Feeling creative?
It feels good, right? When you know how to bounce back from low moments, solve problems, and feel your personal and professional growth.
But it’s not something that I hear quite often from creative people. The things that I hear most are:
”Creativity is not well valued in the market.”
”I don't have enough time to be creative.”
”I need to be in a perfect environment to be creative.”
or even worse, when they think they are the problem:
”I need formal training to be creative.”
”My ideas are never good enough.”
”I can’t make money out of creativity.”
All come from a place of insecurity. This means your little kid's confidence just went somewhere else to hide from the eyes of society. And from your eyes, too. Creative confidence means believing you can make things happen.
When you embrace creative confidence, you can keep pushing your limits. As David Kelley, the founder of IDEO, said, "Creative confidence is the ability to come up with ideas and the courage to try them out."
To build creative confidence, you need to overcome insecurities. These often come from comparing yourself to others, trying to be perfect, and lacking support. Challenging the belief that creativity is only for naturally talented people or those with special training is important. Creativity can be developed by anyone. It is a skill.
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Picasso
Here are three simple insights to help you get your creative confidence back:
Embrace failure: See failure as a chance to learn. Write down your past failures and what you learned from them. This will show you that you can overcome setbacks.
Get uncomfortable: Do something creative that makes you a bit uncomfortable. This could be joining a workshop, starting a new project, or sharing your ideas online. As Brené Brown said, "You can choose courage or comfort, but you cannot choose both."
Set learning time: Spend an hour exploring new ideas or skills each week. Take online courses, read, or try out new creative activities. This keeps your creativity fresh and inspired. It’s a commitment from yourself to yourself. Believe it or not, I can already see your future self thanking me.
Take off insecurity layers and regularly return to your creative self. Confidence grows with effort and self-belief. Don’t worry about what others think; prove your abilities to yourself. Embrace discomfort as part of growth and keep exploring your creative potential. As Endless-ID's motto says, "Just be yourself, but better."
