Mental ON Mental Toughness. This is your Creative Charter.
“We see the world not as it is, but as we are.”
— Dr. Steven Covey
Dr. Covey was right: we see the world as we are, not as it is. We cannot help but bring our own perspective, our own biases, to our worldview. It is simply how we are. I may look at the world and see a friendly place. You may look at the world and see an unfriendly place.
So much of this has to do with our attitude, our outlook on life. Which is it most in general? Positive or negative? Powerfully, it doesn’t have to do with what happens to you. Bad things happen to all people, and yet some of us are still positive on the world. Are you?
The world is a complex place, far too complex for the nightly news to give you a fair shake or perspective on it. The nightly news can only give you a view on what it thinks are the day’s salient stories, you know, the salacious ones. Salacious stories account for a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the world. They are not an accurate representation of the world. No. Great, wonderful things happened in the world today, but you will not hear about them on the nightly news. This is not the world as it is, but as the producers of the nighty news are. These are two entities that are so far apart that to think that one can describe the other is laughable.
We create for our people. We create to make the world better.
As Creators, we create for our people. We’re here to make the world a better place. We’re here to help. We’re here to make people and things better than we found them. We’re here to leave a positive legacy. If any of us destroy, we’re only doing so to make the next thing even better than the previous. We’re not destroying just to destroy — we’re doing it to make things better for everyone.
Our worldview has a big impact upon our work. It colors our output. We cannot help ourselves because how we view the world shines like bright lights between the lines we write. (The keen, intuitive reader can see my own worldview between these lines right now.) It isn’t a mystery. We all possess powers of intuition. Some are simply more honed than others. I whittle away at mine each day. It makes you sharper.
Our worldview is a choice. We pick it. We choose to express it.
Like our creative work, our worldview is a choice. We choose the things we see, acknowledge, hear, and allow in. Those positives among us do not deny that bad things happen in the world. We just pick to not focus exclusively on them, especially not at the high cost of avoiding the positive things entirely. Why would you do that, you know, like the nightly news? We choose our worldview as much as we choose what to create today. We possess that power. Don’t give it away to someone else. Don’t give away that power.
Make things better. This is the Creative Charter.
Marketing Wizard Seth Godin says that the best way to complain is to make things better. And that is precisely why we are here: to make things better for others, to improve conditions, to create new realities for our people, to get after creating a compelling future. This is the Creative Charter. This is who we are. We are not in this only for ourselves. No. We’re in this for our people. We do this /for them/. For our fans. For our patrons.
I use the Creative Hammer as a metaphor: only those who are in it for their fans, for their people, earn the right to use the Creative Hammer. If you’re only doing this for yourself, for selfish reasons, then the Creative Hammer lies dormant for you, unusable. It can only be used for the good of others. This ensures it stays in the proper, creative hands. And so here we are: for what reasons are you creating today? Out of glory to self or out of obligation to your people? Who needs you on your ‘A’ Game more? You or your people? Your friends? Your family? Yes, we draw power from the self. But we really draw power from others for we will do more for others than we will for ourselves. Think about who needs you and what you create right now. Who is tuning in to see what you’ll do next?
Creativity as Philosophy
The point is not to make creating easier. The point is to keep after the creative discipline. After all, Creativity is far more a philosophy, a way of life, a way of seeing, then it is one or two actions. It is an approach to all daily encounters and problems. It is seeing with fresh eyes again and again. And to do that takes discipline, strength, energy and renewal. If we’re disciplined, strong, energetic and refreshed, we can make anything better. We can make awesome things from scratch, just like pulling things out of thin air. That is positive, creative energy. We are far more gifted and talented and creative than we think when we get out of our own way and GO!
This is not one and done. It never was. No. This is create every day. This is work it to 80 to 90% and release to your people to gather feedback. This is making the thing even better than it was originally. This is taking another idea, working it, honing it, massaging it and then re-releasing it. This is creating v2.0. Then, creating V3.0. Then, really being proud of what we’ve done and what we have given to the world for we have made things better for our people, for those we seek to serve. We should be proud because this is exactly why we’re here. We are in complete, 100% 💯 alignment with our Creative Charter. This is why it feels so right, so true. And why we get after it again tomorrow. There is never a need to wait. GO. Now.
#ThereIsNeverANeedToWaitGo
#CreativeCharter
#CreativityAsPhilosophy
#CreativityAsAWayofLife
#WeSeeTheWorldAsWeAre
