Set the bar... lower.

As you embark on your next creative project or piece of work, I invite you to think about it a little differently…

 What if you lowered your expectations?

Set the bar lower than you think is needed.

 What if there was no right or wrong? What if there was no good or bad?

Ignore potential outcomes and results.

What if you created something just because it interested you?

Get committed to your curiosities.

At the beginning of creation - the start of any creative work - we should recalibrate our expectations. When we start a project, we shouldn’t try to be good. Not even close. Good - or even good enough - introduces the idea of measurement. With measurement our mind shifts to results and outcomes. Those thoughts won’t serve your creativity. At the start we should not be tempted by thoughts of good or bad.  Creation, real creation, always begins with an imperfect first step. A step that once taken can’t possibly communicate to you how things will turn out. That’s what makes creative work exciting, the unknown of how it may unfold. In creative work your focus should be to take many steps without feeling the pressure to get it right or make it good. True creation requires you to follow your desires and see what emerges.

Let your imagination run free.

It’s hard to do. Lowering the bar. We all set the bar too high for our work. We want perfection. We want our work to be better than others. We want it to be the best it can be. There’s a problem and limitation with this type of thinking, we make it about competition. And with competition comes judgement. We start to compare ourselves to others and the work that has come before. As we introduce competition and judgement into the creative process, we condition our minds to focus on beating what is already in the world.  In this state, we are following a path to make something better but that’s not true creation. Will this thinking result in the truly new and novel? Unlikely.

Set the bar low, especially at the start of creative work. Remove any form of expectation. Eliminate measurement, judgement, and competition. Allow yourself to play, explore and experiment without worrying about outcomes. Create because what you’re making excites and intrigues you. 

Do you ever wonder why the formula for every morning show on radio appears (almost) identical? Because we set the bar too high at the start. We start with the right intentions but all that is undone the minute we ask ourselves; how do we get to number 1? It’s that thinking that encourages us to study what is working elsewhere and to compare ourselves to others. Instead of being free to imagine something truly unique we get pulled in by the allure of what already exists. We use best practices and so-called proven techniques. We end up creating something very similar to what is already in the world.

So, what if you lowered your expectations at the start and rather than creating to win, you simply created? 

Start by asking yourself different questions…

How can this be beautiful?

What is interesting about it?

Could it provoke a different dialogue?

Does it excite, even scare, you?

When you change how you think about starting the creative process doesn’t it feel more liberating, inspiring, exhilarating? 

Set your expectations lower.