1.DECIDE TO CREATE SOMETHING

One reason creatives suffer over deciding what to create, is they haven’t first truly decided to create something.

Clients sometimes come to me having hit a block. Or a plateau.

Should I quit, they ask.

I tell them to take the decision to quit off the table. For now.

And guess what? Miraculously ideas begin to percolate. Inspiration wafts in. The creative knots starts to unkink.

In creativity questions are the whole game. Love the questions. But if the question is should I quit is taking up all the room the real questions get squeezed out.

Should I quit is the artist’s version of suicidal ideation.

So make the decision to do something. And move on to the other decisions.

Yes. It can be scary to decide to do something if you don’t know what that something is going to be. You enter a liminal space. Between these two decisons. It’s uncomfortable. And in some ways — deciding to be comfortable with being uncomfortable is one of the most helpful creative decisions you can make.

PS. Yes, you can even decide to do nothing about doing something right now. That’s different than not deciding.

2. DECIDE TO DO THIS THING

And then you have to decide to do this thing.

How? With your heart. With your gut. With your consciousness.

If you can follow your heart’s desire, please do. Because there are going to be days you don’t want to work on it. And you have to. That’s how it gets done. So you want to choose something that you will work on even when you don’t want to work on it.

Ask questions. How excited do you feel about it? Does it feel juicy? Even sexy? Is there energy? Does it resonate with the world right now? Has it already been done perfectly by someone else? Are you thinking about it when you should be thinking about other things? Are you making notes about it? Are you curious about it? Does it feel like there is a place for it in the market? Is that important to you?

One litmus test: if you think about somebody else doing it, are you jealous? Or relieved. Not is it a ‘good’ idea. But is it yours? Is it now?

Free yourself from the idea you might make a mistake. Nothing is wasted. Maybe it gets mulched. Is it better to choose properly than mistakenly? Yes. Better to make a mistake than not choose? Also yes.

People come to me for a consult thinking they should have total clarity about what they are doing before they start. And sure — uncertainty is uncomfortable. I get it. And some clarity? Yes. A vision? Certainly.

Process creates clarity. Not the other way around. Your project reveals itself to you as you go.

3. DECIDE TO DO THIS THING NOW

Once you decide to do something, and then which thing, you have to decide to do it now.

Start where you are. Don’t try to be better at what you’re doing before you start. Get better at it while you’re working. I’ve written a whole separate piece about the 10 Simple Ways To Start The Thing You’ve Struggled To Start here on Medium.

Starting is so simple. But so hard. Because procrastination. There’s no cleaner house than the house of a writer trying to avoid writing. Because wouldn’t it be great if you were a better writer before you wrote the thing you are going to write. Sure.

The key to this decision is courage. And courage comes from a French word meaning heart. Which is where you have to act from when you start.

4. DECIDE TO ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY DECISIONS

It’s commonly understood we live in a culture of decision exhaustion. And the creative life is literally all about decisions. What medium, what project, what structure, what tone, what message, what word, what platform etc etc etc. Not to ention the persistent decision to just get up and face the unknown

And we have a limited amount of decision making energy.

So for creatives it’s essential to eliminate decisions where you can. It’s why Steve Jobs had a uniform. Why I always choose the same nail polish color. Why exercise schedules help. In fact why work schedules help. Save as much decision making energy for the work as you can. Yes, it’s ok to wear that shirt again, eat that breakfast every day, take the same route home. You’re not boring, you’re wise.

Of course if you’re bored, do change it up. You’re allowed to. You need to stay inspired. But then it’s not an unnecesary decision anymore.

5. DECIDE TO FOCUS ON THE BIGGEST DECISIONS

One other decision about decisions. Spend your decision energy on big decisions first — what the piece is about, what medium you want to work in why you’re creating, what the work is about. Keep current with these big decisions. And then smaller decisions will be easier.

And as you use less creative energy on decisons you have more creative energy for imagination.

One caveat. Sometimes, because creative people are often emotional, intuitive and irrational — the logical solution of making big decisions first doesn’t work. Sometimes we’re driven by vague yearnings, or a detail. Or maybe there are certain tools at hand. Or an enticing collaboration. Sometimes decision making goes in the reverse order for us. That can make it harder but sometimes it also makes it possible.

