Don’t Think Outside The Box. Create The Box.

Freedom doesn’t make it easier to create — constraints do.

If I handed you a blank piece of paper and asked you to draw something, what would you draw?

How long would it take to decide?

How much would you worry if you had drawn the “right” thing or that what you chose was good enough?

Now, imagine an alternate scenario.

I hand you a piece of paper and say, “Draw a table.”

How much more quickly would you start to draw?

How much more confident would you be in what you created?

One more scenario: What if I hand you a piece of paper and say, “Draw a table using a red pen.”

Each scenario requires you to create something and there are infinite creations that would match the request.

But the more details I give you — the more constraints — the easier and less stressful it becomes for you to create.

You’re more likely to struggle when asked to draw something than when asked to draw something specific.

That’s because freedom doesn’t make it easier to create — constraints do.