Posts Tagged ‘creative impetus’
Why “Genius” & “Talent” are dirty words!
There are a few words that describe a way of thinking about creativity that are particularly pernicious and debilitating.
Two of these words are “genius” & “talent”.
In some ways the perpetuation of the negative impact of these words is provided by many creative people and institutions. The words are useful as marketing tools, making the artist a rarity. While things and people with something to say, and advanced ability are not always plentiful it’s not enough of a reason to pay attention to someone. Plenty of really smart people never did anything. Plenty of highly skilled people squandered every opportunity they came upon. Using those two words to market someone or their work is a ploy that plays on the insecurities of others.
The impact of the use of these words in creative circles that is most destructive is how much it impedes those who are growing into seeing themselves as a creative individual. This perception of some as talented or geniuses and not problem solvers and working on things each and every day makes it difficult for students and novices to make an attempt. Once you achieve some level of success you’re still in this position of constantly comparing yourself and your work to some unattainable standard of greatness.
This kind of “frame” around approaching anything creatively can be and is sometimes debilitating, hence the cliche of the tortured artist always striving for something out of reach.
The thing is, any of the seriously successful and many of those we think of as examples of creativity didn’t spend time even considering their own “genius” or “talent”. Rather, they were looking at the market, the climate of their times, or their own passion for ideas.
If you spend all your time trying to convince others how good you are or trying to be something others expect of you, you’ve already lost.
Create what you’re passionate about. It’s all you can do. It’s the most you can do and it’s enough.
Please add your own insights. thanks.
Goals – Say it out loud!
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
It doesn’t matter what you want, what you’re trying to do or where you want to go. If you’ve focused your intentions and settled on a goal you have to form actionable steps to get there and take action. The single most effective technique I know of to motivate myself to do this is to “say it out loud”!
When you speak or write your goals in some sort of public way you put yourself out there. You’ve invited consequences, both good and bad and it’s like putting your ante on the table. It’s not terrible to fail, but if you’re seen to not attempt once you say something out loud, that’s going to sting.
From the quote above, Andrew Carnegie obviously understood that information, analysis, creativity, even a good actionable plan are not enough to achieve a goal, but that it is a necessity to be able to motivate yourself. I can’t think of anything more motivating than the prospect of public and personal awareness that I didn’t at least attempt the things I set out to accomplish. It’s the kind of open ended consequence that serves to remind you that sitting still will guarantee the mediocrity Carnegie mentions.
I’m not going to tell you everyone’s response to your expression of a goal will be supportive, helpful or even that there will be any responses. Some will minimize you and/or your goal for any number of reasons usually having nothing to do with you or your goal. By speaking your intended goal out loud you become familiar with this and learn to deal with it…my suggestion is mostly to ignore any non-specific, emotionally driven negative assessment of your goals. If someone has specific, actionable advice it may be worth considering.
What I will say is that saying your goals out loud and reminding yourself of them regularly increases your expectation of yourself to rise to meet them. The steps you take to do that can encourage others to do the same and help you. It’s the first and simplest way to begin believing in the outcome you want to see.
If you have a list of goals I encourage you to make a blog post or twitter tweet or to do something that makes it clear that you’re on a road to make something happen.
