A Creative Mindset
It is hard to change by choice. When we think about creating change in our lives, we love to have the picture of change by choice in mind.
Reality is different, though. As recent events, with the COVID-19 virus show, change is most likely to happen if forced on us through circumstance. We change because we have to rather than we want to.
Unless we have strong motivation and a commitment to a long-term view of what we want to achieve, it is easy not to change.
As creatives, we walk the thin line of change by choice and change by circumstance continuously. We want to create, but we also live within the constraints of generating an income and existing in a world where our expression of creativity is often not valued.
Embracing our innate creativity requires having strong beliefs that embrace voluntary change and learning while dealing with failure and setbacks, something Carol Dweck calls “The Growth Mindset”.
In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, she writes:
“This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way — in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments — everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”
And also,
“People with the growth mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower.”
As creatives, embracing the growth mindset, it means we must live according to the guiding principle: We believe that we have the innate ability to create the work. We also have the utmost conviction that we must practice and develop those abilities continuously to achieve our creative dreams.
This bold statement speaks to the kind of persistence and resilience we need to face life’s setbacks and use it as lessons to move towards eventual success. In Dweck’s research, a poll among creativity researchers confirmed that this ability to move from difficulties and failure was the essential factor for creative achievement.
The creative growth mindset starts with simple beliefs:
- “I am creative”.
- “My creativity is meaningful”.
- “Expressing my creativity will make me happy”.
- “I am reaching my full potential by living out my creativity”.
Seeding your mindset with positive beliefs creates an attitude within which helps you value your creative ability.
Then act! Do the work!
As Pablo Picasso said, “What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.”
There will be many failures on the road to success. There always are. To build creative resilience and an open mind to grow our abilities, we must be courageous, embrace curiosity, delay critique and judgement, tolerate ambiguity, persist in the face of criticism and above all, look at the world with fresh eyes.
What does this mean?
The act of creation starts with courage. Whenever we decide to create something, we open the door to rejection and criticism. Showing something to the world makes us vulnerable to everyone else that will see our creation.
The act of creation also opens the door to learning and mastery. It is by what we create that we grow the ability to create more and better art.
In a letter sent in 1885, Vincent van Gogh wrote about his painting “The Potato Eaters”, and said,
“The work in question, painting the peasants, is such laborious work that the extremely weak would never even embark on it. And I have at least embarked on it and have laid certain foundations, which isn’t exactly the easiest part of the job! And I’ve grasped some solid and useful things in drawing and in painting, more firmly than you think, my dear friend. But I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it. “
Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle defined a first principle as “the first basis from which a thing is known.” A first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that you cannot deduce from any other proposition or assumption.
The innovator and entrepreneur Elon Musk uses this way of thinking to break down complex problems into fundamental principles and then create innovative solutions. As creators this informs us on creating.
To create, we have to be fascinated by all aspects of our craft to learn it. It is about breaking what we do into its fundamentals, understanding those fundamentals and questioning every assumption you make. It is about being curious about why, how, what and what if. It is about seeking out a new experience, a new way of doing, a new way of looking. It is the interest in how things work, how they can work differently, or better, or how something else can do the same thing. Most of the remarkable inventions and discoveries of the past are the result of curiosity, fascination and doing.
The temptation to be critical of our creations often kills good work before we learn essential skills, or create a masterwork. Deciding quickly on whether something works, whether it is right, or wrong, hastens the demise of that idea and shuts doors to other exciting paths of learning and interpretation.
History abounds with stories of artists and authors who destroyed their work as inferior or worried what the larger world might think of it. The author, Vladimir Nabokov was on his way to the incinerator with an early draft of “Lolita” when his wife snatched it from him to stop him from destroying it. An example of a creator that judged their own work too early.
His opinion seemed to be justified when the manuscript was turned down by prestigious publishers and eventually he could only find a publisher, who specialized in mostly pornographic trash.
Upon publication, the book became an instant classic that ultimately spawned two movies, two operas, two ballets, numerous stage shows, and even a Broadway musical. Today “Lolita” is included on several lists of the best books written despite its controversial subject matter.
Not judging too early and allowing yourself comfort with ambiguity will give you the space to take the odd idea, the wrong one, the idiotic one, and playing with it. It allows you to see where it takes you without needing to know whether something is working, or not, immediately. It creates the space in which you can see the possibility, what other meaning, or inspiration, it unlocks and to learn the lessons it brings.
Your creative work starts with the idea and persists through incubation and execution. The learning and growth in this journey are what prepares you for your next stage of growth. Acceptance of your art, or what you create, is not the definitive measure.
Vincent Van Gogh was spectacularly unsuccessful in his lifetime. He did not paint for others, he painted for himself and what he could learn, and in doing that he left a legacy that few have, and will equal.
In his own words,
“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”
There is much joy in pursuing a creative life. Being open to growth and learning along the way creates satisfaction and fulfilment and accelerates the skills and capabilities you are developing. By doing the work your confidence will grow. And with confidence, the belief in yourself and your creative ability will expand.
Finding purpose, joy and fulfilment from your creative work will give you the motivation to change and grow by choice, rather than by circumstance.
A little reflection exercise in how you can promote a growth mindset for yourself -
- Come to a state of being present in this moment
- Repeat to yourself the words: “ I am creative. My creativity is meaningful. Expressing my creativity will make me happy. I am reaching my full potential by living out my creativity”.
- Pick three items from this list and journal for five minutes on each:
- What is it that you do/make?
- How does making/doing it support your life’s purpose?
- What meaning does it create?
- How does it create a better world?
- How does it help others?
- What do you learn from doing this?
- How does this make you happy?
- What learning opportunities do your creativity present? - Read through the writing you just completed.
- What did you learn?
- How will it support your creativity going forward?
Good luck on your journey!
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