A Van Gogh Creation called Irises
Here in this article I will discuss a reason that is a cause for motivation. The underlying theme for this article is that you have to be constantly producing, because that does so much for others that you can’t underestimate it. I have lots of examples here so you can see why you have to keep outputting. One example is in the painting picture above, which is one by Van Gogh, which may have just been another along the way for him, but which is now another very valuable creation of his.
I wrote that introductory paragraph a couple of days ago and am now continuing. On a side note, I recommend doing things smoothly from start to finish, because when you stop, you have to then re-start, crossing friction again.
What You Create Is Someone Else’s Thing That They Enjoy
Here is a big thing that sends a motivating message. When you create something like text, audio, video, a product, or put out a service, you’re giving someone else their desired thing. I have many examples of this.
For example, take Puff Daddy. He is prolific, and keeps producing material all the time. Were he not as prolific, he might not have created the song Come With Me for the Godzilla soundtrack, which was one of my favorite songs at one point. To me, that was a favorite song, and to him, it was another creation along the way. In the same way, what you produce is likely to become someone else’s favorite item in some respect.
These hits that you can create come from constant outputting. You end up doing something for someone or another person along the way.
Wallpaper Example
David Turnbull from DavidTurnbull.com recently made a wallpaper that you can see and use here. This is an offhand kind of creation that he put out as he continue to keep trying new things while building up his repertoire. It is now my desktop wallpaper. Had he not made it, I wouldn’t have such a cool wallpaper. It also gives some cool ideas to me about what is able to be done with a message and an image.
The next creation you make can become someone’s wallpaper, in that way. It could be the song they listen to for a while, like one that a person I know had made a while back. It could become the article they come back to every few days, or the service they really want to make use of regularly.
This is what I recommend thinking about next time an issue of motivation comes up for you. Just like you have your favorite X or Y or Z in various categories of interest, you can create someone else’s item of popular usage.
The Benefit Of Being Prolific
Not only does this remind you of why creating is so valuable, but it shows why being prolific is relevant. If you create 10 different items, you may have 1 or 2 great items in those 10. If you create 100, with added variety and side items, maybe you will have 15 hits in those 100, and they could be of different types. Your ratio of hits goes up with the more you do, as you get a better idea of what you do that gives others joy, good feeling, or something relevant to smoothing out their routine.
Creating Puts You Way Up There
Eckhart Tolle posted this quote on Twitter: “90% of the world waits for change to happen on the outside so they can reflect it, but that is no accomplishment.” The percentage might be an estimate, but think to yourself that just creating material puts you ahead of 90% of others who wait to receive it. This would put you up there as way above average. It might seem like there are loads of creators out there in each field, but fields look disproportionately full of engaged people because everything you see was produced by a creator. All the non-creators put out nothing, so you don’t see how much was not put out by them.
An engineer looks like they are the single genius engineer until another engineer rises up to their level with their own invention or skill. It is good to see the blank spaces and openings that are available, and fill them in with your material.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
“90% of the world waits for change to happen on the outside so they can reflect it, but that is no accomplishment.”
Indeed it’s not. It’s like being in a passive mode waiting for destiny to show up. I prefer to go and fail rather than wait and be sure.
Hey Oscar.
We are on the same page there. Go and fail sure is the winning way. Nothing good ever came to me from just waiting something out.
Hey Armen,
I see your point and I think it’s a great one. I’d also like to add that beyond being productive, it helps a lot from my perspective if what you produce has a lot of personal meaning for you. If I would help people for example, to balance their financial records, I would give them value, but I wouldn’t care much for it, because this is not what I’m about. Helping them develop as people, this has meaning for me and makes me motivated.
Eduard
Hey Eduard.
Good call on this point. I forgot about that part of it. Producing a lot related to something that is not a point of interest then feels like busywork, so that won’t lead to the big hits, or if it does, it still won’t matter to you at that point.
Armen,
As a person with what appears to be an unusually high content production capacity (I could write 3 posts a day if I really felt like it), I think there’s something to be said for production. The more you produce, the more refined your skill will become as a writer, blogger, and marketer.
Hey Srinivas.
As a person who could also write 3 posts in a day if I was up for it, I would agree on those points. Each added item builds up learning in one aspect or another. It is very hard to not improve when you do something, and then continue to do it in slightly different ways.
Twitter: ryanbiddulph
November 20, 2009 at 11:31 am
Armen,
I make it a habit to write 1-2 blog posts every morning before I do anything else.
Creation quells my anxiety. It takes my mind off of “what’s in it for me” and focuses it on “what can I create for others”. There is no better way to regain balance than to give of your talents.
I’ve a adopted a new strategy recently where I disconnect from the web for extended periods and write. No tweeting, no FB’ing, no backlinks. Just me and a Word doc. I’ve been consistently writing 4-5 posts a day on my blog since I started this practice.
Excellent point about the impact of creation. You never know who your creating will affect or how profoundly it will affect them.
Hey Ryan.
That is a smart idea there about writing 1-2 posts before anything else. Then, it is like the day can’t start until those are done. Winning plan there.
