I tend to be more self-aware than most people. In fact, I would say that I understand my motivations, goals and ideas better than anyone else. I know what motivates me. My thoughts, as crazy as they are sometimes, are my own and I know how I respond to emotions, stimuli, environment and ideas. I have meditated for years and now I am in a constant state of calm for the most part. I fill my days with work and I am never bored. I do live a happy, single life and I have no complaints.
I know what makes me tick and I am in love with life.
With that said, I also know I operate seasonally. I have seasons to my madness and my work habits.
This idea is not new to me. Often, I see myself creatively go through cycles of reading, thinking and writing. In that order.
The main thing is I have my seasons. And that is a good thing.
I was listening to the James Altucher show on a Sunday evening strolling down in my usual spot near the water. It’s a good, long walk which can last up to 8 miles.
On the podcast James brought in an entrepreneur from Europe, Tero Isokaupilla to speak about his start up. Four Sigmatic focuses on mushrooms for health, performance and well-being.
Podcast here https://jamesaltucher.com/podcast/443-tero-isokauppila-optimal-human-performance/
The first take away James states is “Don’t eat the same foods all year round. Tero said, “Understand there’s seasonality in the earth and seasonality in your body.””
This makes perfect sense to me, validating what I have known for years.
We all need to put in work at our main jobs, but creative endeavors are seasonal if you do them right. You cannot write and write and write without reading, reflecting, learning and understanding. If you are writing and not reading, you are spitting out nonsense very few people will want to read, much less understand.
I know bloggers like Mark Manson state, “Just do it and then the inspiration will come after doing”. Good production does not work that way. I have to disagree with this “just do it first” fundamental idea. I do think people “need to do it” when it is the right time. It’s like pulling a harvest during early summer when all you have are immature plants. I love most of what Mark talks about and his writings have a lot of truth to them. I do recommend his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. But this is one idea that is just not well thought out.
So, my premise is there are three seasons to creative work habits.
Absorb
Reflect
Produce
First, Absorb
You sow the seed of knowledge, ideas, and perspectives by reading, viewing or consuming media first. You have to have something there to grow or else it is weeds growing in the garden. The quality of your ideas, thoughts and knowledge come from the material you consume. You are not what you eat, but what you read, what you view and what you listen to. You should spend at least 1 season doing this. I would say this should make up your childhood. Go out and read different things, watch different shows, listen to all sorts of music. Find what moves you, speaks to you. As a kid you should be learning how to make a garden grow. Also absorb from those you wish to emulate. Do not hang around people who will negatively influence you or give you poor thoughts. Poor friends make for a terrible environment to work great ideas.
Second, Reflect
This is an incubation period. The ideas you read, understand, watch and listen to reverberates through your body. You might consume more media. You might want to test these ideas for yourself. You are not quite ready to put the idea down in a concrete form. You might put some notes into a document or scribble in your favorite notepad. This is the brainstorm period where the ideas start popping up. Welcome the brainstorms, the seasonal rains which will let those ideas you planted grow in you. You need this time to let the media you consumed flourish. I like to play games or go out and be social. Mix up my activities and find some type of distraction from the earlier thoughts. Later on, I will jot down the reflections and get them swirling about inside my head.
Third, Produce
Now you should be at a period in which the ideas have matured within you to the point it is worth producing. The song should be ready to come forth with a cool, catchy riff based on something you heard. A new novel starts to unfold in your mind and you write it down to capture its essence. You feel compelled to write, not forced. It’s like pressure from a water hose cut off and ready for you to release. You execute on your creative endeavor because you have absorbed material, reflected upon it, let it marinate and now it is time to produce. It’s OK if the first few attempts to suck. Producing art is not easy. There are many techniques you need to learn. Now is the time to “Just do it”. The harvest is here.
Finally,
Creative work is hard. It usually takes years of practice and failure. We often get things wrong and we screw up on execution. Sometimes we take in bad information. Other times we have toxic people holding us back. Heck maybe we do not get a chance to reflect on the new knowledge due to an overworked lifestyle which leave us stressed and unable to reflect. Think of creative production in seasons, not a mad dash to the finish line, but a slow, steady process that will yield good crops. Do not rush it, trust in the process and see the process work in your life.
And most importantly, enjoy this process, not the end work.
