Tag: Creativity

DIY Creative

Limitations allow us to think outside of the box.

Money. Time. Health. Resources.

It would be great to have everything we need. But then we’d have everything we need and would miss out on the opportunity to innovate and think creatively.

And of course, there’s the problem with more. Once you have everything you think you need to start (or do) something, there’s always another thing you could need beyond that.

Being creative is about taking your limits, problems, and setbacks and figuring out a way to make them into advantages.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1161

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Overwatering Your Plants

It’s pretty easy to neglect your plants. All you have to do is never water them, never prune them, put them in the wrong sunlight, and then patiently wait for them to die.

Very hands-off

But the most common killer of house plants 🪴 is not neglect but generosity. We overwater them to death. We give them so much water that their roots start to rot from our kindness.

What in your life are you overwatering?

Your business? Your kids? A million ideas?

Everything from design to health to child-rearing does better with a little space and breathing room.

When I try to pack too much into my schedule, not only do my stress-levels elevate, but the quality of what I’m doing diminishes across the board.

Too much of one thing ends up being the opposite of what we were wanting. Too much exercise or long hours at the office and we burnout. Too many hobbies, friends, todos, ideas and we no longer have room for intentionality.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1160

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Not More, But Few.

A Renaissance Life it’s not about stuffing your life with skills.

Not more, but few.

More skills don’t automatically equal more opportunities.

But a few skills mastered is a powerful thing. Because not only do you have variety at your beck and call, but the ability to combine your expertise in interesting and unique ways.

The combination of skills is a breeding ground for innovative ideas and creative ways to think and express ourselves.

Of course, it takes time to get to a professional level of quality in any one skill. This is the reason why we won’t reach for too many skills and stretch ourselves too thin, and therefore dilute our time.

Our time is the most valuable thing we can give to anyone or anything.

There’s an occurrence in health where we crave food and reach for the chocolate and sweets, but what our body actually wants is water (but is masked by desires for Little Debbie’s and chips).

I think a similar thing happens to our habits. Out of want, we reach for something new and exciting—a new hobby or skill—but what we need is to focus and progress in our current skills, even if that means digging in and doing the hard work.

At least this is what I do and struggle with.

It’s easier to add new things than to finish old ones. But finishing what we start is 5x more rewarding than the excitement of starting something new.

Remember this next time you are tempted to start yet another project or another hobby before you finish the ones in front of you.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1154

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Hodgepodge

There’s an old(ish) game that my friends and I use to play called Katamari Damacy. I think we enjoyed it so much, not because of the gameplay, but because it was such a weird quirky experience (plus the soundtrack is crazy). You are this green elf-looking little dude who’s been tasked by your father, the Kind of the Cosmos, to rebuild the stars (which he accidentally destroyed).

So, you roll this magical sticky ball across various levels, and slowly pick up a hodgepodge of things—staplers, candy, chairs, cats, cars, trees, cows, etc.—until grows big enough to become a star.

I know—it makes perfect sense, right?

I’m bringing it up because it reminds me of a perfect analogy of when we decided to start something new, like a new project or new skill.

At the beginning, we’ve got a clean slate. For example, you want to learn how to design, so you sign up for an online class. You’re super excited about learning something new. Things are simple, innocent, singular.

But as we, our one singular task turns into 2 tasks. 2 turns into 5. 5 tasks leads to 20. And the deeper we go, the more options we have, and things we seem to need to do.

First you learn about what design is, but soon, you realize “design” is actually many many things—space, form, typography, grids, branding, illustration, UI, print, Interior, Product Design… And not to mention all the tools available to you to learn and grow as a designer, such as Illustrator, Figma and Auto CAD.

What often starts a simple quest quickly becomes many smaller quests and potential opportunities we could do.

To me, this is both incredibly exciting and also overwhelming.

The problem of course is not everything can be a priority.

As the saying goes, if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority.

The key is to choose and narrow your focus. And knowing what to choose requires us to take the time to learn about ourselves and figure out what we want to give our time to.

Who am I?

What gets me up in the morning?

What would I love to do, even if I never got paid a dime for it?

What makes me feel alive?

Where are my gifts? How can I use them to help others?

Questions like this will help you get the ball rolling (pun intended).

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1153

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Stop Waiting

There’s this in-between state of creativity when you are just starting out or starting over, where you know where you want to be, but you haven’t quite made it yet.

Having “made it” isn’t the right phrase. There is no making it—well, there is, but there’s always another level, a new place you could be. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

I think of this in-between state like a doctor’s waiting room. We’ve got a stomachache, so here we sit, waiting for the doctor to see us. We know what we need, but we don’t have it yet.

With creativity, we’ve got this desire to do something, to be someone, to go after our dreams, but we don’t know exactly how to make that happen yet. So we sit in the waiting room, but unlike our visit to the doctor’s office, we forget we have to check-in. So we wait on our dreams to come, but our dreams (and the world) don’t know, because we forgot to sign our name and say that we are here.

