How To Make an Impact in What Matters Most to You

Creativity has many definitions. For me, creativity is solving problems in new ways and conceiving new ways of looking at the world.

Creativity can be expressed in many forms, like art, science, and thought.

But creativity is all too often undiscoverable and incomprehensible.

Art, without distribution and discovery, moves nobody. Did it ever exist? Science, without clear explanation and advocacy, won’t be understood by the masses. Will it make an impact?

Thought, if not written down and shared with others, changes nothing. Does it matter?

Your ideas, if not captured and executed, affect nobody. Are they relevant?

Creation must be made accessible for consumption. This is your real job.

Execution, distribution, marketing, messaging, strategy, leadership . . . this is business.

Without great management and stewardship, creativity—like fireworks—will flash and then dim to dust.

The potential of creativity—and your ability to sustain yourself and serve others through creativity—is more about business than it is about ideas.

But I’m not talking about making money; I’m talking about making an impact.

It’s about channeling, packaging, and delivering your talent for others to consume it.

It’s also about scaling your talent for more people to benefit from it. With creativity comes a drive to succeed.

But unlike traditional measures of success—like money, titles, or status—the creative mind is driven by a desire to see creativity come to life. Success is making an impact in what matters most to you.

To make an impact with creativity, you must love what you do.

Otherwise, don’t bother. It requires too many hours of hardship, self- doubt, and pain to conceive of something new and birth it into the world. It takes struggle that you genuinely believe is worth the pain. You must do it as a labor of love.

To keep at it long enough to become exceptional, your labor must be sustainable. You must learn to earn a living with your art (or science or thought) so that you can nourish yourself as you nourish your work.

In Make Your Mark , the third book in 99U’s “missing curriculum” for creative leaders, we dive into creativity as a business. From defining your purpose and the problem you’re solving to building products that serve people, how do you set yourself up to make an impact in what matters most to you?

The book is our attempt to outfit you for creativity as a business. If you don’t manage your ideas like an entrepreneur, they will die with you. Jump in and take the reins.

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This post is excerpted from 99U’s new book, Make Your Mark: The Creative’s Guide to Building a Business with Impact, which features insights from 21 visionary founders, designers, and entrepreneurs. Learn more.

via 99U http://ift.tt/1tU9E2J