This is a really good habit you have made use of. Just you and a Word doc is the ideal place to be. I made one of my posts that got spread around a lot writing for about 2 hours in JDarkRoom. That is where our home is, or should be.
Our effects can be large.
“These hits that you can create come from constant outputting. You end up doing something for someone or another person along the way.”
We never really know what our work is capable of inspiring. When we inspire someone, they in turn might inspire someone and that cycle is always beautiful.
I also like the idea of the more you make something, the more choices you have.
Great article, Armen !
Hey Rocky.
There’s always that person we help, and we sometimes wonder how we ended up helping someone, but then we have to remember a time when we search on Google for something and get the right kind of information on the page we come across, and it is that same way for others and our writing material, for example.
That point about choices is relevant. A person who tries different types of articles, for example, then later knows which one they like more, or which one people like more, but someone who only tries two types will not know these things.
Great post Armen, loved the Eckhart Tolle quote. If all of us went out there and created something just for the sake of creating value, if more people forgot about their worries, doubts, fears – just go out there and create something. I can only imagine how much of a better place this world could be.
Hey Lana.
Thanks there. It sure would be different if everyone created what they want to create. Regardless, those that do get those great advantages. It is good to be a creator.
Hi Armen, this is a good point but I don’t necessarily think you want to just throw it all out there for consumption. It’s great for practice but it may not be great for publication. You have to compete with a lot of other signals, and you need a way for yours to get noticed. At that point you can afford to be more prolific. If you want to be prolific on blog writing I think you would be better off with multiple blogs on different topics so any one blog reader is not getting overwhelmed with your stuff.
Hey Stephen.
You do have a valid point here. I didn’t think about it so much about being practice-related, but that can certainly be the case. We can produce a lot still, and then only put out certain items publicly, as you allude to here. Overload for the viewer is not usually a good thing.
I agree with you about reaching a point where you can then be more prolific.
I think you are right – the act of producing in and of itself is a way to build further motivation to KEEP doing. However, with this model of production when do we ever have time for relaxation and rest (which are certainly much-needed elements of productivity too, right?)
Hi Steven.
Well, supposing that the producing becomes more and more enjoyable, I would say our needs for relaxation and rest would decrease, as we would be in a relaxed state while continuing what we do, and rest would be just enough to refresh.
I’d say it is easy to make time for relaxation when putting in the big efforts, because then it is a really nice time.
Hey Armen,
great post with good points here. Creation is indeed linked with motivation, the more creative actions we put out the more momentum we will gain. As the results of our creation, weather our foundation of skills, or the inspirations we raise, stocks up, we eventually have the motivation to create something better and above our old standards.
Thanks for this post, I need to go create something
Steven
Hey Steven.
Thanks about the points there. This is true about stocking up value through putting out content. We know Eminem for many of the songs he did, or know Picasso for many of the paintings he did, as one would not be enough, wouldn’t show consistency, and would have left them feeling unfulfilled. An inventor who continues toward inventing the next thing will have added energy that a person who had not invented yet won’t have.
Good call on creating something.
Hello Armen. Thanks for another neat article. Here’s something about “being productive” to think about. To see what I mean, let’s first change our perspective about “work” for a moment. Most of us are taught we “work” to produce something…..like paintings, songs, videos etc. We hope to get paid for our “work” of course, so we can make a living. O.K., but now imagine we’re supposed to “work” to create……OURSELVES. Imagine you and I are peculiar “self-assembling” creatures that need to pull in stuff from the environment and build…… OURSELVES. Way down in our heart-of-hearts we have a Vision of who we are and can be…..and we’re supposed to WORK to create this person of our dreams. Alright, so now “work” is all about making this dream of who we can be real. Now “productivity” takes on a whole new meaning. As long as we’re following this Visioin of who we can be…..the more prolific and productive and creative and hard working we are…..the quicker we make our dream life real. On the other hand of course, if we haven’t learned how to let this Vision of who we are back into our lives, guess what? It doesn’t matter how much stuff we make or how “productive” we are. None of it is adding up to our dreams. And the moral of the story? Be productive in the direction that’s right for your life. Ciao Armen. John Duffield
Hey John.
That sure is a cool way you put that. I think you’re on the right track of ideas there. Some people will hear this and think it is too fanciful, but I would agree that it is the path. We work to assemble our desired state. This makes quite a bit of sense.
If my desired state is to be doing environmental research, and having students regularly coming to join my research team and add in more energy, I have to put in loads of effort to get to that research position, build up respect from students and other researchers, and so on. All of that work is to get to a state where I would then fit in much more smoothly.
I could think of more examples, but you have presented this in a way that is fitting. There is work for work’s sake, and then there is the more relevant effort we put to get to a point that suits us.
Glad to think about this.
That’s why photographers always take so many shots of the same thing and painters paint the same thing over and over again. Out the hundreds of works created only a few might be masterpieces, but it is the process of continuous creation that perfects their technique, their vision and motivation for that “one shot”.
Hi Kate.
You’ve added on a good example here. That sure does make sense as I remember hearing about photographers taking so many shots to get those few good ones, which sound wacky until they are back in their office analyzing the picture, and the little details in the images make all the difference.
This article could have been titled “High Output Leads To That One Super Result”, or something of that nature.