September 28, 2008

What Determines a Creative Life? What Determines Success?

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:48 am

Determination

Creativity at Work

“Square peg in a round hole.” That’s what people used to call it.

Even as a kid I knew it was a silly waste of time to put a square peg in a round hole. That was just plain common sense To make the peg fit, it wouldn’t be a square peg anymore. It would hurt the peg, and the hole wouldn’t like it.

What makes some people grow up to live highly creative lives? Is it in their genes — “the way the tree was bent”? Is a creative life determined by their experience?

Yet, what is astonishing is the great variety of paths that led to eminence. Csikszentmihalyi

Though the 91 creative people in the study that became the book, Creativity, had unique characteristics and traits that made them stand out. The life paths that led to their creative contribution were not particularly different from what you might find any group of 91 citizens.

  • Some were precocious. Some were prodigies. Some didn’t seem to stand out as children.
  • Some had serious hardship growing up. Some suffered the death of parents. Others had happy childhoods without incident.
  • Some were ignored. Some had guides and teachers who helped their development. Some had devastating experiences with mentors.
  • Some seemed to always know their calling. Some searched for years to find their path.
  • Some were noticed early. Some struggled for years to gain recognition.

Those same circumstances describe the people I call my friends, none of whom yet have changed the world through Creativity with a capital C.


It seems that the men and women we studied were not shaped once and for all, either by their genes or by the events of early life. . . . Instead of being shaped by events, they shaped events to suit their purposes. . . .

According to this view, a creative life is still determined, but what determines it is a will moving across time — the fierce determination to succeed, to make sense of the world, to use whatever means to unravel some of the mysteries of the universe. Csikszentmihalyi

Fierce determination to succeed.

Success doesn’t happen without giving ourselves over fully to what we’re pursuing. It’s not the barriers that stop us, it’s the way we respond to them.

If we’re determined, we maneuver over, under, around, or through them. It doesn’t matter how difficult the problem we stick with it until we innovate, create, or cobble together a solution that solves it.

ladder_over_wall_from_sxchu

Determination removes options other than success: We refuse to define our outcomes as:

  • the fault of our parents.
  • an imperfection in our environment.
  • the result of bad timing.
  • bad luck or bad karma.
  • something outside of us.

As determination to succeed is key to world-changing creativity, it seems to follow that determination and creativity are key to success.

How have determination and creativity contributed in your past success? What are you determined to accomplish now?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Image: sxc.hu

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17 Comments to “What Determines a Creative Life? What Determines Success?”

  1. September 28th, 2008 at 8:19 am
    Richard Reeve said

    You put me onto the C-man’s book a few weeks back, thanks. I’m awaiting a copy of flow now as well. I’ve been running with commitment as my fuel these days…

  2. September 28th, 2008 at 8:23 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Richard,
    I’ve read all of his books. Some I like more than the others. I hope you got the original not “pop culture” version of “Flow.” It’s so much better.

    Glad to hear you’re fueled with commitment. Determination makes the critical difference.

    You’re not a stranger anymore. :)

  3. September 28th, 2008 at 8:43 am
    Rick Wolff said

    In my mind, creativity and determination are two necessary skills, but they seem to have little to do with each other. You can be creative, and be hired by a company that provides the determination for you in terms of a sales staff, marketing, etc. But beware of the behemoth entrenched corporation: in tough times, the determination sours into desperation, the field of concern for creatives is narrowed, like cubicle walls closing in, and results are predetermined and dictated from above, which is how you get orders like “Make me a viral video.” This is the situation I’m escaping, as I re-engineer my life, a big part of which is my DutchNewYork blog.

  4. September 28th, 2008 at 9:52 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Rick,
    That’s when the personal determination kicks into gear. You get determined to find a life where creativity gets to win. :)

  5. September 28th, 2008 at 10:44 am
    Michael Martine - Remarkablogger said

    Determination CREATES creativity!

