10 Principles for Living More Creatively
10 Ways to Unlock Your Creativity from Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act
Creativity isn’t reserved for artists.
It’s a way of living, noticing, and expressing.
These principles will help you become more creative.
1. Take care of yourself first
“The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable.” — Robert Henri
It’s hard to have the mental clarity and energy to create unless you’re taking care of yourself first.
No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you. And through you, the universe that surrounds us all comes into focus.
If you’re not up to it, no one else can do it. Only you can. You’re the only one with your voice.
The way we do anything is the way we do everything. Treat each choice you make, each action you take, each word you speak with skillful care. The goal is to live your life in the service of art.
Good habits create good art.
2. Create space in your life
Create an open space to allow creative energy. A space so free of the normal overpacked condition of our minds that it functions as a vacuum.
Stop scrolling, stop responding, and just be.
Interference may also come from the voices within. The ones in your head that murmur you’re not talented enough, your idea isn’t good enough, art isn’t a worthwhile investment of your time, the result won’t be well-received, you’re a failure if the creation isn’t successful. It’s helpful to turn those voices down so you can hear the chimes of the cosmic clock ring, reminding you it’s time. Your time to participate.
Boosting our receptivity may require a relaxing of effort. If we’re trying to solve a problem, trying can get in the way. Splashing in a pond stirs up clouds of dirt in the clear water. In relaxing the mind, we may have greater clarity to hear the whisper when it comes.
What noise would you like to block out tomorrow or this week?
3. Have a beginner’s mind
As children, we accept new information with delight instead of making comparisons to what we already believe; we live in the moment rather than worrying about future consequences; we are spontaneous more than analytical; we are curious, not jaded.
Practicing a way of being that allows you to see the world through uncorrupted, innocent eyes can free you to act in concert with the universe’s timetable.
Any label you assume before sitting down to create, even one as foundational as sculptor, rapper, author, or entrepreneur, could be doing more harm than good. Strip away the labels. Now, how do you see the world?
To see what no human has seen before, to know what no human has known before, to create as no human has created before, it may be necessary to see as if through eyes that have never seen, know through a mind that has never thought, create with hands that have never been trained. This is beginner’s mind, one of the most difficult states of being to dwell in for an artist, precisely because it involves letting go of what our experiences have taught us. A beginner’s mind starts from a pure childlike place of not knowing. Living in the moment with as few fixed beliefs as possible.
What fixed beliefs are holding you back?
4. Cultivate faith
Faith allows you to trust the direction without needing to understand it.
Rarely, if ever, do we know the grand intention, yet if we surrender to the creative impulse, our singular piece of the puzzle takes its proper shape.
We can’t force greatness to happen. All we can do is invite it in and await it actively. Not anxiously, as this might scare it off. Simply in a state of continual welcoming.
Just continue to show up and trust the process.
The work reveals itself as you go.
5. Widen your awareness
Widening one’s scope allows for more moments of interest to be noticed and collected, building a treasury of material to draw from later.
Regardless of how much we pay attention, the information we seek is out there. If we’re aware, we get to tune in to more of it. If we’re less aware, we miss it.
Listening without prejudice is how we grow and learn as people. More often than not, there are no right answers, just different perspectives. The more perspectives we can learn to see, the greater our understanding becomes.
When a collaborator’s feedback or method seems questionable and conflicts with your default setting, reframe this as an exciting opportunity. Do all you can to see from their perspective and understand their point of view, instead of defending your own. In addition to solving the problem at hand, you may uncover something new about yourself and become aware of the limits boxing you in.
Inspiration is all around us.
6. Fully accept yourself
If we were machine-like, the art wouldn’t resonate. It would be soulless. With life comes pain, insecurity, and fear. We’re all different and we’re all imperfect, and the imperfections are what make each of us and our work interesting. We create pieces reflective of who we are, and if insecurity is part of who we are, then our work will have a greater degree of truth in it as a result.
The reason to make art is to innovate and self-express, show something new, share what’s inside, and communicate your singular perspective.
You are unique and will create beautiful art in the world.
7. Have fun
We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to play. And playing is fun.
Seriousness saddles the work with a burden. It misses the playful side of being human.
What do you enjoy doing, and how can you make it more creative?
8. Reduce decisions
Put the decision-making into the work, not into when to work. The more you reduce your daily life-maintenance tasks, the greater the bandwidth available for creative decisions.
Making great art may not always require great effort, but without it, you’ll never know. If inspiration calls, we ride the lightning until the energy is exhausted. If inspiration does not come to lead the way, we show up anyway.
Decide once when you have time to work and continue to show up.
9. Stay open
Being open to possibilities gets you to a place you want to go that you may not know you wanted to get to.
One way is through letting go of control. Release all expectations about what the work will be. Approach the process with humility and the unexpected will visit more often. Many of us are taught to create through sheer will. If we choose to surrender, the ideas that want to come through us will not be blocked.
Find a clue, follow a lead, remain unattached to what came before. And avoid getting stuck with a decision you made five minutes ago.
Living in discovery is at all times preferable to living through assumptions.
What’s one area of your life that would improve with more open-mindedness?
10. Create what makes you happy
Our calling is to make beautiful works to the best of our ability.
If we second-guess our inner knowing to attempt to predict what others may like, our best work will never appear.
Most variables are completely out of our control. The only ones we can control are doing our best work; sharing it, starting the next, and not looking back.
Whether it took months or minutes does not matter. Quality isn’t based on the amount of time invested. So long as what emerges is pleasing to us, the work has fulfilled its purpose.
The best work is the work you are excited about.
What would make you happy to create?
