Regardless of your career or field that article is for you, as long as you create things either hardware or software, as long as they are done by you and from your imagination and can be of help to others either physically or emotionally.
Creativity! What is it?
The ability to make something unique or originally using your talent or skills. It’s an act of thinking, acting, or developing an original idea, using your imagination to make or invent solutions that have the possibility of solving existing problems or future problems, communicating or entertaining others or oneself.
Who is a Creative?
A special and unique individual gifted or talented with the ability to think, invent, or develop solutions from an idea and bring it to life. A creative is you.
Now that we have laid the foundation of the basics let us jump right into the main content of the article so get yourself a glass of hot coffee, chocolate, or your favorite drink, sit back, and enjoy reading.
Where Do Ideas Originate From?
It's time we realize the fact that every new idea is but a remix or upgrade of one or more already existing ideas. The sum or outcome of a current idea is far bigger than the individual sources from which it was initially derived or gotten. Ideas come from anywhere or anything that blends with inspiration or drives your imagination it can be music, movie, nature, or anything at all. From the billions of pieces of information you consume daily, ideas are derived from the portion, fraction, or part that speaks to your soul or inner mind directly.
Who are you? A collector or A Hoarder?
Hold it there, let us not start getting confused. These are completely different traits or titles for a creative.
A hoarder collects indiscriminately while a collector does it selectively and this my friend is a characteristic of an artist. An artist, creative, or collector tends to be attracted to things they love and want to collect. Your duty as a creative collector is to collect good and better ideas because the more you have the wider range of things to combine to develop your ideas.
Teach Yourself.
Yes, friend, you heard me right. You do not necessarily need to find yourself in a learning environment or setting for you to be able to acquire knowledge. You have to feed yourself with the knowledge you desire. Remember the resources needed to get the knowledge is within your reach, and cultivate the habit of doing personal research first before reaching out to others for their thoughts or opinion. Your ability to make inquiries first leaves you at two points either having the answers to the question or coming up with a better question.
Jot Things Down.
Jot! Jot! Jot! As a creative an item that should always be with you is a notebook and a pen because you never know where the next billion-dollar idea or inspiration will come from. Take note of all observations gotten from your environment. The notebook or writing material you carry about is up to you, it can either be digital or analog, just do what works best for you. Regardless of what you do as a creative never let go or dispose of all the accumulated ideas simply because you didn't use them at that initial time. Gather up all of your notes, sketch pads, and write-ups and put them in a file or box where you can always refer to them trust me you'll find something useful later when inspiration is needed.
Get Started With Knowing Yourself.
I believe one mistake we often make is wanting to discover ourselves before chasing what we want. We don't quite realize that it's from chasing what we want, we get our true selves discovered. Your ability to start making or doing things gives you the platform to figure out who you are. It is okay to be scared at first, it happens to everyone so you're not alone. Nobody truly has an idea of what they are doing or has it all figured out. All that is required of you is to show up to do that thing you want to do every day. You can only find yourself when you start doing that thing you want to do, whether is design, coding, drawing, starting a business, building an app, or whatever it is just start it. The longer you wait to discover yourself the further you move away from doing what you want. Remember, no one has discovered themselves by just sitting and waiting but rather by doing what they want to do. Just get started and you'll find out who you are.
Start With Copying.
As a creative who is just started one way to learn faster and improve better is to start by copying other good creatives in your field or niche, do it regularly and gradually you'll find your style or voice. Now never try to pass someone else's work as yours while copying their work because that's plagiarism. Bear in mind that if you do not copy or imitate anything or anyone you end up producing nothing. It's not bad to copy or imitate others but how you present what was copied is what determines if you produced your style or that of others. Now let’s start from the basics of choosing who to copy from, don't settle for just one person but instead have several persons to copy from, the next step is the big one, what do you copy? Do not aim at copying the person's style but the thinking behind the style, don't make exactly what you see but use what you see to create, make or develop your own and something more unique.
Create What You Like and Want To See.
As a creative person, what is the first question that pops into your head when you are sitting in front of your workspace or station? If I'm right it would be “What should I create?” and my answer to you would be to create that thing you like and want to see, whether it’s a product build it or develop it, a painting, paint it, whatever it may be just do it, do that work you want to see? This is because if you wait for someone else to do it, they'll only end up doing the aspect the love and want to see which will eventually not be the same as the one you want to see.
Use Less Screen Time.
Ahh! I know you are going to exclaim because currently, your career requires you to spend time on a screen but hear me out.
There are more ideas and inspirations from outside the screen because you will pick up your screen device for a particular reason but a few moments later you get distracted and forget your main aim. Using computers makes one still and immobile but using less of it brings your whole body to work. Imagine what it feels like when your whole body is involved with the work you are doing, you tend to be in motion. You shuffle sticky notes around your table, go from one notepad to another depending on your career being in motion gingers your brain into thinking. As creative people, it is advised that we get our senses involved in whatever craft we are doing because it helps ideas flow, resulting in a piece or outcome that is beyond our imagination.
Have in mind that you are not being told to abandon your mobile phones and digital device because they come in handy in their own time but instead do not start up every craft work from a screen, give yourself time to birth great ideas and think, make rough sketches, do some critical thinking and when all these is done you can now validate, edit and beautify your ideas, findings, sketches, and drafts on a screen. Remember to start with an analogy process (your hands, mind, sketches) before going digital as it allows you to gather plenty of insights on the particular subject or problem.
