Creativity Is Doing What You Want

I think there are 2 main parts to being creative.

1. Doing
2. What You Want

Doing

If you look at all the creative people throughout history you will notice that a they produced like mad. They were always DOING something because without doing your creativity will never show.

If you look at Beethoven you will probably remember him for his more popular music like "Moonlight Sonata" or "Fur Elise" but what most people overlook is that he wrote countless other pieces that never got as much attention. While he did have many breathtaking pieces, the reality remains that the majority of his work was closer to mediocre. Some of his songs were okay, some not so good, others brilliant. The point here is that he was always producing.

Part of being creative is just getting something out there. Not everything will be killer, but the more shots you take the greater accuracy you will have and the better your shots will be.

What You Want

The other part to being creative is doing what you want. It should be something that is personal to you and something you enjoy. Creativity should not be a rote task. For if you were simply "doing" without enjoying it you would just be working a boring 9-5 job or perhaps mowing a lawn - something that doesn't have the enjoyment aspect (in most cases anyway).

But as soon as you add the enjoyment aspect to doing you are now being creative. It is this personal fulfillment that drives creativity. This is why some people are able to work the same job as another person but do way better at it - it's because one person may want to be doing the job while another may not. The person who enjoys their job is actively being creative because they are doing something and having a blast the whole time. Since it's what they want, their ideas are flowing and they are turning these ideas into something tangible.

If somebody is doing something they don't want to be doing it is usually rushed, done sloppy and of low quality. The person doing the task had no sense of involvement or connection to the work and as a result it shows. Again, this is why so many people hate their job - they are not doing what they want to be doing. They are not being creative and have no sense of attachment. If you want to be creative it is important to enjoy whatever it is you're doing.

Conclusion

The balance of both doing and enjoyment are 2 important parts of creativity. For what good is doing if you don't enjoy it? And what good is enjoyment if you aren't doing it? By not doing what you want you're not expressing your creativity. It can't really be creative until it is put into a tangible form. If it just sits in your head it's just an idea, which is fine, but to be creative people need to know it.

Beethoven didn't just sit around with ideas in his head all day, he put them into something physical. George Lucas didn't sit with Star Wars in his head, he made it a physical reality for people to experience. This goes for any creative person.

It's all about doing something you love, finding that passion and doing it. That's where our true magic lies.