The Number One Habit of Highly Creative People

I read an interesting post after I returned from my recent vacation.  It was a titled “The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People.”  This post was by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.  The post caught my attention for two reasons.  One, it reminded me of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” which I have heard many times.  And two, because I like to think I’m a highly creative person.

Leo Babauta defines the number one creativity habit as “Solitude.”

I spent some time pondering this, and it does ring true to me.  The idea for almost every blog post I have written has come to me while I’m alone.  I have a whole notebook full of blog post ideas.  I have formed many of these into blog posts, but many, many more sit in my notebook waiting for the opportunity to leap onto the computer screen.  I’m talking hundreds and hundreds of ideas all coming to me while I’m all by myself.

I keep a notebook in my car, one at work, and one at home for this very reason.  My car notebook has the most ideas.  It’s the time when I’m alone the most, on the drive to and from work.  The work and home notebooks have a lot of ideas filling their pages as well, but even most of those came to me at times when I am alone.

Here are a few examples of blogs that developed in complete solitude (or at least without interaction with other people.)

• Embrace Lame Mutant Powers with a New Perspective – came to me as I walked down the hall by myself at work
• Valentine’s Day Should Not be an Apology; It Should be an Expression of Love – came to me as I was browsing Valentine ’s Day cards
• A Comfortable Content Sadness – came to me on the drive home

While I’m interacting with others, I may have ideas enter my head, but I usually process those ideas in solitude.  I’ve had a few times where I would pause a conversation with my wife to jot down an idea, but most often the ideas come later, when I’m by myself.

This gives rise to the number two creative habit: “Participation”

Conversation and interaction with other is good fodder for ideas.  In the moment of conversation however, it’s difficult to take the time to mold and craft ideas.  Later, however, after the participation, conversation, and interaction have passed, we usually find ourselves in solitude.  This is the time when the conversations float back into our minds and the ideas can be given the proper time and attention to develop into creative outlets.

This happens all the time for me.  As I sit in solitude, often thoughts of conversation or actions drift into mind.  Being alone I have time to thresh them out, and form them into more organized ideas.  Ideas that can later come out in my blog.

Here are a few examples of blog posts that came to me after interacting with others.

A Supernatural Scent – came to me after a discussion with my wife.

• The Campfire – A Collaborative Discussion of Friendship – came to me after a real life campfire with some friends.
• Reiki – Unexpected Messages and Clarity – came to me after a Reiki training class.
• Finding New Perspective – An Enchanted Walkabout – came to me after participating in an enchanted walkabout with a group of others.

As I looked through my archive of blog posts, I had an interesting observation.  A majority of my ideas came from interactions with others, either in person or through reading.  I actually have way more ideas that come from participation with others or by reading than by sitting by myself with no input from others.

Leo sums it up best when he wrote, “We need inspiration from without, but we need creation from within.”

Head over to Zen Habits and read his post “The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People” to see all his thoughts on the topic.

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Tagged as: Creativity, Friends