Your New Best Friends: Your Hobbies and Side Projects.
The most magical moments of your creativity are those works or pieces you tag as just messing around, those you do when you want to gather inspiration but you want to work on something that doesn't completely distract you. Having a lot of projects going on at the same time is very overwhelming and we over working but when you look at it from the other angle it's a good thing as you can move from one project to another when you fill bored or tired and come back to another when you've gotten inspiration. Let us be frank, some of us need that period of boredom because it's in those times when we’re quiet and at ease, we get out best ideas.
Your hobbies are the things you do because you enjoy doing them and not necessarily to main money by selling them but your side project (craft) is what you do for the world to see and to make money from it.
Your Ideas, Keep Them Safe.
Your ideas are a bit of you out in the world and for the world to see. If you have too many passions and hobbies, keep them all and nurture them to the fullest with time they will align with each other. The most special fact about your every gift, passion, and hobby is that they all come from you so don’t try to connect them because you are their connecting point.
Enjoy The Phase Of Being Unknown.
Starting as a creative, you don't start with a hall of an audience waiting out to see your work. You will be the only one in that big hall and for the beginning part of your creative career it is best, as these are the time you have to experiment, do things just for the fun of it, you won't have anyone distracting you from getting better, no public face to manage yet, just you in your little corner with a huge opportunity to try yourself till thievery best comes out. As a creative, do your little best and be proud of it, it's not easy to do good work when you are just starting that is why you need this phase of being unknown to try out all of your great abilities. It is going to suck for a while but practice daily, you'll fail and get better which shows you're growing. In all of your practice exercises put it out there on the internet.
Talk About Your Work, And Share It.
Share your work not because you are looking for an audience but because billions of persons use the internet, somehow they'll come across your work, and when you want them to feel closer to your work talk more about it. We tend to post only furnished work on the internet and forget that it can also be an incubator for new ideas. Show a little of the ideas, share a little glimpse of the process, sketch, wireframes, or whatever that shows the beginning of the great idea. Share what people will value and tell them that you know what you're doing it could be an easy process or steps to achieving what seems difficult. Just share your work whether you are proud of it or not.
The World Is Small, Make More Friends.
Why will you be gathering up enemies for yourself as a creative? Frankly, the more friends you make the better because being on the black book of people you'd never know who they know that you will be needing their assistance. Be mindful of what you say about people on the internet and in front of others as well because you never know when you'll be needing such a person either physically or through their network.
Surround Yourself With Like Minds.
You can only give what you have (garbage in, garbage out). You become as good as those you surround yourself with. Pay attention to what they are doing and talking about. You need to be curious to know everyone's next step and be kind because you do not know whose help you'll be needing or giving. Try to help out in a room you find yourself in and relocate the moment you become the most talented.
Instead of paying attention to what people are saying about you or on irrelevant topics, use that time to get creative. Instead of wasting your anger on people by yelling and accumulating enemies, channel it to your canvas board, paper sketchpad, or craft tool and get creative. No one is stopping you from venting out your anger but do it on something that would when the anger eventually goes away.
Your Craft Mustn't Get Validation.
Why do we even need validation from people regarding our work, when we have no control over the way people will react toward the work? Imagine waiting patiently for one person's validation of your work and in the end a.) You are kept waiting which leaves you unable to make new ones or improve on the old ones, b.) you never get a positive or encouraging validation, making you lose faith in yourself and your work, c.) you are unaware of the fact that the person is late.
People will always misinterpret you and your work so get used to being misunderstood and not receiving the expected validation needed. Remember you know the level of effort, toil, and impact you put into the whole process so why not give yourself that validation because for what it's worth you know the real value of your work and art. So next time when you're done with a project look at it, put a smile on your face, and tell yourself you did great on this one.
You Deserve An Accolade.
Things will always not go your way, you'll likely not get that acceptance or validation you need. You will get discouraged and your hard work will get rejected but you have to give yourself those praises you need because honestly, no one else sees behind the scene of the creation or creativity process, no one sees what you and that work go through before the final piece is made. You know how many times you had to start afresh, how long it took to figure out the nest dot, how many times you found an error, and how many destroyed canvases are in the bin. So give yourself that accolade when you are done with that difficult piece, that next step, that work or project. Pour yourself a glass of wine, hot chocolate, or coffee, or just do whatever you want to praise yourself for a job well done and the success achieved.
You Are Your Number One Priority.
Being creative you will use up a whole lot of energy to bring out the creativity in you. Be mindful of all the other activities you do that use up your energy, you don't have the energy to waste on irrelevant stuff. If you want to make use of your creative energy in meaningful things, do regular medical checkups, eat healthily, go for a long walk, get the required sleep, and stay hydrated.
Conclusion
As a creative person learn to embrace certain limitations and keep going because in the end creativity isn't only what you choose to put out there but the ones you leave out as well. There is a whole lot to being creative but first, discover what you love and you'll find your true self in the process.
Now that you know these bits about being a creative person, do wear that hat and make, develop, or invent awesome and unique solutions.
Remember you are an embodiment of great ideas and solutions so GET CREATIVE AND BE PROUD OF YOUR WORK.
Thank you for reading. Like and leave a comment if you enjoyed reading.