Think about how many books are published each year. How many tweets and posts are published every day. How many films you can instantly download from Netflix. How many songs you can instantly play on Spotify. How many products you can buy on Amazon.
Create before you consume.
This is my new mantra. Before scrolling social media, placing my next online order, or consuming someone else’s content, I’m actively making space to create something of my own.
Psychologists Beghetto and Kaufman suggest there are four types of creativity. The first is ‘mini-c’, where you have an insight that is personally meaningful to you. The second is ‘little-c’, which is everyday creativity recognised by other people. The third is ‘Pro-c’ where deliberate practice has improved your creativity to a point where you are considered a professional or expert creative. And if you create a lasting legacy after your death, you’ll have achieved the fourth type, ‘Big-C’, which is eminent creativity.
By creating before we consume, we can get meaningful personal insights. ‘Mini-c’ processes, like journaling or meditation, can be genuinely life enhancing. And if we nurture these mini creative habits, then the same practices can improve our creativity in our work. Little habits can make a professional creative.