The Three Most Dangerous Creativity Killers
End your creativity killers after finding exactly what they are
Creativity is universal. We all have the potential to create something valuable. This creative “skill”, however, needs to be practiced over and over before it gets visible. For us to get a hang of our creativity, we need to be in direct contact with our craft at all times. But as we all know it, it’s easier said than done. As our life progresses, we “clutter” our lives with several unwanted and unnecessary stuff, which buries our creativity forever.
This article will help you to “unclutter” your life to maximize your creativity.
In the following “case study”, I’ll share my top 3 distractions that have had a negative impact on my creativity. The study will explain exactly how they limited my performance and what steps I took to overcome them.
After reading this post, I would encourage you guys to share your top 3 creativity killers in the responses below and also, how do you plan on getting rid of them. I’ll definitely respond to your comments to help you fight these unwanted distractions.
Let’s jump right in
1) My “ideal self”/ Perfectionist
“I wish I could do that”, “I want myself to do that in the future”, “I need to have that skill”, “I would look so cool if I could do that”…
I wanted to achieve everything. A belief that “building an impressive personality, which will make me valuable in life” was my passion for quite a while. I thought that learning “everything” will make me more employable as it’ll give me an upper hand in any field. Every action I took was directed towards “seeking someone’s approval, attention or praise”.
In reality, I was far away from the truth.
Seeking perfection in one thing is good. But, I was jumping from one project to another, while leaving the previous one incomplete. As you can imagine, my productivity was reduced to an absolute zero. I had this “ideal self-image” that forced me to view every opportunity as “valuable”. A fear that “if I miss this, I’ll be left behind” separated me from my true self and diluted my passion.
I remember taking up “Content Marketing” and shifting towards “Computer Science” then towards “Finance” then to “Boxing” and the list went on. I was trying to seek other’s approval for my success. While trying to stand out of the crowd, I forgot the one true thing that mattered the most; my unique creativity.
I had to learn the hard way. I realized that creating authentic content does nnot require anyone’s approval. It’s a decision that involves discipline, commitment, and hard work. It all starts by deciding what you want to achieve
Since then, I’ve made a decision to not follow any opportunity that does not sync with my end goal. This was the first step that I took to “unclutter” my life.
2. A Repetition of Old Content
When I was just getting started, I was desperate to create valuable content. I bet that a lot of us can relate to this situation. When you’ve got that momentum flowing, the last thing you need is to break it up and stop producing content. But oftentimes, we find it hard to create new content- ideas. In my case, I was looking for a shortcut, which as it sounds, was the worst strategy ever.
Not knowing what to write, I was often forced to recycle an older idea to make it appear as new. I was delivering the same message but was using different words or different pictures. In reality, I was only cheating with myself.
Therefore, I’d like to identify this as my second creativity killer. I found out that recycling makes the content vague and has no value-adding potential in it. By the way, if you do want to “develop” on an old idea, I recommend using the Skyscraper Technique.
True creativity comes with time and dedication. I was being lazy and was re-using my content. As a result, my creativity suffered a significant loss.
3. The Good Old Tele
It's true that TV/Netflix and other forms of media if used unjustly, can lead to severe addiction. This happened in my case, where all my creativity got destroyed by the overuse of Netflix. As mentioned in my previous article, “How to Tackle Distractions Effectively.”
“That one more episode is never the last episode.”
In order to tackle this situation, I read Rory Vaden’s “Permission to Procrastinate”. This book has shown me the way to effectively manage my time and to add significance to my productivity. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get more out of his/her time.
The book has taught me the necessary principles of “multiplying your time”. After applying the strategies of Rory Vaden to my life, I have witnessed an increase in my productivity and a significant decrease in my distractions.
The book has taught me to question how I’m spending my time. Where can I invest my time and how can I use my time to build significance. Read more about the book on Rory’s own website here.
Reducing the amount of television can boost your creativity to new levels. It will give you that free time, where you can develop new ideas and create valuable content.
Question every distraction of yours and think about where else can you spend your time to be more creative.
What are some of the other challenges/distractions that limit your creativity? Feel free to comment below.
Thanks for reading!
