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6 Ways to Turn Your Average Creative Work to Extraordinary
Your extraordinary work won’t look exactly like anyone else’s
6 Lessons Jimmy Stewart Taught Me About Creativity
Before we get into the creative lessons I learned from the life of Jimmy Stewart, a reminder: When we look at the machine of cinema now, we forget the scrappy, chaotic explosion of innovation from which it came. Consider this: in the first decade …
How to Make Art Which is Truly Unique
She sits across from the music legend, black shirt hanging loosely around her shoulders, hair draped over her chest. It's been 3:22 seconds since either of them have spoken. …
The One Element Which Matters Most in Creative Work
Kate walks on the beach in front of me, her father to her right. I don’t know what, exactly, I am looking for. Something, anything, which shows they share a gene pool— a 6th toe maybe? A flair on the right pinky which had been passed down through …
Motivation for Lonely Creative People
First, a reminder: There is only you. You knew that, didn't you? Or did you assume the creative journey WOULDN'T be a lonely one? To be a creative person is to be with others, alone. Are you the writer, alone with your keyboard typing the …
5 Creative Lessons from Frida Kahlo
Before we get too deep into this, a quick story. A seasoned music teacher once had trouble getting the best out of his students. On a particularly frustrating day, the teacher waved down his class, thrashing his baton about impatiently. After a long …
6 Creative Lessons I Learned from Amy Winehouse
Before I dive into the creative lessons I learned from Amy Winehouse, a quick disclaimer. Every other artist I’ve turned upside down in this series peaked well before Amy had even been born. However, the reason I chose her is not so different from my …
7 Things I Learned About Creativity From T.S. Eliot
T.S. Eliot is considered one of the best writers of our era. But what can he teach us about the creative process? Here are the 7 lessons I took from studying him during the month of June. …
9 Things I Learned from Pablo Picasso
The name “Pablo Picasso” has become synonymous with creativity so much so that the Spanish painter has reach an almost-mythical quality. But what factors play into the master’s genius? And what can we learn from it? 1) Pablo’s self confidence was …
Why Do Creative People Die Early?
Putting out his cigarette, he calmly walked to the edge of the rehab center, climbed over the six foot fence, and flagged down a taxi. “Where to?” the driver asked. “Airport,” an answer came. The cab streamed through the night, a yellow bullet down …
How to Get Your Boss to Accept Your Creative Ideas
We all stood frozen as he spoke: “Oh, I see,” he said. “You think people just get sick randomly.” One-by-one, our college choir conductor pointed his baton at six gaping holes in his ensemble. As he jabbed it toward the gaps, he …
7 Things I Learned About Creativity From Albert Einstein
Before we get too deep, a distinction: Creativity is — solving problems, fashioning products, or defining new questions in a way that is novel. Art is — the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination The Arts are— …
4 Undeniable Rules of Creative Work
The Lady Gaga instrumental crooned as I moved into downward dog. 41 days after a complete mental breakdown, I pulled my tailbone to the sky as the music played. There were no words, but as a not-so-closeted pop fan, I sang them in my …
A Dirty Secret About Creative People
This is something it took me a long time to admit, even to myself. Are you ready? Here it is: All creative people are self-absorbed. We care about what goes on in our heads more than what goes on in “real life.” We would rather look at what …
The Reason You Feel Motivated at Night But Lose It By Morning
It was May in 1930. A man with a fabulous mustache sat upright in his favorite chair, seconds away from dozing off. Just as his head dipped into dream world, the ball bearings plummeted from his hand and onto a metal plate, where the clatter shook …
Die Every Day
In 2008, he was at the height of his life. Great wife? Check Happy? Check Hit musical on Broadway? Check. Yet when President Obama called asking him to perform his choice of songs from the show, Lin Manuel Miranda suggested something …
3 Phases Every Creative Professional Must Go Through
Finding order in chaos is easier than you think. We artists like to think we are wild stallions, free to romp through the world and make our own way. It’s a nice sentiment, but it turns out there’s a structure in every creative career, a path …
Q&A with author Declan Wilson (Plus Book Giveaway!)
(I'm giving away 5 copies of Declan Wilson's new book - The Millennial Way. To get get in the drawing, tweet this.) What I loved most about my short talk with Declan were these two things: …
Fear No Rejection
A Creative cannot live in fear. Period. Oh, and that book I mention in the video? You can check out a free preview of that right here, or go ahead and pre-order the Kindle version while it is still $2.99. -Todd B …