I know something about you, even though I may not know you.
You have a dream – a desire to shake up what is normal and make a difference through your time on earth.
A desire to not just join the ranks of mediocrity, but to really do something amazing.
What is that one thing?
That dream that excites you and freaks you out at the same time?
The passion that burns in your heart?
Got it? Good. Because you’ll want to keep that in mind as we talk about your creative process.
Whether you realize it or not, you need a creative process – a way to make happen what’s inside your head and heart.
Do You Have A Creative Process?
You’ve probably heard it all:
Get up earlier. Stay up later. Do the work. Put something out there. Be the linchpin. Just flippin’ do it.
Or maybe you’ve been waiting for something to happen:
- For God to do it for you
- For someone else to elect you
- For permission from someone you respect.
So you’re waiting on the sidelines for your chance at greatness.
Well, friend, that time is now. And you don’t need any permission except from yourself.
My personal creative process used to suck, royally. Mainly because I didn’t have one. I was more controlled by what I thought people would think of my art than I was of actually creating.
The Unlikely Key?
Well, there’s an unlikely key to doing something amazing that many overlook.
Some feel threatened by others and what they’re doing. So they ignore them. They put their hand to the plow, block out everyone, and hope to get noticed.
But you’re not going to do that. Because that is foolish.
You need others.
Why is this unlikely, you say?
Because many people disqualify themselves when they don’t feel they have inherent genius.
You don’t need inherent genius.
You need others to help you discover your genius.
It’s your personal creative process, but if you decide to be the lone ranger, to go it alone, your art will suffer.
There Are No Original Ideas
Let’s face it.
Nothing is original.
All great artists throughout history have been influenced by others.
That doesn’t mean you should just go copy and paste what the experts are saying. Actually, if that’s your strategy, consider this a kind “e-slap” (electronic slap) in the face.
You shouldn’t copy others, but you should be reading them. Studying them.
Seek out mentors
Whether it’s an official mentor you meet with, or an unofficial mentor you imitate, get one.
Get 17.
Get 100.
Study the lives of successful people in your field. Imitate what they do.
I’m constantly doing this. When I feel jealous of others’ success, or threatened by their competition, I connect with them. I choose to reach out.
Because in this crowded world, there’s room for your voice. We actually need it.
Build relationships
The stronger your relationships, the stronger your art. The larger your network the more your art will spread.
Who are you surrounding yourself with?
Ignore the downers. Learn and hang with those who are making you better – those who are raising your vision higher.
Don’t allow your art to live and die in isolation.
Question: Who are you influenced by? What mentors are making the biggest difference in your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
This post is part of a blog series on “The Personal Creative Process”. For some other amazing posts, head over here.
David,
Great post! Many of my mentors are bloggers. I have 5-10 go-to blogs each day that never cease to inspire and push me forward. You are certainly one, along with Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, Randy Cantrell, Donald Miller, Chris Guilebeau, Jon Acuff, Seth Godin just to name a few.
It’s important to get daily motivation and inspiration. But, even more important to do the work.
Jason, I’m a big fan of those guys too. How do you personally push past being inspired to “doing the work”? Because you’re right, I can spend an hour reading blogs, feel better about myself, but not actually create. You know?
I so understand the feeling. for months I thought of starting a blog, but would just read others, feeling that it was ok because others were putting out great content. Pulling the trigger and launching my blog was one of the hardest, yet rewarding things I have done.
This is where I’m at now, bschebs. Even just reading your comment has encouraged me to keep on keepin on!
“How do you personally push past being inspired to ‘doing the work’?”
This is something I struggle with daily and I’m realizing that good intentions are not enough. I think you have to set goals for yourself, that way you have something that is attainable and measurable (didn’t Jeff Leake blog on this recently?). Some accountability is great, too. That way you have someone else cheering you on and providing the extra motivation you need to get things done.
So, Ryan. What do you need to get done? 🙂
I am with Jason above. I had to get serious about my writing and blogging to discover some of my seasonal mentors. This has been over the last 2-3 months. I have recently stumbled across your blog through Darrell Vesterfelt’s. This list also includes Jeff Goins, Kyle Reed, Chris Fenner just to name a few. Guys who understand creativity and leadership better than I do and are willing to engage with me even though we’ve never met.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris. Isn’t that the beauty of social media and blogging? You can connect with people that you may never get the chance to meet in person. The opportunity for learning and growth is unbelievable. Have you just started blogging over the last 2-3 months?
