When we receive feedback from others regarding our creative projects, we can be tempted to morph our creativity into the mold of those willing to listen to us. It’s natural to want to be accepted by others, but if we find ourselves trying to create what other people want rather than what we want, our works become less creative and more carbon-copied.
Last week, I was chatting with a client who finds himself fighting between creating content generated by his own excitement and content generated by the top searches of his ideal client. This is a typical struggle for any creative who puts their work out on display (or even wants to put their work out there). My client pointed out that the popular directors he admired stumbled upon success. In other words, they probably couldn’t have guessed which videos they shared would receive a huge following. Yes, you can be strategic with your content creation, but there is no definitive way to know how others will receive your work until it is already out there.
Any feedback, whether uplifting or not, can tempt us to shift our perspective on our creative purposes.
Just because we know what our audience wants, doesn’t mean that we have to lose sight of what we want.
My business coach instructed me to create content based upon what I enjoy writing about and sharing with others. My passions will keep me fueled for what I’m doing. I cannot rely on the desires of other people especially when over time my audience will change.
Trying to adapt our purpose to the passions of others can lead to frustration, burnout, and boredom. At worst, it may lead us to losing ourselves.
As kids, we appreciated the process more than the result. But somewhere along the way, we received praise for the end result and not the measures it took to get there. Few people are curious about the circumstances and resources it takes to make something beautiful.
More often than not, people praise the product over the process.
With creativity if we focus too much on trying to make something happen a certain way, it may feel like we are trying to make the impossible possible through our forceful efforts. It’s about trusting our intuition rather than overthinking it.
Free yourself of the idea that things “have to be a certain way.” This thought encourages us to think only one way which may inhibit the creativity we are in fact looking for.
I encourage you to go back and think about where your creative journey began. The motivations and inspirations that sparked a creative hope inside of you.
How do I create for myself?
- Go back to why you love creating in the first place. Let this be your guide. Your passion. Why do you love singing, acting, or filming? Is it to reach the end of the song or performance? Or is it because you enjoy the act of what you are doing?
- Notice if and when #1 shifted to a different purpose (i.e. new purpose: getting others to praise our work in the comments, etc. )
- Create focus times for creating freely without boundaries. Like a kid with no agenda! Remember what this feels like.
- Decide what you believe about your work and why before others have an opinion about it.
- When you get feedback from others, use a net.
When you make your work public, keep what’s helpful for you and filter out what’s draining for you. Hurtful feedback can be easier to believe because they may reinforce insecurities we already believe about ourselves. On the other hand, we may only expect to receive responses that make us feel good when we could benefit from constructive feedback.
At the end of the day, creating out of your inspiration and purpose will be more fulfilling and fruitful than attempting to ride and tame the beast of the algorithm.
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