The benefit of being a creative entrepreneur is that you possess not only the abilities to visualize and dream, but also to execute those ideas and bring them to life. These are amazing superhero powers that very few people have. But they are not results in and of themselves. You have to use them! We all know that thinking about writing a book or thinking about creating a song isn’t the same as actually sitting down and writing, painting, or making music.

One of the potential blind spots for creatives that can stunt your growth is only creating when we feel like it.

If we only create when we felt like it we would only be doing our craft twenty percent of the time. But the good news is that you can transform this particular blind spot into one of your greatest strengths and I’ll give you practical steps to do exactly that.

Remember the honeymoon phase of launching your first business idea? Your first book? What about your first series of art? You had a spark of inspiration. You started to venture out on the journey of creating tangible results and bringing ideas and dreams to reality. If your inspiration had a level from one to ten, you were at twenty!

But overtime–especially if you have been creating in your craft for years–it feels like it takes an enormous amount of effort to re-create that same level of inspiration. Your creative tank feels low and more effort is required to get excited. Your feeling of being “into it” fades. You may even feel like you’re “forcing it.” The potential blind spot here is that if you don’t feel inspired you don’t create.

Tip: I want to encourage you to base your creativity, your dreams, and execution on a principle, not on a feeling. Here’s an example of this principle in action: there are days husbands and wives don’t “feel” like loving their spouse. But being married means that spouses must honor the vow they made to commit to loving each other regardless of circumstances and feelings. Why? Because love isn’t a feeling. It’s an action.

Your creativity and leadership as an entrepreneur deserves to be honored the same way you would a marriage. Not only that, but you need to honor it that way in order to be successful. You made a commitment to yourself, your creativity, and your dreams. If you only do the work when you feel creative, it won’t happen.

I’ve learned two things about this principle over the years. First, I’ve discovered that eighty percent of my days are spent doing things I don’t “feel” like doing. The other twenty percent is doing what comes naturally and flows like second nature.

Second, I’ve learned that if you show up to do the work and invest the precious time that has been gifted to you today, you will find that inspiration shows up to meet you. You only find gold if you dig.

Action step: Grab your journal and answer this question: What would you execute and do if you knew you would not fail at it? What is the roadblock? Do you only create and do the work when inspired? What has been the result in the past when you showed up to get things done regardless of how you felt?

The true entrepreneurs that have grit to show up and produce results are those that don’t allow circumstances, relationship dynamics, weather or conditions to create. They create regardless of how they feel.

It’s easy to do the work when you’re in love and on the beginning of the journey. True love, passion, and wisdom reveal themselves when you’re years into the journey, weathering yet another storm, and without any clear sense of direction. . When that happens you have the opportunity to be one of the few that rise above all circumstances and feelings to create results. You’ll be at a level of creativity and output that only a few entrepreneurs possess. This is how you turn a blind spot into what could be your greatest strength.

Question: When it comes to your creativity, what is your single biggest challenge? I’d love a comment below.

More Helpful Links:

This blog post is an excerpt from my latest book, 31 Disciplines of Highly Successful Creatives. Click here to get your copy!

Interested in learning how to build a creative business from the ground up? Click here.

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Would you like to discover your calling? [Free Video Series] Check out my new online mentorship for Christian leaders. Click here to watch now.