Five Qualities that “CONSISTENT CREATIVES” Develop
Conquering these challenges seems to be the nature of the creative beast.
What is a “consistent creative?” Someone who is consistently engaged in some form of making or creating.
After working with countless creative makers, I have found there are some common traits they share. All artists have challenges to face: developing regular routines for creativity, learning to manage self-doubt, and facing rejection and judgment from others.
Conquering these challenges seems to be the nature of the creative beast. How each artist slays them is unique, but the lessons learned through facing those inherent challenges leave some common traits.
What are the qualities that creative people gain as a result of their consistent engagement?
They know the most important battle to fight:
They have learned that the only battle worth fighting is with their own voices of self-doubt and fear of judgment from others. Experience has shown them the disabling effects of directing their energies towards other’s opinions about their creative works. Somewhere along the way, they have given up pandering for the approval of others. They have observed that most of the judgers out there are just stuck creatives who misdirect their creative energy into judging others.
These consistent artists have come to some reckoning with their voices of self-doubt and judgment. Most seasoned creatives accept their own ego’s self-doubt and criticism as everyday battles they must eventually conquer. They end up tolerating these voices with a form of bemused acceptance, like having to endure that annoying aunt at Thanksgiving every year.
They accept the voices and get to work anyway, bargain with them, or tell them to *&@# off! However they choose to address the voices, they will not let them derail their creativity.
They know the value of small steps over time:
Because they have experienced the overwhelm that a large project can become, they have learned to be satisfied with regular small steps, realizing how quickly those add up in a project’s scheme. Ironically, it seems that finding satisfaction in those steps is what eventually adds up to a sustainable creative life.
They have given up the need to be perfect:
They have defeated the “perfection” dragon. Through countless “mistakes,” they have learned that imperfection is interesting; it is how they stumbled across a million happy accidents leading to significant innovation and unique styles.
They have withstood the discomfort of uncertainty and have reached a bargain with a “willingness not to know” — that place in the creative flow state where you don’t know what’s going to happen next. They have experienced their ego’s tantrums about this lack of certainty and control, and have acquired an ability to either accept it or laugh at it. Because they have seen the creative output that results from this “willingness not to know” state, they have often been surprised, delighted, and satisfied by the results. They know that there are never any fixed conclusions in creativity or life — there are only choices and possibilities.
They have their own backs:
Because this personal battle has been hard-won, they protect and regard their time to make art with reverence. Because they have known the soul-sucking, energy-zapping costs of merely talking about it but never doing it, they have finally decided that making their art is a priority. Period. No matter how challenging, some routine has been carved out,
They have understood that they are not a victim of their circumstances. They set boundaries with their family and friends to make time and space for their making. They believe that despite other people or life trying to get in the way, they prioritize their inalienable right to make their art.
They are regret-free:
Most seasoned creatives have already withstood the storms of their inactivity, stuck-ness, and fear. They have discovered that the cost is too great to not act on their longings to create. They have felt heavy regret in turning away from something that has been calling to them for as long as they can remember. They have determined that the terrible yearning to create never goes away until they finally started expressing something that originates from their soul. And when they did work on their one thing — the one thing they’ve always wanted to do — everything changed.
Nobody can accurately describe the freedom and confidence they discovered once they made the declaration to honor their creativity. Having experienced this awakening, all consistent creatives say they will never go back!