What do I mean, exactly?

We often wait for our dreams to happen to us, but truly we need to go out and create them ourselves. We do this through practice, through connecting with others, through helping and teaching others.

We stand up and give our names. We declare ourselves a writer, a musician, a dancer, an entrepreneur—or whatever it is you wish to be—and then get up every day and make it happen, inch by inch.

Not by faking it. But by doing and learning and doing and learning, rinse repeat. Slowly. Deliberately. Patiently.

But also desperately. We let our actions and our priority highlight how dedicated we are.

Stop waiting.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1150

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Who Influences the Influencer?

My accent is very uncharacteristic neutral. American, yes, but different from where I’m from.

I grew up in the south, where the southern drawl is so thick you need a machete to cut your way through it. My parents have it. Their parents definitely had some twang going on. But for me, not so much. My best guess why I don’t is TV and film. Growing up with 90s cartoons, and a world slowly coming online gives you a broader perspective of what people sound like across the world.

I was also constantly mimicking voices, so unconsciously I noticed that how people speak is a skill and aesthetics that can be changed.

Lately, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of “influence”. Not influencers, per se, but how we pick up values, personality traits, interests, and lifestyles from people we surround ourselves with.

Do you really like punk rock? Or do you like it because a cool friend from middle school liked it? Does it matter?

Do you really dislike country music or are you just rebelling against your parents?

Does it matter where our influences come from?

It’s a big question to ask, with lots of nuances.

My answer right now is—

Mostly. Absolutely. Probably. Definitely.

I have an old friend who’s never like reading. Ever since I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him talk about a book he’s liked. In school, he would read a book from cover to cover—meaning the front cover and the back cover and nothing in between. I get it, he’s a people guy. He’d rather have a conversation or watch a show then read. And school reading assignments obviously left a bad taste in his mouth. But I love reading! Half of what I know is from books. I can’t imagine who I would be if I wasn’t voraciously passionate about books.

Small things can influence us in a big way. Little decisions that set us on a certain path. It doesn’t take much to push us down a path that leads us to places we don’t want to be. And on the other hand, a random whim or chance encounters can lead to open doors and wonderful opportunities. Friend of a kind of situation. Stumbling into someone at a coffee shop or bar that leads to your life calling. Or—just leads to your next oat milk latte.

There’s certainly a heavy sprinkle of chance when it comes to influencing.

However, that doesn’t me we are helpless to its power.

Instead of thinking of ourselves like a leaf on the wind, aimlessly spinning around, following wherever the wind takes us, think of it like you’re an origami paper airplane. You can cut, follow, and weave through the wind. You can change yourself, and therefore have a hand in where you’re going.

Not the best analogy, but you get the idea.

It comes down to willingness.

Be open to change and possibility. Try things before you judge them or write them off. Curate your influences. Surround yourself with a higher quality of influences. And examine and question why you do what you do.

Are you making a decision out of curiosity or good admirations, or are you doing it everyone around you is?

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1145

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Do Impractical Things

There is a subtle, not-so-subtle ROI from following your curiosity.

The problem is that the benefits aren’t typically immediate.

The joy of discovery and following rabbits (wherever they may go) doesn’t always lead to more impact or money in your wallet.

But chasing after things that lead to more money aren’t sure bets either.

A good product can flob as much as a bad one can, especially if the timing, message, or direction isn’t.

Show me one mega-successful brand in our lives today that was started by founders who weren’t passionate about what they were building. I can’t think of any.

Money, status, impact, mission—these are super important.

But first, we need to lead with curiosity for curiosity’s sake. We need to dive into what we love and get passionate about our craft. We need to get excited about things and do things because we want to, not because we want something else out of them.

Impractical leads to new ideas and expressions of practical.

Because often our passion and curious drive for more/better/faster leads us to bigger ideas with bigger impact.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1139

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Creative Barriers: Finishing (Part 5)

Finishing might be the most challenging stage in the creative process. Not because starting or continuing isn’t difficult (they are) but they’re a walk in the virtual park compared to finishing.

It’s easier to start something than end it.

That’s true with creativity and life in general.

Finishing has stakes. As Seth Godin writes, when you shipping your work, there’s a big chance that it won’t succeed.

Anyone can start (with enthusiasm) a new idea, very few can finish the idea and make it a reality.

The problem is, as time goes on, the works finish line starts to get fuzzy. Feature creep pops up. Not to mention perfection shows up at the party and tries to take over.

Suddenly a solid deadline disappears into the fog of inflated desires and expectations.

As they say in software development—Ship early, ship often. There’s a reason why we set deadlines—to give ourselves the initiative to finish what we start. Otherwise, we’d be tweaking, improving, changing, and adding things ad infinite.

Failure is another big reason why it’s hard to finish things. What if we do all this work and nobody cares? What if we launch our product and it belly-flops?

It’s true that your work might not work. But what does that mean, exactly? A boat-load of money? A nod of approval from your parents? Acclaim and party invites?