    The various people and paths taken to join in this journey are really stereotype-busting. Which is great, because it reminds us that anyone can do this.

  6. September 28th, 2008 at 11:07 am
    Vickie Pynchon said

    We have all experienced the moment of our own lives coming into being, arising from what seems like nothing, suddenly. It happens, as e.e. cummings wrote, “only and whenever we are faithful to ourselves.” We must, as Rilke wrote, be ready for anything, if we wish to live authentically; we must be willing to accept the fruit we more or less naturally produce — the grapefruit or orange or apple without judging it to be the wrong sort of fruit appearing at an inconvenient time, as if we weren’t the ones who scattered the seeds, laid down the tree’s roots, watered,tended, waited, patiently or not. Accepting our own gifts — well, let me speak for myself — accepting my own gifts was the most perplexing and difficult work I had to do. What I forced came misshapen and mistaken. What came into being when I stopped struggling against myself was the only and every thing the world had asked of me and me of it. Thanks for the providing the place and the impetus to share!

  7. September 28th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
    Ulla said

    I think you have to be determined to develop your creativity. Mine was somewhat buried in my daily life, till I had to cope with a severe personal loss. That loss made me think about my goals in life in general, and to develop my creativity was one of them. That means writing, painting and taking photographs. I am still determined - without that I think I would run the danger of getting my creativity buried under the stress of daily life again.

  8. September 28th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Michael,
    Yeah, it’s true. We can tilt our heads a bit and find new solutions, if we’re damned determined to solve our problems. And when we’re done doing that someone calls it creativity. :)

  9. September 28th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Vickie!
    Welcome! It’s great to see you!
    I know the feeling of being a bad facsimile of myself. Wishing me something that I’m and then finally finding that I’m pretty darn good at being what I already am.

    Thanks for that lovely reminder, which you said more beautifully than I ever could.

  10. September 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Ulla,
    How sorry we’d all be if we gave up what we create and we have it in us — just look at any group of 3-year-olds.

    Glad to hear you’re valuing yours.

  11. September 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
    Juggling Frogs said

    My friend’s 17 year old daughter, Leah, is the embodiment of diligence and creativity. She founded what is now an international girls magazine, YALDAH, written by girls for girls, when she was just 13 years old.

    Her story is amazing. She makes her own luck, but is also the product of a dedicated and talented family.

    She’s now in the running for the grand prize at Wells Fargo’s “Someday Stories” competition.

    She knew what she wanted to do, and started doing it, at age 13. And what’s most impressive, is how much impact a single creative person can have. Her magazine supports and inspires girls creativity and self esteem all over the world, both by giving them the forum and by her own example.

    All this, and she’s not yet out of high school. I think of her every time I feel too… old, busy, tired, … to do something.

  12. September 28th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
    Richard Reeve said

    yes, I see how determination will be the needed child of the commitment I’m running with, especially when the challenge of harnessing the needed energy resurfaces…

  13. September 28th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi JF!
    I read your comment earlier! Wow! She’s a special one. Determined I’m sure of it . . . looks like she’s going to be one of those who has Creativity with a Capital C for sure. I can see why you find her so inspiring. :)

  14. September 28th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Richard!
    I know what you mean about determination being the child of commitment. Yeah. I’m raising one of my own at this very moment. :)

  15. September 28th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
    Juggling Frogs said

    Thanks, Liz. Sometimes it can be discouraging to the “rest of us” to encounter someone who clearly has an extra helping of creativity and determination.

    The study you cited above helps balance that frustration. It’s very comforting, actually.

  16. September 28th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi JF,
    I know what you mean. I think it gets even more so on the Internet where we see so many people everywhere doing so many amazing things all around us. It can overwhelm me. :)

  17. October 13th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
    Is That Noisy Guy On Twitter Creative or Just a Pain in the . . . ? - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. said

    [...] Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, he found that it wasn’t easy to pin down what determines a creative life, it seemed to hinge upon the determination to follow a creative [...]

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