persistence

Skill Of The Creative

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The simple paperclip can be a doorway to a creative moment
The simple paperclip can be a doorway to a creative moment
Photo: Flicker – chrisdlugosz

The ultimate skill of the truly creative person is their ability to survive change no matter how varied it may be.

Acquiring and then expertly utilizing already structured knowledge is the attribute of the very learned.

The creative person is uniquely interested in newness.

That, coupled with a passion for what they do, fires a gut-drive infused with persistence that sustains a vision that never changes.

It’s different than a dream.

It makes the timeline from start to finish,  even if it’s very long (and it often is), seem more bearable.

Even when it looks like failure is following failure yet again this drive wins out because it won’t let them give up easily.

Another word for a creative person like that is “entrepreneur”.

In the 1920’s, and for many years after, Napoleon Hill interviewed one hundred and twenty-five of the most financially successful men of his day.

Know what he discovered? The top two attributes for their success was their persistence and determination. Not intelligence or connections. Too bad Hill himself never nailed down exactly what the nature of persistence and determination was and how to get more of it into your life. He instead got wrapped up in laws and lists of principals. More head brain work for you to do.

All that is a far cry from finally finding out what exactly it is that allows some to survive long periods of discomfort and to maintain a motivation through it all. For creatives who want to ‘make it’ on their own terms it’s as essential as air.

More power to you.

David's signature in what looks-like handwriting. Sort of.

Quotius #6

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Each week I intend to dispatch my pent-up creativity by creating a new version of something I call a “quotius”. (Learn about the genesis of it here.)

Say what you mean …Mean what you say. (No attribution. I couldn’t find any.)

When I was starting out this blog some three years ago I was writing away and constantly I struggled for clarity. My job, as I saw it, was to describe a long-lived mystery. Over the centuries great thinkers tried to bring us closer to the truth of it but still it retained its core secret.

It’s the mystery that would describe the properties of the energy that causes persistence, determination, or perseverance to exist.

For a long time I had a hard time trying to say what I meant to say. It took me till now to find enough clarity. Even then I didn’t find it in words only. I found it in a simple little three-dimensional model made of a long thin strip of paper. When I eventually learned to use video and upload it to my blog I combined the use of quotes together with that little three-dimensional model to help me up the ante in the delivery of my message.

Now that I’ve been doing this for awhile the meaning of my message has become a lot more penetrating and fun to understand.

So here’s the take away:

Do you too have trouble finding the words to tell your story?

The fact is that words, while known to be powerful, can only realize their full strength if they are so skillfully used that the message within them finds its rightful home in your accepting audience. [Personally I love to read words when arranged this way. That’s why I’ve long appreciated some of the creative I’ve seen in certain advertising campaigns over the years.]

For myself though I simply didn’t feel I was quite that good at it. I figured I needed more. That’s when I did something different. When I devised a demonstration, then added words into the mix, it delivered the meaning of what I meant to say in the fullest measure that I could muster. It may not be prefect yet but, as they say, immediate action blows away meditation any day.

So, if you’re having the same trouble “saying what you mean and meaning what you say” you might like to create a simple demo the next time you need to communicate your idea too.

More power to you.

David is the developer of the H.E.R.O. eMachine
PS: Have you noticed that a lot of personal development methods no longer pack the punch they once did? Could be the times. I went ahead and invented this simple little brain tweak that makes a huge difference in leveraging your efforts for creating a better version of yourself. Want more? Check out my FREE webinar here.

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