Your creative identity
#73 - Jul.2023
We tend to fix our creative identity on tools and successes from the past. But as our context change, so our tools and skills. Creativity is not something that you fully master, but a constant practice of curiosity.
A fixed mindset toward creativity constrains our ability to embrace change. Things that worked before might not work today. And while failure might hurt your creative ego, it can also open the door to new possibilities.
Applying a growth mindset to your creative work means acknowledging that curiosity is your best tool. Mastering a new domain or solving a new problem becomes a matter of practice, dive deep and consistency. Is being open to be wrong, regardless of your ego, and having the bias to bring the (hard) questions to the table.
Is less about your professional adjectives (tags: designer, strategist, innovator,…) and more about the actions you own (verbs: probing, asking, listening, studying, exploring,…).
Things you can consider to bring this mindset into your creative work:
- Understand that failure is also a path for creating something meaningful
- You can develop any new skills through persistent practice
- Embrace criticism as a proxy for learning
- Praise the effort, not your identity tags
- Ask ‘why’ not just when you fail but also when you succeed
