The Surprisingly Boring Habits of Brilliant People

I read how 160+ successful creatives work. Four things kept popping up.

If you consider yourself a creative person, you're going to love this post.

And even if you think you "don't have a creative bone in your body," keep reading. Because, spoiler alert, everyone is creative, and what I'm about to share applies to any endeavor you'd like to be successful at—from painting or writing to running a business, becoming a green thumb, or learning to cook like Julia Child.

I just finished re-reading Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. It's one of my favorite insights into how outstanding creatives structure their days, work spaces, and lives to show up and get sh*t done.

When I first stumbled upon the book, I started reading it with the hopes of discovering the way to finally make myself as fruitful in my creative processes (namely, writing and business) as Dolly Parton is at songwriting (unfortunately not one of the creatives profiled, a missed opportunity given that she's written over 3,000 songs in her career, but there I go, digressing yet again).

Was the secret in rising at 5 a.m. to do my work before the birds began singing or in burning vintage oil lamps late into the night after all the rest of the world had long entered slumber?

Well, about a third of those profiled were morning people, another third night owls, and the remaining were scattered throughout the day. So, that can't be "it."

Was the key to prosperity drinking coffee brewed from exactly 60 coffee beans (as Beethoven did), or should I drink tea instead? Or should I try standing on my head (like Igor Stravinsky), eating only two croissants daily (as Marcel Proust), or working naked (like Victor Hugo did his writing)?

Was it in having a stiff drink (or two or three or 17, as so many "tortured" artists) before working, or should I wait until after? Or abstain entirely (as far fewer)?

Should I work all day with a burning passion or only dedicate an hour or two?

Turns out, none of these things or a hundred other habits are the one-way ticket to Artistic Paradise. Like flying to Bali, you can get there any number of ways, on countless airlines, with or without layovers, at whatever time of day you prefer, in first class or coach.

Bummer, right? I bet you, like me, were hoping for THE ANSWER. Unfortunately, it's not a multiple-choice-type test.

Still, as I read, I did notice four key trends throughout, and I realized that if everyone adopted them, we would all be much more efficacious at whatever it is we're trying to do with the "one wild and precious life" Mary Oliver reminded us we are given.

So, without further ado, I present to you my summation of the four habits outstanding virtuosos have in common:

1. Walking. Whether through the streets of Copenhagen late at night or the English countryside early in the morning, beside Lake Geneva in the afternoon or their own garden throughout the day, by far the vast majority of the 160+ artists walked. A LOT.

   In spurts or all at once didn't matter, but something about moving the body in our most basic of rhythms is essential to our ability to generate ideas and execute them well and consistently.

2. Doing what works for the individual. Some people thrive with military-like structure, others roll around in chaos like pigs in mud. Time of day, length of work session, level of seriousness versus playfulness, decibel level of office environment, and eleventy hundred other factors to consider are all dependent on what actually works for YOU.

   Instead of trying to make yourself follow someone else's blueprint, experiment with your routines. Figure out what works and use it, and don't force anything that doesn't. And, along those lines...

3. Adapting over time. Even the most systematic of mathematicians (yes, they're creatives too) changed what they did and how they did it over the course of their lives.

   You might have to squeeze in working on your business after your 9-5 (🎶cue Dolly's hit in the background) or write your novel after the kids go to Dreamland. But when your business takes off or you become a full-time author? Things get to change. Embrace it.

   Whether it is a different routine in summer over winter, weekdays or weekends, on deadline or piddling with your next great idea, or your season of life, know that your rituals will evolve as you do.

   Because by far the most important aspect of progress is...

4. Consistency over the long haul. Flaubert obsessed over finding le mot juste (“the exact right word”) for every. single. word. Which meant he often only eeked out only a single sentence or a few lines over the course of an entire day of writing...for approximately 47,500 words.

   Anothony Trollope, on the other hand cranked out a whopping 2,500+ words in just three hours before leaving for his job at the post office every morning.

   In the end, the tortoise and the hair actually tied, because both were prolific due to their consistency. They found the intensity and speed that worked for them. And they stuck with it.

So, 160+ creatives, four common themes.

If you were to buckle down on just one of these habits, which would YOU pick, and what might it help you to accomplish? Comment and let me know.

Walking, writing, matcha-ing, and sharing,

Chazz 

P.S.

I'm considering leading my first ever year-long program all around adapting the creative process to the four seasons. It'd be part book club, part think tank, part kick-in-the-pants coaching and accountability.

IF I did, would YOU be interested? Send me an email and let me know you'd like to hang out with me and other like-spirited creatives for a year so I know whether or not to bother crafting this group container.