And one bonus. Having made clear and big decisions with vigor, ‘the universe’, the flow, God, The Goddess, your community, or whatever you call it — this force of energy — knows how to help you. You’ve called the help in with your clear decision making. Hallelluja!

6. DECIDE TO GROW

The word creativity doesn’t mean making things. The word creativity comes from a word meaning ‘to grow’.

Decide on projects that help you grow as an artist as a human.

7. DECIDE TO ACCEPT THAT YOU WILL MAKE MISTAKES

We all make mistakes. Mistakes is part of it. Mistakes can be the best part of it. Happy accidents.

Decide to love your so called mis-takes.
But learn to listen to your mis-givings.

Listening to your misgivings is different than being afraid of mistakes. Fear of mistakes is so loud and will keep you from listening to the much quieter voice that says: not quite, not right now, not for you, not exactly. And sometimes even says: perfect, go there, do this. Try to listen to that quieter voice. It gets louder and louder the more you listen to it. It’s like it’s a flower and listening is the water that helps it bloom.

As Oprah says, when in doubt, don’t. But always ask yourself, if I decided to be brave would I still be hesitating? Would it feel reckless or aligned?

8. DECIDE WHO TO SHOW IT TO

I started helping people decide about their creativity when my friend Jessica Bendiger invited me to lunch to help her decide which script to write first. She pitched me three possibilities over caesar salads. And as we rounded the corner to our last croutons, I told her to ‘do the cheerleading one’.

That lunch helped chart both of our futures. Her script became the career making phenom Bring It On. And for me, helping her make that decision launched what I think of as my other career: the teaching, coaching and — well, muse-ing — the one I do in a parallel lane to my writing, performing, producing.

And sometimes that’s how it happens, you decide based on something that comes your way. The problem is we don’t always see what is ‘coming our way’. We have a bias towards the generative and a bias away from the responsive. Writer, producer, director Michael Patrick King once told me to ‘follow the green lights’. Which is another way of saying what ‘comes your way’. In the creative life — even more so than others — understanding flow and energy and the serious business of serendipity/synchronicity — is one of the key tools in effective decision making.

But my point about Jessica, she knew I was an ear who could hear — as they say. Not everyone is. Not even everyone you love and who loves you. Sometimes people who love you the most get scared for you. Or are jealous. Or just have no real feel for creative decisions.

Be protective about your ideas. But you do have to show things to someone, discuss things with someone. Let some fresh air in the room. But not too soon. And not too late. Choose who and when wisely.

9. DECIDE TO RELEASE IT

At some point you are going to have to release it.

In this way deadlines are lifelines.

You do the best you can and then its showtime. If you don’t have a deadline from a network or a publisher etc see if you can create one that will mean something to you. Before vacation. By the time school starts. One reason people love my workshop is they are required to do new material each class. That’s a deadline. And it really helps.

10. DECIDE TO BE OK WITH CHANGING YOUR MIND

One of the most surprising — and helpful — things I came to understand writing my original audio book So You Need To Decide (Recorded Books, 2022) is that decison making has a kind of violence to it.

The word ‘decision’ actually has a violence embedded in it.

The cide of decide comes from a word meaning ‘to cut off’. It’s related the other cide words. Homicide. Suicide. etc. When we decide, we literally cut off the other options. And this violence, this finality, I think is part of what contributes to our decision exhaustion.

And I believe that the ‘cutting things off’ is hard for creatives. We love possibility. So if limiting your possibilities is holding you up, try adding for now. Deciding for now can be so liberating. You’re allowed to change your mind.

But in order to change your mind you have to make up your mind.

So decide to do a draft. Or a hundred open mics. A year of painting. Then you can see where you are. You can change your mind later. Plus for now has such a positive feeling about it. For now. Pro now.

As I said at the beginning, take the decision to quit off the table, for now.

It’s an attitude that helps decision making become energizing rather than exhausting. Which will really help fuel your creative life.

If you’d like to get on Beth’s calendar to talk about how she can help guide you in your creativity success — from dreaming to decisions to deals — schedule a call here.