The Creative Instinct

Right then - in part 1 and part 2 of this series I’ve looked at the pros and cons of delayed and instant gratification.

As Gaina suggests in the comments for Part 2, hitting the right balance is vital. Like most things in life, it’s going to one extreme or the other that brings problems (is there an exception to this rule?)

So, total delayed gratification thinking may well see you at the head of some vast commercial empire - but if your gratification comes only from moments of triumph and profit then it’s likely the rest of your life isn’t quite so satisfactory.

And when instant gratification is your default setting this also leads to an unsatisfying, empty and pointless existence - and you’ll probably not have much money either.

The Faulty Thinking of ‘Single’ Gratification

It’s pretty obvious from all this that finding that elusive balance is where it’s at. But even if you have a balance you are seriously limiting yourself if your mind is shackled by the either/or thinking that our culture so often pushes us towards.

This is the kind of faulty thinking that leads us to the assumption, for instance, that healthy food has to be ‘worthy’ and dull, while gorgeous comfort food has to be bad for you. We apply these polar assumptions to all aspects of our lives and society and mostly, we never have a clue that we are doing it.

The mindset here goes like this: if it’s good for you it’s no fun - and if it is fun it’s not good for you.

That’s why, if you read articles about the benefits of delayed gratification you’ll see words like ‘discipline’, ‘worthiness’ and ’self-control’ taking pride of place.

It’s all so ridiculously one-dimensional.

I’m not suggesting, by the way, that self-control and its buddies don’t have their place - of course they do - but they are not the whole story. In fact they are not even the best part of the story.

Introducing Double Gratification

This is a very simple idea, but one that I know flies straight past many people, creative or otherwise:

• When you are working for future reward, find ways of getting instant reward at the same time.

As Barry Green says in the excellent The Inner Game of Music:

If your life is precious to you, you will want your practice to be both enjoyable and musically rewarding

When you practise double gratification it means you are enjoying, really enjoying, activities that will pay dividends in your future - and when that occurs those empty instant gratification moments lose much of their temptation.

It Sounds Obvious

I know this may sound way too obvious, because actually it is obvious. And yet for some reason our tendency is to take it only so far. Sure there are activities that easily give you double gratification, but there will almost certainly be many more that you’ve accepted as either one or the other.

These are often peripheral to your core creative work, but hugely beneficial to it. You’ve probably unquestioningly accepted these as boring, hard, and un-enjoyable. They are the kind of activities that you already know would help you move forward in your own creative shtick. But even though you try sometimes, you never quite get it together enough to make a difference.

Here are some examples, but your own personal favourites might be quite different.

• Get fitter
• Work on your appearance
• Do some networking/go to events
• Catalogue your work
• Plan you time
• Work more regularly
• Go to bed earlier/get up earlier
• Source better materials
• Join a group
• Practise your artistic weaknesses

Now you may, at this point, be hearing a little negative voice telling you that it can’t be done - there is simply no way to find instant gratification in such banal activities. That’s your self-limiting belief speaking. It’ll encourage you not to bother, and it will give you all sorts of justifications as to why this can’t work for you.

Tell it to shut up, because it isn’t helping you. Tell it that you already know you improve with practise, and adopting double gratification is no different. Okay, so you might find it odd at first, but it’s all about finding the right groove for your thinking so that you automatically ask the question: how can I make this enjoyable?

Double Gratification Becomes a Philosophy of Daily Living

Gradually, with practice, double gratification can become ingrained into your way of life. It can become your first and best tactic to help get those difficult but ultimately rewarding tasks done, and it should be part of your planning when you are working out how to achieve your goals.

What does double gratification look like in practice?

More often than not it looks like fun. It’s all about finding, new imaginative ways of doing things so that they give reward now and in the future. Here are a couple of examples of typical delayed gratification tasks that can have an impact on our artistic abilities.

• Getting fitter

Most of us can benefit from getting fitter - and fitness can directly enhance our creative output by boosting energy and brain power. Unfortunately, much of the fitness industry seems to be stuck in the ‘no pain no gain’ mindset and while many creative people find gym work etc. intensely boring we often forget that there are lots of other forms of exercise that are fantastically stimulating and enjoyable.

The trick is to figure out what activities are great for you. For myself, it took me years to understand how much I love unstructured throwing, catching, chasing, dodging. I mean I really gain joy from these activities. So when I can get someone to play with me it’s great. And yes, I know I’m 54 - sometimes part of the battle is to release your thinking and your inhibitions. I’m still working on this and haven’t found a way of making it part of my routine exercise.

But I have made aerobic exercise to music one of my regular activities. Again, I seem to get most out of it when it’s relatively unstructured, intuitive and expressive. (Okay, it’s bouncing about to music - but it keeps me happy and exercising)

So I’ve discovered fitness activities that I love doing - you might want to think out of the box to discover what floats your boat - here are a few suggestions: dancing, cycling, wind-surfing, climbing, racquet sports, walking, skipping, boxing/martial arts, running a children’s football/hockey/basketball team.

• Strategic Thinking and Planning

If you want to make the most of your creative instincts, then in my opinion there has to be some element of strategic thinking and planning. Good thinking of this kind will dramatically enhance your creative abilities, your output and your creative career success.

But if your mind is clinging to the deadly image of dull and tedious delayed gratification, then the very idea of it can fill you with dread. There you are sitting alone - forcing yourself to endure a process that you know is good for you, but which you also know will be about as much fun as pulling teeth.

Now enter our hero - double gratification!

Yes, you are going to reap the rewards of strategic thinking and planning - and double yes - you are going to enjoy doing it.

How? Here are a few suggestions.

• Remember first that strategic thinking and planning should be every bit as creative as your own chosen creative shtick
• Make extravagant mind maps, including colour, pictures and the odd bit of daftness
• If  you play an instrument, do your thinking to your own musical accompaniment
• Write your ideas on a wall - so, graffiti thinking. (Buy a cheap roll of wallpaper or lining paper to pin to the wall first)
• Invite some friends around and have a strategic thinking party.
• Get a friend to interview you about it (can be very powerful)

Don’t forget that it’s up to you to find your own routes towards creative, rewarding double gratification activities. Get into the habit of asking yourself that simple powerful question:

    How can I make this enjoyable?

I know from my daily coaching experience just how much difference this can make for my clients - and there’s no reason why it can’t do the same for you. So practise finding those double gratification answers for all the delayed gratification tasks you’ve got used to putting off or failing at. Try it, and see your creative abilities blossom and your artistic success grow and grow.

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Other posts:
- Delayed Gratification and the Creative Soul – Part 1: Delayed Gratification is Good For You
- Are False Priorities Blocking Your Creativity?