The Creative Instinct

Here’s a question to mull over – what happens if your definition of the word success is so difficult to attain that it cripples your ability to achieve it and blinds you to the very real successes that you can (maybe already have) achieved?

The trouble with the word ‘success’ is that we often take its meaning for granted. And the meaning that we unthinkingly accept tends to be narrow, unhelpful and not at all tailored to our individual needs. Carrying such a debilitating definition can be a real pain in the rear. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Enjoying the Small Successes

On my 50^th birthday I set myself a ten year goal - begin learning blues guitar, and either on or before my 60^th birthday to play for an audience. Now you might argue that this is hardly a ‘stretch’ goal: ten years is a long time and merely playing for an audience is hardly shooting for stardom. But it felt right for me then and it does now.

That was 4 years back and I’ve been chipping away at it ever since – learning slowly – no pressure on myself, but enjoying the time I’ve spent. Occasionally I’d feel out of tune with what I was learning and I’d change tack. It was two years before I tried a bottleneck slide and found more satisfaction in a moment than at any time before. I’ve stuck to slide playing ever since.

It seems strange that picking up the guitar at 50 I didn’t have a sense of urgency about learning to play – and I know that my meandering and often unstructured learning process has frustrated those who have taken their music higher levels.

I understand that frustration even though I don’t share it, even though my repertoire remains pretty thin. The process feels like when a child puts their language skills in place. There’s an awful lot going on before they’re ready to speak. It’s unhurried, exploratory and experimental. It’s enjoyable and it’s not forced.

My pace of learning has frustrated me occasionally, but I haven’t let it worry me overly – because there have been other things – projects, challenges, family and friends, that I’ve given precedence to. Despite that I’ve found the time to enjoy some strumming and twanging most days.

What’s this to do with creative success? After all, you could argue I haven’t succeeded in learning guitar over these last 4 years.

Well… I think it’s about defining what success means for you (or in my case, for me). Figuring that out can be the key to finding true meaning, joy and yes… creative success on your own terms.

Defining ‘Success’

The trouble with the word success, as I’ve said at the beginning of this posting, is that we tend to accept a narrow culturally dominant definition. But by narrowing what we think success means, we also inescapably widen our definition of failure.

We tend to pin down success to things like the attainment of wealth, high position and fame. But:

1. only a few people actually achieve it
2. there’s an implication that if you haven’t achieved it you have failed.

Using that reasoning I have failed in everything I’ve ever done. Now there’s a recipe for a life of happiness and contentment. Not!

A Crippling Definition of Success

While ever we use the dominant, narrow definition of success we are doomed to feelings of failure and lack of self-worth if we aren’t achieving it, and anxiety if we are (for fear that we will lose our success and therefore become a failure again).

I’m not suggesting, by the way, that going for fame, fortune and position is wrong – just that it needs to be a part of each individuals personal definition of success.

If it’s the only way you can feel validated as a worthwhile person then you may wish to redefine success as something less damaging. And it wouldn’t hurt to do some work on your self esteem too.

Find Other Definitions

In my trusty dictionary (Oxford Compact) there are two other definitions. They are as liberating as the definition above is constricting.

1. The accomplishment of an aim: a favourable outcome
2. A thing or person that turns out well.

Now we’re talking success.

Start thinking about the people around you who are happy, content, fulfilled, yet don’t conform to the usual definitions of what it means to be successful.

Aging Rockers

One example that prompted me to think about this topic was the 70s rock band Wishbone Ash. Somehow I never got to see them at their peak, but I finally caught them last week at The Boardwalk in Sheffield.

There’s only one original member left in Andy Powell, but the performance was all Wishbone Ash – astonishing virtuosity and professionalism and stunningly beautiful guitar rock. Ash’s trademark is to have two lead guitars playing different but complementary parts. I thought the gig was fantastic, but it did raise all sorts of questions about success.

For a start, the high standards of all four musicians made me re-examine the value of my own musical creativity. I’ve talked before about the way the excellence of others can be demotivating rather than inspiring. A well rounded view of what success means to me, rather than to anyone else, acts as proof against this.

But what about the band themselves? Wonderful musicians, a fantastic back catalogue of songs, but playing in front of 2-300 aging rock fans on a wet Sunday night in Sheffield. This is a band whose audiences used to number thousands, and whose album sales have been in the millions. But hey – they were still playing and they knew that what they were playing was exceptionally good. They were and are brilliant live performers who still gig worldwide.

Maybe they are due for rediscovery by more contemporary audiences and hit the big time once more – but if these musicians were to use that as their main measure of success they would neither be getting or giving the creative joy that was there for everyone to see.

Finding Your Own Definitions of Success

I’ve used musical creativity as examples in this posting but whatever your creative shtick, finding you own meaningful definitions of success is vital.

You can find separate strands of success within your vision. These can be things like:

· Levels of skill and accomplishment

· The quantity of creative output

· Enjoyment factors

· Public versus private levels of recognition and achievement

· Earnings (anything from none to millions)

· Source of earnings (for instance, purely from creative output, or from work associated with your creativity such as teaching/running workshops, or from a mixture)

· The importance of fame, fortune, position

Adjust Your Definitions

First of all make sure your definitions aren’t simply what you’d like to happen in your wildest dreams. I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t have big dreams and goals, but using them as your sole definition of success can bring frustration, bitterness and self-loathing if you don’t meet them rather than enjoying all the brilliant stuff you might be doing and achieving that are ‘off dream’.

So definitions of creative success have to be in tune with what gives a you satisfaction and meaning on an ongoing basis.

When you have your draft definition of success there is something else to take into account – are you willing to do what it takes to achieve it? You can begin to sort this one out by asking this question:

• What does success behaviour look like?

Remember that this means your definition of success, not everyone else’s. So what does it look like? And how appealing and realistic is that?

This is all about what you are prepared to do, what you want to do and what you enjoy doing. And if that doesn’t fit with what success means to you then you still have a little work to do.

My Own Creative Success

As I’ve already stated, my own success definitions regarding blues guitar playing have been pretty modest over the last four years, but now I sense a change. I need to move up a gear if I want to maintain those feelings of satisfaction with my process of learning. It’s exciting to recognise.

Truly Personal Definitions Lead to Joy and Fulfilment

Truly personal definitions of creative success lead to joy, fulfilment and enhanced creative output – and ironically they often lead to the kind of outward success that can be all too elusive if that is your only motivation.

Unchain yourself from those narrow definitions of success. It could be the best thing you ever do.

***

related posts:

Creativity and Joyfulness

Double Your Creative Output by Being in Two Places at Once (Seriously!)