The most attractive people in the world are the finishers. The people who finish projects, complete thoughts, execute plans, fully develop ideas, play the last chord, end fights, and close chapters. They do it in spite of ugliness and imperfection because they know that’s the starting point for greatness.
They are so rare.
Think of the flip side. For example, the guy who picks up a guitar and plays a few chords of your favorite song then trails off and says, “I didn’t learn the whole thing.” Or when you find a fascinating blog post that promises a 5-part series and only two were written.
People are drawn to the finishers because they are different. They use their imagination and abilities to gift creations to the world.
A few decades ago, you created things because you were bored. Today, because you have so many things to entertain yourself, creation has become a forgotten answer to your boredom.
It’s not technology’s fault, either. It is inertia and social pressure. Technology has given us both new ways to entertain ourselves and new ways to create and share. Most of us are just choosing the former.
How often do you see posts about “binge-watching” a tv series instead of learning to paint or writing a story?
As a society, we only value right now sex appeal. We don’t care about the process, we just want the end result.
Much of the illegitimate suffering is caused by the lack of active creation in one’s life.
“Creation leads you to the best things in life, consumption just kind of fills the gaps in between.” — Jason Zook
Humans are born as creators. The entire world of a child is a creative, playful process. It is a means of expression and self-discovery. Children consider creation as normal behavior — because it is.
But at some point in life, we look up to adults and question, “Hey, why aren’t you building or creating anything?” An honest answer to the question is a damning indictment to our society. The answer is usually, “Well, because I am not very good.” or “I’m worried about what other people will think.”
Society destroys child-like imagination and creation because of our own fear and insecurity to fit in. What could be if we held onto the mindset of creation as playful fun?
I’m not saying its easy. It’s hard to create something new and unique. It requires thinking, creativity, inspiration, determination, and a whole lot of work!
There are four reasons why creating something new is so difficult. If you become aware of them, it will be a little less frustrating next time you try. I have discovered these during the last two years of self exploration in entrepreneurship, music, art, and writing.
1 —Weak Creative Muscles
The creative process is like working out. It is a group of mental muscles that need to be worked in order to get better and stronger.
In weight lifting, proper form requires a full range of motion. If you are doing chin ups and raise your chin only half way to the bar, you are not going to improve. The only way you will improve is by completing the full process over and over. As you start to explore your talents and figure out what you want to create, it can be frightening because it’s unfamiliar territory. Luckily, there is no right or wrong way, it’s just about creating things that you enjoy.
2 — Know Your Enemy: Self doubt
There is a cycle that affects creators. It goes something like this –
When that spark of inspiration strikes and you have the outline of a great work shining in your mind, it’s easy to start working. Writing an outline and planning the creative process is easy because the idea is still living in your mind. Pulling it from your mind and manifesting it in the physical world is the hardest part.
Every project has a proverbial fork in the road. The fork is self-doubt and questions of, “Is this worth it?” and “Will anyone even care that I made this?”
You have to fight those toxic thoughts and remember that it may not be pretty, but you need to keep going so you can learn and get better.
3 — Comparing Yourself to Others
Think about the first time you played a sport, the first time you practiced an instrument, or the first time you talked to a crush. You probably sucked at it. Relative to the others firsttimers you may have been good, but compared to those with experience, there was a significant difference.
It’s human nature, but you have to fight this urge. When you are a beginner at anything, you should only be compared to yourself.
You hear a world-class musician, you read a poet laureate, you use award winning software, or watch a professional athlete and think, “Wow, they make it look so easy.” Believe it or not, at some point in their life, they too were beginners. What made them great are the countless hours of failing and trying again until they got the results they wanted.
To live a unique life in which you follow your own star, you can only compare to your previous days work.
4 — Becoming a Finisher
There is a Pareto distribution that affects the creative process. The first 80% of the work is easy compared to the final 20%.
The polishing, editing, and finalizing of any project is going to be frustrating because it is often a process of subtraction instead of addition. So instead of thinking you’re almost done when the bulk of the article is written, learn to expect the hardest part at the end. It is the most important part of the process.
You don’t know the joy and fulfillment that comes from completing the process until you do it at least once. Next time you get that spark of inspiration, I encourage you to take it seriously and try to create something with it. Remember that humans are born creators. Flex those mental muscles and in time it will be a bit easier to complete those projects.