Don’t Lose Your Creativity to the Hustle

Find it, hold on, and don’t let go.

Photo by cottonbro studio

Have you ever poured so much love into writing, painting, or recording a cooking video only to share your creation online and receive no attention for it?

While you worked, and even after, you felt like you were soaring. But seeing ten likes, a single one, or maybe nothing at all makes you plummet as though someone grabbed a rope and tied your wings together.

And it happens again. And again.

Before you know it, one year has passed, and creating doesn’t feel like flying anymore. It feels like carrying a rock on your back. Because you know that every time you create, you’re going to fail — based on the evidence laid out in front of you.

Maybe this is a story you’ve been the main character of, or it’s a scene you find yourself living now. You wanted to be famous, build a brand, or make money — all things that you should strive for, should you want — but you lost your creativity to the hustle. This defeats the purpose of having gone after this goal in the first place, doesn’t it?

You wanted to do something that made you happy for a living, but now you find yourself very unhappy.

So that brings us to the question: how do you untie your wings and start flying again?

3 Reasons Why You Might Be Feeling Unhappy When You Create

Like many people, I’m constantly searching to feel fulfilled and for a purpose. Creating always made me feel a sense of worth.

However, we’ve accidentally, very intricately, tied purpose to creation. The noun. The output. And not just the result, but the outcome that people see, listen to, watch, download, or subscribe to.

This is wrong for three reasons (some of which you might relate to, if not all):

1. If you don’t complete something, you deem yourself unworthy.
2. If you do complete something, you are now worthy. That is, until a new goal comes around, and once again you are unworthy until you’ve reached it.
3. If you complete the thing, you’re not worthy until you’ve sold one of said thing. (And of course, once you’ve…