How to be an amazing creator?

A lot of us want to be creators. We look at amazing creators and wonder how they make it so effortless. We wonder - How do they hold it all together? How do they stay true to their purpose and path? How do they create awesome stuff day in and out? How do they find the time? Is it worth it in the end? We answer these questions in this blog. 

Image of a blow glass creator

Vouch was born to empower amazing creators, and in this blog, we share what it takes to be one. Before that, let's understand where the world is heading. 

The world is moving back to creators.

Before the industrial revolution set in, outside of commodities such as spices, jewelry, and other regular goods, production was dominated by individual creators in the middle ages. The famed muslin cloth creators of India, weavers, painters, artists, potters, glassmakers, karigars, bakers, chocolatiers, carpenters, tailors, etc., ruled local commerce. 

Once the industrial revolution set in, many of these trades became commoditized. With the onset of computers, sophisticated machines, and Artificial Intelligence (AI), many trades such as manufacturing intricate jewelry pieces became commoditized. In its need to reduce the burden of manual work, more and more "manual work" is being automated. Software programming - once the preserve of "highly paid" coders is now seeing a no-code revolution. 

While it may look like full-scale automation of vast industries is underway, the parallel trend is the emergence of tools that are so powerful that it is empowering creators. With tools such as 3D Printers, 3D Designs, AI that helps analyze your creations, creators can become more powerful and more independent. Due to the nature of the global economy, which makes connected people more successful, you have a double-edged sword. You can become more successful and wield more influence. 

Traits of Amazing Creators

1. The Best Creators Adapt

The one thing that separates the best from the average is their ability to adapt to a changing world. While many amazing creators hold out and stay on the path and method they have come to know, the best creators adapt. When the remaining creators do jump in, they take the world by storm. Take the example of Streaming Media or OTT Platforms. 

Poster of the TV Series True Detective

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in HBO's True Detective

While most big-screen actors have held out joining OTT Platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc., Leading actors in the West have jumped right in in places such as India. Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet are some stars that have jumped right into the trend and produced and acted in online TV Shows. Many older and younger musicians have adopted platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook and have started building bigger fan bases on the music front. Adapt - it will help you immensely.

2. The Best creators reinvent - constantly

India is home to many musical traditions. The two most popular ones are Hindustani - widely followed in the North with lots of Persian, Turkic, Middle Eastern influences and Carnatic Music which is indigenous to South India - pioneered by the south Indian roving music monk - Purandaradasa and deepened immensely by the Trinity of Saints - Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Deekshitar and Shyama Sastry, and Annamacharya. 

While both forms of music have their own traditions, Carnatic music, which has remained the preserve of an upper-class elite, is undergoing a quiet renaissance. Musicians such as Jayanthi Kumaresh (pic below) are embracing platforms such as YouTube and Facebook and heralding newer tunes. Jayanthi, who is, by all means, a junior musician amongst senior musicians, has built a following by re-inventing the music that is played with the Veena, perhaps the oldest traditional Carnatic music instrument.

Jayanthi Kumaresh Veena

Jayanthi Kumaresh - Now an Iconic Veena Artist

3. The Best Creators create surprises

On the hugely watched and highly successful Master Chef Australia, chef Heston Blumenthal is a dreaded judge. He has managed to surprise contestants and viewers time and again with his amazing desserts. With creations that surprise, shock, and awe people, Heston has managed to stay in people's minds as an amazing chef.

Lady Gaga image

Chef Heston Blumenthal and His Creations

Lady Gaga image

Another classic western example of this is Lady Gaga. Not only has she constantly reinvented herself, but she has also managed almost every time to surprise her audiences and fans with her crazy designs and creations. The Movie with Bradley Cooper - A Star is Born is a move in the same direction. 

Amazing creators achieve surprise by constant experimentation, constant research on what's working, looking at what the World is trending towards, and creating an enormous amount more than they consume.

4. Create versus consume mindset

This is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the amazing creator world. When I was growing up, I was always in awe of the students who had managed to ace the class one more time and continued to do so again and again. As I watched them and their habits closely, I realized that amazing creators live vastly simple but different lives compared to others.

They are driven by a sense of purpose and routine. They have established clear processes that help them enjoy the simple aspects of their life by greatly reducing the "consumer" force within them. While public displays of wealth etc., that we see from the outside, they are mostly creating far more than consuming. If you plan to be a YouTube star, you have to jump into creator mode, which means the number of videos and OTT streams you are consuming has to vastly come down. 

Further, to be a creator, you need to have a lot of depth. Depth comes from throwing yourself at the deep end of what you are creating and learning everything there is about it. Once you do that, you can add your own perspective and bring it down to the level that others can understand. This is another open secret of awesome creators.

5. Brand, Presence, Network, Authenticity, Crazy

The last cog in the wheel is creating a powerful online presence (See our previous blog on this. Amazing creators know that they need to build a powerful online presence to reach out to the world. They build a routine of posting about their creations, experiments, and thoughts - all very carefully calibrated with the "Brand" they have come to be known for.

They build a network of influencers, fans, managers, customers that have the ability to radiate their creations out to the rest of the world. In turn, they also add value to a few hand-picked people and pour their life into them. 

Image of hand asking one to be authentic

They are also quirky, have their own idiosyncracies, and are authentic. They stay true to their own inner voice that urges them to stay true to who they are. They are also crazy enough to believe that they can win because of who they are. When they share this authenticity and craziness, millions who have been beaten down in life's whack-a-mole cookie-cutter thinking find instant acceptance.

Conclusion

Now that you know what it takes to be an amazing creator go be one. A word of caution - create a system for yourself and protect your life's work, especially in the financial realm. Use digital escrow platforms such as Vouch to make your financial living easy.

Read our earlier blogs on this: 

How to Series #11 - Building a Powerful Online Presence

How to Series #10 - How to avoid the Price Question

Hero or System - Which one are you?

Write to us at letstalk@iamvouched.com to share your strategies.

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