6 Steps to Always be Creating

People who are consistently putting themselves out there and producing their art have such a good energy. When we’re surrounded by these people and their work, it can inspire us to create, too. But sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it – we find a lot of excuses to not make time for creating, but it’s vital to our happiness. Here are some easy ways to get and stay in the creative zone.

1. Determine what you’re passionate about.

Art is anything that you create. Your art could be painting but it could also be building custom motorcycle parts, gardening, building furniture, writing, cooking, blogging… Anything by which you’re expressing a piece of yourself. If you’re having a hard time figuring out what your art is, just think of what you’re passionate about. Do you love dogs and you’re great at drawing? Make pet portraits. Do you love poetry? Give writing some a try.

2. Make your art. Make it now.

It’s not important how good your art is – it’s just important that you do it. Just start making your art today. You will have some failures but that’s how you’ll practice, learn, grow and improve. If you wait until you’re “ready” or “good enough,” you’ll never actually do it. Take action and do it now.

3. Don’t make excuses.

Life can get hectic, we know. But when we start saying we don’t have time to do the things that make us (and others around us) happy, then what kind of life are we living? We only get one. If we aren’t making connections and inspiring / being inspired, then we are not doing our part to make this world a great place to live. Make time. You’ll always be glad you did.

4. Enjoy being present.

When we do things that we love, it not only energizes and inspires us, but it also allows us to be fully present. If you’re editing a video, or learning a new song on your guitar, or building a table, chances are your mind is right there, in that moment, concentrating fully on the task at hand. This is kind of like a form of meditation, which is a wonderful practice that carries over into other parts of our lives, making us more calm, centered, relaxed and happy.

5. Share your art.

This part takes a little bravery, but it will keep your momentum going. Share your art with people. It can be your friends, family, co-workers, on social media, at a gallery, in an online store (or actual store). Just get it out there and into the world where other people can appreciate it and soak it up.

6. Keep moving forward.

Unfortunately, there will always be critics. More often than not, those critics are just miserable people who spend all of their time putting others down. Not great energy to surround yourself with. Take constructive feedback, make improvements, and keep at it. Failure is actually a beautiful thing because we can learn from it — most importantly that it’s not fatal. And if you can remember to look at it that way, it’s not scary anymore.

“If you want to brainwash yourself into never writing again, go and read all your one-star reviews. Go immerse yourself in exposure to all of the people who have decided that you’re a fraud. It turns out that that approach doesn’t help you. What helps you is going forward, learning from your mistakes, then ignoring what everyone else says and doing it again.”

– Seth Godin

When we are creating, we are upping our frequency and opening ourselves up to receive more of the same frequency back from the universe. We are practicing, expressing, failing, sharing, improving. We’re connecting with other humans. We are producing real, human passion. It’s so important — your art is so important. Go make it and share it now.