Nick's Journal
This week has been so focused on a large new project of mine that it pretty much forced the topic of choice, being Creativity.
The older I get (and that is quite old at this point – oh my), the more I understand how important it is to have a creative outlet. And there are a number of reasons I feel this way, each somewhat distinct from the others.
Creativity remains one of the few places in life that you are really able to put your personal stamp onto something. No one else writes the same way you do. When you read an article from me I am certain it could exclude any indication of who wrote it and it would still feel distinctly like an article written by me. When I write more recreationally, each chapter I write I can feel the ‘Nick’ tint that it takes on – immediately distinguishable as something I have written. My writer's voice so to speak.
If you are lucky enough to be good at drawing, or some other craft, you will know exactly what I speak of. And so everything that you either choose to Create, or choose not to, is something that is forever available or forever lost to the world. No one else will write something quite the way that I would. When I share what I (at least hope) to be hard gained wisdom from years of corporate political nonsense, competitive professional life and my particular blend of focus on teams, relationships, and competition, I do so with an unique viewpoint. No one else will give you advice in quite the same way, and with quite the same backstory and reasoning.
This is one of the main reasons I like to share certain things in these emails. That process of writing down thoughts adds clarity to one’s own thinking but it also provides a unique resource for everyone with whom you share it and I think this is a very important part of life and relationships. In Creating, you are forever gifting a piece of yourself to the world. In choosing not to Create, you are forever depriving the world of that gift.
And then the other important benefit, which I’ve touched on above, is that you are able to truly channel your feelings and ‘self’ into what you create. Assuming you are Creating something out of passion and not structured in a way to make you a side hustle or to win over an audience, you will basically channel the truest version of yourself in the creation process.
In fact, even if you are pursuing it as a side hustle, I urge you to still consider keeping true to yourself, even though the ‘experts’ might tell you to target certain markets and fine-tune your viewpoint – that is how you will find your actual market, the one you are best suited to serve. It’s all too rare in life that you are able to do that. In a professional setting you will polish your rough edges and keep certain opinions and views close to your chest (unless you’re me and you lack an appropriate filter, for reasons that remain unclear to us all). In most relationships, even your closest, there are still layers that you do not allow to be uncovered.
In the creation process though, especially when anonymous, you truly channel the purest version of ‘you’. And in some ways, this is really the only way in which you can understand and recognize what the true version of you looks like. Whereas writing in a professional setting can feel like a chore, writing in a creative setting feels like a jolt of motivation and energy that is hard to match.
It took me a long time to start to carve out time and a deliberate practice of pursuing various ‘passion projects’ and I regret often that I did not do it sooner. It is one of the greatest sources of balance in my life now and helps even out any ebbs and flows that happen in other walks of life and cleanse my mood. It is a source of constant and continuous learning as well, as you will pursue your passion with far more interest and to far greater detail than you will pursue an assigned task at work. It is where you will push your limits and strive for excellence.
And the thing about learning and creativity is that you will never know where it leads if you do not walk down those paths. You might discover skills you never knew you had, opportunities that would have otherwise remained hidden, or a combination of masteries that unlock achievements otherwise impossible.
My advice to each and every one of you this week would be to keep this in mind, even if you are busy, as you will always be busy. Months spent toiling away at nothing but work will eat away at even the strongest of you and, worst of all, will cut away at true growth opportunities for you that won’t come from anything else. We are a byproduct of what we spend our time on each day. It is incredibly difficult to start something from scratch when you have let it go completely out of your life, whereas it is not nearly as difficult to find 15 minutes each day so that you at least scratch the itch and maintain a base level of commitment.
Hopefully this is an opportune reminder and you are able to spend a bit of time now to plan out how to fit some sort of Creation into your schedule as work takes over more and more of your free time. If you do, you won't regret it and the world will be better for it. And years from now, I suspect you will look back and be very happy that you did.
Much love as always,
Nick