, 2024

You have found yourself in a spiral of self-doubt because you feel like you weren’t born a creative person or feel like your creativity has run out.

You believe that you can’t find a solution to a simple problem in your life because you are not creative enough. You find that it’s easier to “accept reality” rather than to move with it. You constantly identify with a person who is not creative. Then as a situation arrives that involves a “creative person” you don’t believe you can accomplish said thing because of the limiting identity you have given yourself.

This thought pattern will inherently create a person that is not creative.

As a young boy, I thought I could make, create, and be whoever I wanted to be. Taking inspiration from Iron Man, I wanted to create things that would help others and use my “creative skills” to fuel the betterment of mankind in some way. I just could never think of anything sound to create because I was always thinking so largely. “What could I do to save/help millions of people? What could I invent to help the healthcare industry?” And so on. As I got older, I began to “accept reality”, and believed creativity is lost as a person ages.

This is true to an extent.

Creativity will be lost if it is not trained.

Just like a muscle is lost or weak if not trained.

Being creative doesn’t have to be defined as a gift one is given but a gift that everyone is given, some just choose to train.

With anything in the body, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Everyone is a writer, painter, coder, or creator, it's just that certain people choose to exercise those certain muscles. But if you are reading this, you are likely pulled to be a creative person as I am. The creative ability we all possess is inside us ready for deployment and the more we use it the better your “creativity” becomes.

Training your creative muscle:

-Allow yourself to work on a project periodically, or sequentially. Don’t try and knock the thing out of the park your first go-round. Give your mind some space so that you can give your brain a chance to think diffusely.

-Diffuse mode thinking: go on walks, take a break but not a break that consists of scrolling on social media (This just fills your mind with junk while being in focused mode), exercise, and maybe talk about what you are doing with a close friend.

-Do the thing, the only way to practice is to actually practice. Be open for challenges, be exited to try different things, and never give up.

-Get inspired from others. You don’t always have to try and create things that are “original”. New doesn’t exist. To create something “new” just means you have manipulated other existing forms in some shape, size, or form. Combine things from over here maybe a little from there and bam! Something new.

Understanding and implementing the above have helped me create things that younger me wouldn’t believe.

Consistently working on your interests trains your creative muscle like no other. Doing the thing over and over, just like a muscle, will grow. I have said this before but, you will start out sucking, you will start out weak, it doesn’t matter. Keep going. Persistence mixed with the above tips will create the person you have yearned for and will create that creative person you used to identify with.

Try new things, fail fast, continue to create.

Thank you,

Cameron