So true. I have loved who I have connected with so far and in turn who I am discovering because of them.
I have actually been blogging for about 2 years now, but only recently got serious about from the point of creating community.
It’s crazy when you start being intentional about creating community, things start to grow.
David,
Thanks for turning my attention to this series. Epically Awesome to write on this.
I am influenced in my creative process by my friends and family first. They are with me as I am going trough the rediscovery of ‘me’.
As far as mentors making the biggest difference in my life, I have a few people who I watch and let them influence myself, Michael Hyatt, being the most well know of them.
Glad to have you as a part of the series! Michael Hyatt is probably my biggest “unofficial” blogging mentor as well.
What do you mean by the “rediscovery of me”? I’m intrigued by that statement 🙂
The “Rediscovery of me”, is a process I am going through, and my blog is born out of that process. If you read through my blog there are a few key posts that would explain this in more detail, but long story short. I have lived the last 20 or so years of my life in hiding and fear. Only recently am I truely breaking out to find who I am and why I am here. If that makes sense.
That’s awesome, bro. So great to hear you’re stepping out.
I love it bro. I am reading a book called “The Technique For Producing Ideas” — in the book he talks about how new ideas are only new combinations of old elements and how new ideas are just redefined relationships with other ideas.
I think a lot of people think they have to create something from literal nothing. Creating something from nothing, looks a lot like making old ideas look awesome.
So true. Everyone is influenced by something. Rather than running from that to try and be different, we should probably just leap from our mentors to a higher plane. Oh, that’s good 🙂
Who’s the book’s author?
Great thoughts, David. This post makes me feel alone and understood all at the same time. I’m piecing together mentorships from a few strange places, including books and blogs and mp3s. It’s the best I can do right now.
Sorry to make you feel alone 🙂 What are the blogs you’re getting inspiration from? I always enjoy new finds.
I’m influenced by bloggers like Alece at Grit and Glory, and Mary Kathryn at Beauty for Ashes. Seth Godin has been influential in my reading as well.
And the biggest influence on my life and creativity has been the liturgy of my church, being part of the Anglican Communion.
Douglas, that’s awesome. Could you describe in a little more detail how the liturgy of your church influences your creativity? I’m fascinated by that!
I made a switch to the Anglican Communion 2 years ago from a generational Pentecostal tradition. I haven’t completely processed the why, but the formal liturgy has provided me great comfort and stability in my personal relationship with God. I suspect that it has a lot to do with the fact that the liturgy is based very much on Scripture and rooted in a 400 year tradition in the English language. I really do need to process this much more deeper.
Great post! I’m most influenced by two mentors of mine – authors and thinkers, Dan Allender and Steven Pressfield.
I’m not as familiar with Dan Allender, though I’ve definitely heard of him. I’ll look into his stuff. Thanks Blaine!
I have found some of the best mentors to be the most unlikely. For instance, I’m not a worship leader but it was a worship leader that really help me navigate some really tough decisions. Yes, having a mentor in our niche is amazingly important but not to overlook the ones we would least expect. One of the reasons being is they really get me to think outside the box, which requires a lot of creativity. What about you David, do you have some unlikely mentors? Great post by the way, ha it got some creative ideas flowing.
I have a ton of “unofficial” mentors. For blogging, guys like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, John Saddington, and Seth Godin inspire me. For songwriting, it’s Matt Redman, Reuben Morgan, Brian Doerksen. My pastor, Jeff Leake, has also been an incredible mentor to me. A wise leader. There are definitely others, but this comment might get too long 🙂
Like so many other posters, I could make a list pages long of the people that influence and mentor me. A couple of amazing bloggers that I didn’t see listed above are Edward Paz and Steven Furtick.
What I’ve appreciated most about many of these blogs is the community. I’ve been able to build relationships with people that I would have never met otherwise. In sharing some of my own thoughts, aspirations, and struggles, they’re there to help keep me motivated. Likewise, they’ve been able to share their lives with me, and it has been an amazing experience.
Agreed, Ryan. Investing in, not just reading other blogs, makes all the difference.
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