Building and Assessing Your Creative Self

Building and Assessing Your Creative Self  2/22/18

There is no one on this planet quite like you.  Many times we look to others for approval and to judge if what we do or create is truly worthwhile.  However, this external validation is fleeting at best and doesn’t help us truly develop a solid foundation in our creative sense of self.  Many times the validations we do or don’t get from others is laced with problems.  A lot of times it’s just that persons opinions, likes or dislikes and has nothing to do with the true quality of your work.  Many times that person is not qualified to access what you’ve done.  That person may bring their own frustrations and even jealousies to your attention.  So you end up with a false sense of the validation of who you are and what you’ve created.   We need to learn to look inward first before turning outward for feedback.  A lot of likes on social media might just be your friends being nice or not wanting to offend you.  What do you really learn if everyone says everything is likeable?  Again external stroking of your ego doesn’t build internal confidence, it just assures you are going to be dependent on continued support.  We see this many times in talented, rich and famous people who need so much approval from their fans to keep their confidence boosted, otherwise, inside they are fragile and loose it when fame and fans move on.  Building a strong internal sense of who you are and your ability helps you progress in your capabilities and your journey.  Then external feedback and likes are nice but not required.  You are looking for your own internal satisfaction and happiness in what you do.   You learn to expand your boundaries and talents.  So I highly recommend learning the technique of Self-Critique as follows:

Self-Critique Technique  Create your own written check off evaluation sheet from valid sources. 

1.        If you wrote a song or did a painting first evaluate the creation technique.  Did you follow the recommended formats or design principles?  Truly assess your strengths and weaknesses and where you could improve in any of the areas. 

2.       Write about what you like or dislike about the project.  Would you sing or play this song over and over?  Would you frame this painting?  If you don’t like it then probably no one else is going to.

3.       Finally if and when seeking mentoring or collaborations, be very careful to only seek out qualified, non-biased sources for valid feed-back.  Collaborations are like a marriage or a relationship and you must be able to work with that person in a meaningful way.  Check out the expertise of and disposition of mentors.  In many cases it’s worth a fee to obtain objective  qualified help.