It’s Important to Trust Yourself (And Your Creative Process)

Inside: Creativity is about process more than product. In this post I share a four stage creative process that can help you learn to trust yourself and your unique creative process.

If we assume that only those skilled at handcrafts, fine art, or digital art are creative, it’s likely because we equate creativity to a product or specific type of outcome. For example, a knitted sweater, a finished painting that I can buy and hang on my wall, artwork or an ad campaign to market the latest popular gadget.

But if we shift our focus from creative product or outcome to creative process, then it’s easier to understand that we are all inherently creative. We can stop comparing, judging, or fighting our unique creative process and instead hone it. Or at least trust it, so that we’re able to use it to bring our vision or dreams to life.

Furthermore, I’d love us to release the idea that creativity is only about problem solving or attaining a precise end-goal (attachment to outcome).

I see living creatively – or handcrafting a brave and beautiful life – as a process. A choice to honour the beauty and wisdom of every season. A process of learning to trust ourselves and become our most honest and healed/integrated selves. A journey that is above all about experiencing the world and life more than about producing or consuming.

And, creativity is in part about being flexible and agile. Seeing beyond the current limitations or boxes. Taking the longer or broader view, or digging in deeper to uncover new insight and possibilities.

It includes believing and practicing that there are multiple pathways forward – toward our dream, to a brave and beautiful life, to a world that makes space for diversity even. Flexibility supports resilience. Flexibility allows us to meet new challenges and tilt, but not break.

what happens if we focus on creative process vs creative product?

Whether you’re an educator, statistician, hobby gardener, professional artist, or stay at home parent, bringing more awareness to your unique creative process and learning to trust it more, will lead to exciting benefits.

You might experience breakthroughs of insight or wisdom that you were previously unable to access or ‘see’. You might live with more joy and pleasure in your life and work. And you may experience a new or increased appreciation for the way you are wired or knit together.

In addition, as you befriend yourself and deepen self-trust, you will more readily witness your strengths and areas of deepest gifting. And because your place of deepest gifting is tied to sense of purpose, you are more likely to feel fully alive and live with a deep sense of purpose.

Do You Have the Skills You Need to Express Your Creativity?

If you’re interested, you could take the unabridged version of the Epstein Creativity Competencies Inventory for Individuals (or ECCI-i). This test measures four types of skills that help people express their creativity. It has been scientifically validated with a sample of more than 13,000 people in 47 countries. The Ultimate Creativity Test: Do You Have the Skills You Need To Be Creative? (mycreativityskills.com)

listen to the related rebranding middle age podcast episodes

what’s happening in the brain during creative process?

This is a fabulous article on the science behind creativity. A few bits pulled from this article:

Creativity can be challenging to define and measure. Neuroimaging during creative process, “is helping to shift the focus from creative product to creative process.” says Adam Green, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist at Georgetown University and founder of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity.

Creative process seems to involve different brain regions working together in a unique way. Two of these regions are the cognitive control network which is involved in executive functions such as planning and problem-solving. And the default mode network which is most active during mind-wandering or daydreaming.

John Kounios, PhD, is an experimental psychologist who studies creativity and insight at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He says that “creativity looks different from person to person. And even within one brain, there are different routes to a creative spark: One involves what cognitive scientists call “System 1” (also called “Type 1”) processes: quick, unconscious thoughts—aha moments—that burst into consciousness. A second route involves “System 2” processes: thinking that is slow, deliberate, and conscious. Creativity can use one or the other or a combination of the two.”

I’ll tie these into the following four stage process of creative breakthroughs.

A four stage process of creative breakthroughs and moments of insight

In Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, I learned about a four stage process of creative breakthroughs. I found this encouraging and affirming. It helped me understand my own process. This model was created by psychologist, Graham Wallas. It was originally shared in his 1926 book (reprinted in 2014), The Art of Thought.

The four stage process goes like this:

1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Illumination
4. Verification

Here’s a brief, imperfect overview of each stage of the creative process

In the Preparation Stage we formulate or identify a problem, or set a goal. Then we gather ideas, read, sketch, tinker, ponder the details. I might mind-map and outline at this stage. We try to work our way to a solution or ‘map-out’ a project. This seems to me like a Type 1 process (re: the section just above on neuroimaging).

