Developing the Habit of Embracing Failure in Creative Pursuits
Sometimes things don't work the way you want them to. And that's ok, it's not the end of the world; it just means that you need to try a new approach or rework your idea.
In fact, embracing failure is a key component in creative pursuits and can help your creativity flourish into something new and awesome! We've also got some helpful tips for when you're feeling sore over a major failure in your creative projects.
Trouble getting started on an important project? Here are a few ways to overcome this obstacle and keep going!
An introduction to an informative blog post about how "The 37 Best Websites to Learn Something New".
HOW TO: Meet a new friend and become more creative in the process!
Karen Fulop, a teacher and author of "The Art of Getting Your Ideas Out There" blogged about an interesting experience she had: in an effort to make new friends, Karen chose to embrace failure:
"I decided I was going to grasp failure as one of my friends. It was hard work at first". To read more about this post by Karen, visit her blog here .
An informative article from SUMP magazine's website on how "Failure is a form of creativity". This article features interviews with the author himself and other creative people.
"What IS failure? If we look at it in a broader context, failure is an integral part of a continuous learning process that is essential for becoming genuinely creative". To read more about this post by SUMP magazine , visit their website here .
An article from "OkTrends" on how "Embracing Failure Can be the Secret Sauce to Your Creativity". The article features some insightful and interesting anecdotes from various creative people and their failures. It also includes discussions about how they overcame these failures.
Anyone who has been a bit creative has probably experienced failure. Even if it's just a failed attempt at something, it will usually give you valuable insight that can help you move forward.
The best way to overcome your failure is to look at BIG picture: "A failure is an opportunity for learning and growth".
By taking this approach, we can look at failures as opportunities for learning and growing as a person. If we learn from our failure and keep growing as a creative person, our success will be more likely! Here are some of the things I have learned from losing my collection of 450 cacti: 1) Attempting really hard to get myself into this hobby has resulted in major burnout. 2) Trying to keep up with all the latest news in this ever-changing world has resulted in me not having enough time for other things. 3) Trying to collect so many different types of cactus has resulted in me spending too much money. 4) Trying to add more and more new cacti into my collection has created problems such as over watering, under watering and pests destroying my new acquisitions. 5) Owning so many plants was taking up most of the space in my home; and I realized that there were other things I wanted to spend money on instead of yet another cactus. 6) Being really busy with cacti meant that I didn't have time to write (or do anything creative for that matter). 7) The more cacti I acquired, the more I wanted to acquire. 8) Maybe my passion for cacti has dried up and now is a good time to take a break from it all?
A great article written by artist Esther M. Hill, MS on how "Embracing Failure Makes You Creative". There are many insightful tips and stories from Esther's artistic career in this article. It is definitely worth checking out!
"When we fail, we learn new things and change our minds about what is possible".
Article written by Mark McGuinness on how "Failure Makes You More Creative". This post features several interesting anecdotes and insights from various people including Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and others.
"Failure is an essential part of the creative process. It's an inevitable part of every creative project, and the less you fear failure, the further your creativity will stretch".
Also written by Mark McGuinness on how "Failure Makes You More Creative". This article features several interesting anecdotes and insights from various people including Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and others. It is definitely worth checking out!
"The secret to success is knowing how to get discouraged, knowing when to quit".
Here's a great article written by blogging expert Karen E. Smith on how "Failure Creates Great Success". This article features several interesting and insightful anecdotes from various creative people including Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and others. It is definitely worth checking out!
It's hard to know where to start in order to begin a new project, so it's a good idea to bring your ideas into focus with the help of a few helpful tips. Here are some of the best ways to brainstorm:
BRIEF CASE STUDY: How I came up with my idea for a new business.
Before you try to develop your idea into a full business plan, it's also important that you outline exactly what it is that you want your business (or blog) to do before you even start on the journey of getting started.
I used the following processes to come up with my idea for a new business:
An informative article on how "If you want to be creative, practice failing". This article includes interviews with various creative people including Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Steve Jobs and others. It's definitely worth checking out!
"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I'm Possible." - Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993)
I have to personally thank all the people who inspired me and helped me overcome my failures in this case study.
(1) Inspiration: In the end, my biggest supporter was my wife. She always believed in what I wanted to do and has provided me with support, moral finance and someone to share the things I love with. In fact, she was the one who encouraged me to write this case study. (2) Ideas: My inspiration came from a book called "The Creative Habit" by Twyla Tharp . In this book, she relates her own story about how her musical career started out as something that she passionately pursued until a couple of days before it actually became a reality. (3) Execution: Because I lacked confidence at first, I had to do everything myself. I had to come up with my own ideas and figure out how to accomplish them. I believe this is the best way for me to grow as a person and as a creative. (4) Inspiration & Ideas: Everyone who I have ever met that is creative or has ideas that have inspired me in some way, including my wife, my mom and dad, my brother, Kathy Sierra , Seth Godin , Scott Kelby , Myke Hurley , Boagworld , Life Hacker , Dr Karl Kruszelnicki , Scott Belsky , Tim Ferriss , Julian Treasure and many others.
Conclusion: It's okay to make mistakes and fail as long as you don't quit .
I can't think of anything else to add other than if any of my words have inspired you in some way, I'm happy. That's the whole point of writing this case study to publish something creative on the Internet.
All I can really say is that I hope you found this post useful (in some way). And whatever your goals may be with your own creative endeavors, remember it's not about how many times you fall down, it's about how many times you get back up.