If you’re creating something just for the rewards, then you might not be spending your time on the right thing. There’s got to be more than money and fame driving you.

The best part about creativity isn’t the end goal, but the process to get there. Hard work and fun aren’t mutually exclusive. Plenty of people work incredibly hard and have a hell of a fun time doing it too. What’s that look like for you?

And if it fails, it fails. Did you give it you’re all? Did you make the best decisions you could with the information you had? Did you seek out counsel and listen to your gut? Then if it still failed, it wasn’t the right time or the right place.

Part of finishing is knowing when to close an idea and move on to the next thing. That includes moving on from failures and successes.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1127

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Creative Barriers: Continuing (Part 4)

So you’ve started something new. You’ve broken down doors that were keeping you from starting. Now you have to navigate the world of Continuing.

The three main barriers in this stage are:

1. How to stay motivated

2. How to stay focused

3. What to do when you get derailed

But what’s my motivation?

My motivation on any given day looks like a rollercoaster. One day I’m super tired, the next my neck is hurting worse than usual, another day and loved ones seem to be particularly hangry. It’s up and down and ultimately unreliable.

Luckily I don’t rely on motivation to keep me going. I lean on habits and daily practices.

When you start the day knowing you’ve got something to do, no matter what, it’s much easier to get it done—even if you don’t feel like it. Once you get a habit up and running, you expect it.

It’s helpful to expect and plan for rainy days too. Most days won’t be perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend time on your creative pursuits. Even if you occasionally have to get up super early, or stay up a little later, it’s much better than the alternative—not following your dreams. Feeling stuck. Wishing you would do something.

Focus

Staying focused is similar to staying motivated. If you’re not staying focused, then there’s probably a good reason for it. Remember your goals. Visualize why you are doing what you are doing.

I notice I start getting more distracted when I try to do too many things at the same time. When I’m reading 40 books, taking 15 online courses, working on 5 business ideas and 10 creative projects, I’ve obviously taken on too much at once.

Trying to do everything at once is the same as doing nothing.

0One thing at a time.

The key to continuing is **consistency**.

When you look at the work of people you admire, no matter the discipline, one thing that stands out most is their continuous dedication to their craft. You can see it in their output. It’s easy to mistake someone’s huge library of work as instantaneous—as if they pulled a couple of all nighter’s over the weekend and made everything you see. But really what you’re seeing when you’re looking at someone’s successes is little pieces and individual projects added up over time.

It’s like this plus symbol: +

For each creative project we do, we start to accumulate another +

+

++

++

++

…

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Before you know it, you’ve got years of work behind you. Sure some of it you’d rather set on fire than showcase them, but even the flubs and bad work helped push you to a more meaningful and experienced place.

Success stems from consistency. Often we fail because we don’t stick to it long enough to succeed. Not that we have to permanently stick to every habit we try—just the ones we love and find valuable.

Even when we fail and get derailed, as long as we get back up in the saddle we have a chance of success.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1126

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Creative Barriers: Starting (Part 3)

If creativity was like a flight from NYC to Japan, then the barriers we may face before we start our journey are like a preflight check, and the barriers we encounter while we are starting are like roadblocks in our path as roll down the tarmac and pick up speed.

After you’ve made it past the preflight check, now you must navigate the potential obstacles while starting.

The two biggest are:

  1. Sucking.
  2. Expecting it to be easy.

1. Newbie

I tend to pick up things pretty easily (brag). I chalk it up to patience and steady attention.

But not always, not everything. It took me a while before I grokked programming, for example. There were just certain aspects I just couldn’t comprehend until I stuck with it for a while.

We all naturally gravitate towards things we are good at. Nobody likes to bad at something.

When we try something new, we’re more likely than not going to suck at it at first. This is a natural part of learning. Sucking at something doesn’t mean you aren’t passionate about it. It takes time to get good, and even more, time to get really good at something.

So if you suck in the beginning, know that you’re in good company. A naturally talented person may be great at tennis, but be terrible at public speaking. Remember that the next time you get Aced on the court

2. Hard work

Sucking and hard work are why the majority of people who resolve to lose weight in January, end up quitting before the month ends.

It’s not a lack of desire. It’s a false expectations that it will be easy.

Creativity isn’t easy. It’s fun, but it’s still work. Someone has to sit down at the desk and draw. Someone has to pick up the guitar and practice. If not you then who?

It takes a lot of work to be a high-output creative. It takes dedication to pursue something new.

But if we go in with the right mindset and expectations, we can be ready for the work we have to do.

The best solution I know for Starting barriers is—

Commit. If this is something you really want to do, then vow to yourself to stick to it no matter what.

Even if you get sick, or you’re too busy, or if it’s Sunday, or if you don’t feel like it.

Sticking to it is how you’ll succeed.

STAY BOLD, Keep Pursuing,
— Josh Waggoner | Daily Blog #1125

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