You will never live up to your creative potentials as long as you continue to think creativity is easy. This is because when you think something is easy, complacency sets in. You start to think you are good enough, and there is nothing to improve upon. Then it becomes hard to do groundbreaking work. This is something talented people struggle with. There is poor work ethic, and without the discipline to engage in productive labour, nothing of massive value is created. You must understand that creativity requires discipline, work ethic, and a commitment to lifelong learning.
The “work ethic” problem is due to the way creativity works. Joey Reiman wrote, “People always ask me, “How do you come up with those wild advertising ideas?” And I always say something very mystical, like I had a flash in the shower or God appeared. The fact is that my brain goes out to play. That’s what creativity is — intelligence having fun”. Creativity is intuitive and not logical. Creative insights come to us, it is hard to actively think and come up with ideas. The ideas usually turn up later on, and on their own. This supports the perception that it is all talent, and there is no need to labour. However, this is not true.
Creative ideas surface when you add knowledge, skills and information to a pure spirit untainted by greed and corruption. Your creative expressions are limited by the scope of your knowledge, skills and available information. When you refuse to put in the work because of perceived talent, you lose. Apostle Paul wrote, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10 ESV). The grace of God requires you to embrace productive labour. If you do not work with the creative grace available to you, it will not amount to anything at the end.
