“Success is… knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.” John C. Maxwell
Have you ever wondered what the mindset is of successful, productive and profitable creative people… like writers?
Writers, or really anyone who enjoys creating products, art, music, digital products, books, services, blogposts or speaking, coaching, teaching, or basically creating anything that brings value to others, have qualities that make them good at what they do.
So what are some traits that productive creative people have in common?
That’s a question I’ve been pondering and researching for the past few months or so. Really I’ve asked this question since as I’ve started this blog and began to interview people for the upcoming Podcast called Create a Story You Love.
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4 Traits of Successful Writers & Other Creatives
What makes some creative people more successful than others? What can we learn from them? Here’s a few traits I’ve noticed.
1. Ability to See
To see creative possibilities you need to look at things you love to do with a new set of eyes.[Tweet this]
Be aware of the new ideas that constantly come up in your mind. Then find a way to capture those ideas and jot them down. I use a Mac, so I quickly write down my ideas on Pages…. or if I’m on the road, I write ideas in my notes on my iPhone.
This awareness is the art of listening. To hear where people are struggling, their hopes and dreams, where they need help and how you can help them accomplish the desires of their heart.
It all starts with the ability to see.
2. Faith to Believe in You
The faith to believe in yourself and what you have to offer the world is so important. You have to believe that your gift is super valuable to someone. That there are people who need advice and value that comes from your own life experiences and personality.
This takes hard work to figure it out. It’s something that builds up over time.
Honestly, I’ve doubted myself way to much and because of that I’ve procrastinated and put things off. So I’ve decided to grab hold of gifts I’ve been given and put them out there, even though I’m not sure of the end result.
Successful creatives have an attitude of confidence, faith and belief. Believe that your experiences, skills, background and personality bring value to someone. When you have moments of doubt in yourself and what you have to offer, keep taking action on what you do best. Keep doing what you love. Believe that over time you’ll figure it out.
3. Courage to Take Action
For many people who are creative, the biggest struggle is between their ears. So we hesitate.
The truth is successful writers, take action in spite of their doubts. They have the courage to do. [Tweet this]
Instead of overanalyzing, they take the steps they need to take. They do the work and put themselves out there without knowing the outcome of their efforts.
The truth is you need to make the decision to go for it.
Decide to go ahead and write that book, create that course or whatever your idea is. Because the pain of not doing it is greater than the hard work of getting it done. Each step builds on the other.
Each of us as creatives need to develop the habit of constantly taking action. Not everything will be an amazing success, but you will learn something from each step.
The courage to take action is something I’m learning everyday.
4. Hope to Hang in There
Creative people have perseverance. They just keep trying out their new ideas. Some people say they are lucky. But the truth is there’s a lot of hard work that has been done in the background and over time that we often miss.
I’ve needed to ask myself what areas I need to grow in as a creative person. Honestly, I feel like in each of these four traits I need to keep growing.
How about you?
Do you see books, online courses or other creative projects that exist around your passion? Ask yourself if you have the faith to believe in yourself enough to try? Are you taking action daily and taking steps to make those dreams a reality? Do you keep at it even when it’s hard to do?
If there are many different creative ideas you love to explore and learn, check out this post by Jonathan Milligan.
Which of these 4 qualities of productive creatives, do you feel like you are doing well at and which traits do you feel need some tweaking? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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