Creativity LOVES Constraints

06 Apr Creativity LOVES Constraints

I was talking with a client recently about their worries around the uncertainty of our current circumstances, and how it might affect their career change plans.

Maybe you’re feelin’ worried about these things too, so I wanted to share with you what I shared with them.

As humans, we’re neurologically wired to desire certainty, ’cause to our brains, certainty = safety.

When something disrupts our certainty around life (like, uh, a pandemic) we become kinda untethered, panicky, worried about “the unknown.”

But what is “the unknown”? It’s really just newness. A change in our status quo that we didn’t initiate.

And here’s the ironic thing about change: we hate it, and yet we’re masters at adapting to it.

The only reason you or I are even alive today is because our ancestors successfully navigated their ways through every challenge they faced.

You see, we may be wired to desire certainty, but we’re also wired to be ever-evolving.

We’re innovators. And y’know when we innovate best? When we’re met with challenges.

Creativity LOVES constraints. It thrives on them.

And this pandemic we’re living through? BIG constraint.

But have you noticed all of the creativity that’s already bloomed as a result of it?

You’re working from home, even though your boss always said remote work “wasn’t possible.” Kids are now going to school from their living room. Brick and mortar shops are pivoting their business models to no longer rely on foot traffic.

Certainly not all companies or industries will survive. Adapting is a choice, and some will wait too long or not try at all.

But here’s what I know for sure: what we’re going through right now will trigger a wave of innovation.

New industries will be formed. And new career paths will be created that have never existed before. It’s already happening.

We may not know exactly what the world will look like on the other side of this pandemic, but one thing’s certain: it will be full of possibility. Which means your career will be too.