Barriers to Creative Journey

Creativity disrupts the mundane. But what disrupts creativity?

We are all amazingly creative. However, we face a struggle when it comes to meaningful output or value. Most of us are somewhere on the journey, but our path ahead is vague. Understanding the barriers would help us not get stuck or give up.

Let us observe a few.

The barrier of all or nothing

Often we want to do all, so we keep pushing the deadline. With a never-ending list of additions, we give up eventually. We are left with nothing.

Kevin Lee (@kevinleeme) gave an excellent narration on twitter about the journey of Brandon Stanton (@humansofny). Brandon is the iconic human who created Humans of New York (HONY, Photo Journal (humansofnewyork.com).

Kevin quotes:

"Brandon's creative journey reveals a few takeaways. If you feel stuck, stop dwelling on the big picture. Too often we get stuck because we want to accomplish everything and we don't know the right step to take. Instead of focusing on the life arc, focus on one step at a time."

Let us get that crude thing that we built out there. Let us take one step at a time but let's do it every single time.

The barrier of Magnum Opus

We all want to create things that will live beyond our times. Our best work so far. In the effort of doing the best, we keep adding details. And then self-doubt kicks in. Kevin gives another revelation.

"People are paralyzed by the need to make something great. They think, if it's not the best work, it's not worth doing. But my decision to do HONY was just a decision to work on what I loved every single day. You can figure out a way to do what you love to do all day long"

The barrier of being the lone wolf

Fear and anxiety about outcome kicks in day one. We want to keep it low key. We do it alone. What we may need is a companion who can support us, provide valuable feedback, and act as a mentor.

The barrier of Knowledge

Yes, Sometimes, knowing a lot about the subject also means we know a lot about constraints. We are uncomfortable to think outside these constraints. We trade practicality for infeasibility. Free thinking helps capture crazy, impractical ideas but may help connect the dots in a plane. So break free of constraints.