Aaron Orendorff’s article on the three things you should kill before they kill your creativity is brilliant and worth the read!
Aaron hits the nail on the head when he lists these three things: excuses, ego and timeline.
And as a special “Barefoot Bonus”, I’d like to add: technology.
- Excuses
I love to record memorable sayings that I hear when I attend conferences. I recently heard a speaker make a statement about excuses.
Here is what he said:
‘An excuse is a lie that you tell yourself, and then try to sell to everyone else!’
Needless to say, I agree wholeheartedly!
- Ego
‘The hardwired desire to pursue our passions, satiate our desires, and ultimately serve ourselves — is death’ when it comes to creativity!
Humility is a much tougher state of mind, no question… But it also works much harder for you than ego. Check your ego at the door and creativity will flourish!
- Timeline
‘To kill your timeline isn’t about throwing out your schedule. Instead, it means adopting a new orientation towards time itself, one that lives beneath the reality that time is limited… So don’t waste it talking about work. Get to work!’
Far too many people talk about what they plan to do, rather than doing it. I think this is another form of an excuse!
Time is precious — don’t waste it! Squeeze every second you can out of every day, particularly when it comes to creative thinking.
Barefoot Bonus: Technology
My Barefoot Bonus addition to Aaron’s article is technology. Please kill all forms of technology when you are thinking creatively.
Science tells us that we need time to daydream since daydreaming boosts our creativity. If we’re filling any possible downtime with our devices, are we inhibiting that daydream time?
Creativity is often referred to as a “use it or lose it” discipline. You might work in a creative job, but you could be strangling your creativity by being fastened to a device.
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