The Incubation Stage could take minutes, weeks, or months (years, I assume in some cases). Don’t try to force this. Walk away from the problem or project at hand. Let your mind wander. Have fun, jump into the shower, go for a walk. Fun fact, a 2014 Stanford study showed that walking increases creative output (creative brainstorming and inspiration) by an average of 60%. This mind-wandering stage is when our Default Mode Network becomes active. Above all, try to let yourself mentally relax. We can’t force this or make it faster. But we can intentionally learn to recognize our inner voice and build self-trust so that we don’t miss or ignore insight or direction that arises. This sounds like a Type 2 process.

The Illumination Stage is when the unconscious breaks through the conscious mind like aha or lightbulb moments. They arise suddenly, without effort. We might have a sudden knowing of how to resolve an issue or how to move forward in a project. We could have a ‘knowing’ that motivates us to consider an option that we wouldn’t have considered before. For example, when searching for my first home, while in the shower one day I had a sudden image of a house in my town. I also heard an urging to go look at it. This house had never been on my radar. Long story short, this became our first home. Type 2 process.

SIDE NOTE: I’ve previously shared about my experiences of what I now call Numinous Experiences after reading Spellbound by psychiatrist Daniel Z. Lieberman. Read this post about 5 weird and wonderful things about me as an HSP for more. In some cases, these numinous experiences are part of my illumination stage. Though, they often arise in challenging or transitional life seasons vs when I’m focused on a specific project.

Finally, in the Verification Stage we tie up loose ends. It’s here that we fill in gaps, create logical structure, fit pieces into a larger puzzle or project. Like with the Preparation Stage, this is a largely conscious, intentional activity. We can train ourselves to become more efficient at this. Again, I’d say this sounds like a Type 1 process.

why we might mistake our process for procrastination

I had a life-long relationship with procrastination, freeze, and shut down. However, I also wrongly judged some of the ways that I work or process life and ideas as ‘procrastination.’ This judgment hindered me because it amped up shame and anxiety which definitely do not support creative thinking.

I’ll give you an example. For my membership community, I create educational modules based on a theme. The modules are primarily evidence-based and I tend to put a lot of energy into research and ongoing learning. But as much as I love a good evidence-base, I’m very intuitive and gut-led.

So part of my creative process is that I start by gathering information and ideas, snippets of quotes, and research/studies I want to highlight or expand upon (Preparation). I rough out a module using a template I follow. I might pull out books from my shelf to find something that springs to mind and/or listen to a podcast or even an audio book on the topic at hand. This can take many hours but then I’ll be tapped out. This is when I need to walk away.

I go about my life and ignore my work for a bit while I’m forming connections in my mind and heart (Incubation). It’s hard to describe what this feels like. While the first part described above can look messy on the outside, this part of my process feels messy on the inside. At least at first. If I can stay in a position of trust and carry on with life, then all of a sudden I’ll receive flashes of insight and wisdom.

At this point, I’ll understand a connection that I couldn’t see before. Or I’ll have a sudden clarity about how I want to teach or offer a concept or practice. I often experience awe and delight in this phase as my intuition, unconscious, or inner voice gets loud (Illumination).

Next, I can sit down at my laptop and hammer it out. The words tend to flow more easily now. Things make sense in my mind and I feel an emotional connection to the work, so I’m better able to communicate what I’d like my community members to know, feel, and practice. There is a focus and experience of pleasure in this stage of the process. I often feel very much on purpose (Verification).

We can learn to feel the distinct difference between avoidance – or running from something out of fear or self-doubt – and allowing the creative process room to breathe and do its thing.

join the life visioning course

My Life Visioning Process creates the gentle structure or scaffolding of your life that supports your inner work. Or that supports you in being your True Self and thriving, flourishing, or showing up fully to life in each new season.

I’ve discovered that in the tension between dreaming, visioning, and creative idea generation on one hand, and practicing imperfect action in the day-to-day intentional rhythms and habits that keep me healthy and help me bring my goals to life on the other hand, lives ease, flow, and joy.

Learning how to value and embody rest and play, listening inward and taking wise action, pouring in and pouring out – allows you to feel fully alive and helps you thrive in every season.

Learn more or join the Life Visioning Course.

Krista xo