Motivated to be Creative…?
This morning I was asked, “How do you get motivated to be creative?”
I responded, “I don’t need to be motivated to be creative, I have to be motivated if I am not allowed to be creative”
If I am forced to do something by rote, something where you have to follow prescribed steps, a task that is already designed and the input required is so narrow that you are not able to deviate, if I have to follow a rigid script… then I NEED to be motivated to do it.
But… if I am allowed to think, to be curious, to uncover and discover, to be challenged or stretched, to make connections and design something new… then I am All-In.
Sometimes we all need motivation to get something done, but if we can choose HOW we do it… that is when good things can happen.
It is the difference between forcing and allowing. If we allow ourselves to be creative that is how we can stay motivated.
Deadlines are useful and can be a great source of inspiration, but so can budgets or time, space or capacity restrictions. Constraints can help fuel our creativity.
In a recent FORBES article I talked about risks and creating a sandbox – use your constraints to create a box. The edges of the box are the boundaries that represent how far we are able to go; what are the various constraints and how much risk are we able to take. If we then treat this box as a sandbox… well… what do you get to do within a sandbox… you get to play.
If you want to stay motivated allow yourself to be creative.
