42 of My Best Creativity Tips

Last week, I gave a presentation on 42 Quick Creativity Tips. It’s the distillation of everything I’ve learned about overcoming The Resistance and making your art.

The slides include original art that I made in GoodNotes. If you want to download the slides, you can do so here.

I don’t have a public recording of my talk, but I’m thinking I’ll turn this into a video at some point. Until I do, just for newsletter subscribers, here’s the TL;DR from my hour-long presentation.

  1. You will be bad at the beginning. That’s ok. Everyone has to start somewhere. (Download the slide deck to see how bad my first sketchnote was!)
  2. You will get better. Stick with it long enough and progress is guaranteed.
  3. Quantity produces quality. The people who make great art aren’t the ones who were born with the most natural talent – they are the people who shipped enough bad art that it eventually became great.
  4. Steal like an artist. Don’t deny your influences. Just keep making your art.
  5. Create every day. Show up every day whether you feel like it or not. Consistency is key.
  6. Never skip the cultivate phase. In the previous newsletter, I shared about my creative process. The Cultivate phase is my secret weapon. Don’t skip developing an idea, no matter how great you think it is at first.
  7. Start where you are with what you have. A domino can knock over another one that is up to 50% larger. This video illustrates the power small actions can have.
  8. Teach what you know. What’s obvious to you isn’t obvious to someone else. Create for you from 2 years ago.
  9. Embrace constraints. There are only 12 notes in music, but the constraints are what allows great musicians to jam together and make something magical together.
  10. Connect the dots. Creativity is a formula. If you want to improve the quality of the output, collect better dots.
  11. Be a river, not a reservoir. A river has an input and an output. If there’s no output to your Personal Knowledge Management system, it becomes a reservoir (and an unattended reservoir eventually becomes a cesspool).
  12. Creativity is an action, not a feeling. You likely won’t feel like creating – do it anyway! Creators are creators because they create, not because they feel like creating.
  13. Slay your dragons. Everyone faces The Resistance. And it’s always bigger in your head than in reality.
  14. Face your fear. Fear doesn’t have to paralyze you! I still face fear every time I create something.
  15. Go deeper. Don’t settle for a surface-level revelation. Dig deeper until you find the really good stuff, then make your art.
  16. Make noise, listen for signal. Create a bunch of stuff, then see what resonates. You never know what will land with your audience.
  17. Your vibe attracts your tribe. Consider who you’re creating for, and be authentic. people can always tell when you’re faking it.
  18. Get in nature. You will think more creatively if you get around some trees or some water. I don’t know why, but it works.
  19. You need a direction, not a plan. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just need to know which way to go next.
  20. You are not your art. Your art is simply a snapshot of how you were thinking at a certain point in time.
  21. Get a different perspective. It can be helpful to look at things from a different point of view.
  22. Slow down. When you give your brain time to think, it’s actually pretty brilliant at coming up with new ideas.
  23. Look for the impasse. Disconnect when you’re stuck and you’ll be surprised how the solutions present themselves.
  24. Consider your inputs. If you want good output, you need good inputs. Garbage in, garbage out.
  25. Everything is a remix. The act of mashing up old stuff into something new is creating.
  26. We are all impostors. Everyone deals with Imposter Syndrome. The only people who don’t are the ones who don’t make anything.
  27. Just ship it. Don’t wait until things are perfect. Just get it out there.
  28. Find your hour. Find one hour per day to make your art. Doesn’t matter when it is. Just get it on your calendar.
  29. Question everything. Boldly go where your brain has not gone before. Ask the tough questions, no matter how absurd they may seem.
  30. Avoid the crazymakers. Crazymakers are people who will try to keep you from creating (other creatives who are stuck are some of the worst crazymakers out there).
  31. Share your story. Share your struggles. Don’t discount your victories. No one can argue with your story.
  32. Some people will dislike you. If you get people to hate what you’re doing, it often means you’re on the right track.
  33. Your true fans will love you. Stronger negative reactions mean stronger positive ones as well. Be okay not being for everyone.
  34. Look for different ways to package your ideas. You can make a whole creative career out of a single good idea presented in different ways for different audiences.
  35. Embrace the power of analog. Pen and paper force you to slow down and think.
  36. Trust the process. Don’t try to jump to the end. Be patient. Stay the course.
  37. Don’t be a jerk. Success is not a zero-sum game. You don’t need to steal someone else’s joy in order to win.
  38. Play. Stay curious. Hold things lightly and have fun with them.
  39. You don’t have to go pro. Just because someone else made a career of doing their art full-time doesn’t mean you have to. The plan is different for each one of us.
  40. Follow your path. Don’t try to be someone else. Figure out what your story is and live it well.
  41. You don’t have to pick just one thing. You don’t have to burn the boats. Figure out the right mix for you and make what you want.
  42. Avoid comparison at all costs. You can’t do what someone else does the same way they do it. If you try, you’ll fail and feel disingenuous. Just make your thing and don’t worry about anyone else.

If you find this helpful, please feel free to pass this along to someone who needs a little encouragement.

Until next time,

— Mike

Recent podcast episodes

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​Bookworm Episode #149: Love + Work by Marcus Buckingham​

Joe & I consider the role of love through creativity, collaboration, and excellence in the workplace and beyond.

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​The Intentional Family Episode #61: Little Foxes​

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