😞 “I guess I’m just not creative”

“I guess I’m just not creative.”

That’s actually what I used to believe. I’ve even said it out loud on several occasions.

Honestly, it sounds a little ridiculous now as someone who makes a living creating 😂

But before I had 3 podcasts and a YouTube channel I used to believe (like many people) that creativity is a talent you’re born with. I believed (wrongly!) that you’re either born creative or not.

The truth is that everyone is creative. And the act of creating is a simple formula.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an artist, a writer, an engineer, or an accountant.

You are creative!

Maybe you’ve forgotten how to be, but the ability is still there. As Hugh MacLeod said:

And once you understand how creativity works, it becomes easier to ask for your crayons back.

What is creativity really?

Creativity is not a sudden flash of inspiration.

It’s not making something out of nothing — it’s simply combining bits and pieces of things that already exist into something new.

This sounds simple, but this basic revelation was the single thing that freed me to truly express my creativity. And I’ve seen it have the same effect on countless others as well.

You see, when I was in college I liked to write songs. But then I would be out with my friends and I’d hear a song on the radio and realize that I’d ripped off a melody line or chord progression from something that already existed.

Then the shame spiral would begin. I would beat myself up for thinking that I had actually created something new when I had unknowingly been influenced by something I had listened to previously.

That’s what led me to say (and believe) “I guess I’m just not creative.”

But then I read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon and I realized that creativity is simply connecting dots in ways that they haven’t been connected before.

If you want to be more creative, you just need to collect better dots.

So that’s exactly what I started doing.

I started reading more books (I got them from the library before I could afford to buy them myself), and I noticed that I started to have more and better ideas. And those ideas became the seeds of the things I ended up creating.

I didn’t quite understand how it worked, but I knew that if I focused on the inputs, the output became easy.

It wasn’t until years later that I started getting curious as to how this system actually worked and I came across the concept of The Creativity Flywheel.

The Creativity Flywheel: A System for Making Creativity Effortless

The act of creating I believe is very much like a flywheel. Once put into motion, the flywheel creates momentum that can be used to make the act of creating easier.

The hardest part is getting it started. But that becomes a lot easier when you understand how all the parts work together.

There are 5 distinct stages in The Creativity Flywheel. I call these “The 5 C’s of Creativity.”

The Creativity Flywheel

The first stage in The Creativity Flywheel is the Capture stage. This part is pretty easy, you just need to pay attention and capture what has your attention (or what “resonates”). At this stage, you’re not really worried about figuring out what things are — you’re just looking for anything that might be useful.

The second stage is the Curate stage. This is where you look at the things that you’ve captured and selectively add things to your idea development greenhouse (which is the place where you develop your ideas). For me this is Obsidian, but the key here is to only keep the really good stuff.

The third stage is the Cultivate stage. This is where we develop our ideas to see what they really are. I firmly believe you don’t know what an idea is when you have it. It’s just a seed, and if you want to make the most of it you need to give the right conditions for it to mature.

The fourth stage is the Connect stage. This is where you connect the ideas to others, very much like the syntopical reading I shared in a previous newsletter where you consider books in relation to one another. The goal is to look for the connections that aren’t obvious (and why I love connected notes apps like Obsidian).

The fifth stage is the Create stage. This is where there’s an output from the ideas you’ve collected, whether that’s a blog post, podcast, or simply an opinion note where you codify your thoughts on a topic. It doesn’t matter what the format is, the important thing is that there’s an output.

Once the output is created, it usually creates a curiosity for something else (which is then used in the Capture phase to find new and interesting material for the next time). Once you get even a little bit of momentum, it becomes easier and easier to keep the flywheel turning.

Free PKM Webinar: How to Use Obsidian to Create Consistently & Effortlessly

If you want to get your creativity flywheel turning, I’m actually hosting a free TOMORROW where I’ll dive deep into the 5 stages of The Creativity Flywheel. In this 1-hour webinar, I’ll share how you can:

• Never run out of ideas by developing a system for creating consistently and effortlessly
• Get your PKM system to actively surface ideas instead of having to go hunt for them
• Think better and more creatively (even if you don’t think you are creative) so you can do better work
• Create a practical and sustainable information workflow that sparks inspiration and curiosity

So if you:

• Want to create more but have trouble coming up with and developing ideas
• Don’t consider yourself creative but always wished you were
• Don’t have a consistent system for handling everything that comes your way
• Battle FOMO even though you consume a lot of information (but don’t actually do anything with it)

Then this free workshop is for you!

Learn how to build a PKM stack you can trust and watch how it can unlock your creative potential.

Make sure to ​RSVP here​ and save your spot!

Something Cool: The Productivity Field Guide

My Focused co-host David Sparks has just released his Productivity Field Guide. He’s been talking to me about this one for several years, and I know how hard he’s worked on it. He also gave me early access so we could talk about it on the Focused podcast that will be released tomorrow, and I think he did an incredible job on this one by combining ancient philosophy (David leans heavily on the idea of Arete which is defined as “moral virtue”) and practical productivity techniques to help you do more of what really matters.

The thing I love about David’s approach is how intentional it is. As we talk about often on the Focused podcast, productivity is more than just cranking widgets. It’s not about how much you get done. So if you want the latest tips and tactics to help you save an hour a day for the rest of your life, this isn’t for you. You’re not going to learn how to use the Pomodoro Method to crush your goals. But you will be challenged to think deeply about what you really want out of life and David will help you build systems that will support you in the pursuit of those ideals.

There’s a Standard Version available for $49 which includes the course and a Plus Version for $99 that adds a 12+ webinar series. MacSparky’s webinars are always top-notch, so if you’re interested but unsure about which one to go for I’d lean towards the Plus Version.

Book Notes: Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal

I just finished reading Feel Good Productivity by YouTuber-turned-author Ali Abdaal. To be honest, I was a little skeptical when I started this one… I don’t really agree with the premise of just doing what you love (what Cal Newport calls “The Passion Mindset”), but fortunately, that’s not really what Ali is advocating for here. Instead, you get a comprehensive toolkit with a bunch of productivity “experiments” you can try out for yourself to see what really works for you.

I’ll be covering this one soon for Bookworm, but for now, just know that I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. 😉

My mind map from Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal

And if you want to download my notes for yourself, click this link.

— Mike

P.S. My 4-week Practical PKM cohort kicks off 1 week from today! If you want some help building a PKM system that helps you be more productive and creative by living and working in alignment with your vision and values, this is for you. I’ll make a formal announcement later this week, but if you’re curious, you can click here for the details.