Ep 482 | The Steps I've Taken to Develop My Creativity

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off Podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So we are nearing 500 episodes here at the No Days Off Podcast. Of course, thank you all for being along with me on this, this journey, on this ride. I really appreciate everybody's support. But I'm talking about these 500 episodes that we're coming up on because, we'll call it what it is, we've covered an awful lot of ground. Lots of different topics, lots of different strategy and tactics and conversation, things I've had to research or things I've shared about my personal experience. And every now and again, someone asks me the question, Brian, how do you, how do you come up with something new to talk about every single weekday? And the reality is that I've had to be pretty darn creative. I've had to be pretty creative because while there's a lot of synergy between a number of the topics we discuss, and there's some, you know, there's some degree of overlap, for the most part, most every day has some degree of original content. And in doing that, or in developing these episodes, there has to be a degree of creativity. Well, here's the secret, or here's my secret, I should say. I do not, or at least did not, consider myself a very creative person. I would not describe myself as creative. Yes, I do think I think a little differently than many, and yes, I am prideful about my ability to put on a hard hat and go to work. But I don't necessarily think of myself, or I hadn't thought of myself before, as a creative person. However, in hindsight, when I look at creating hundreds of episodes, you know, maybe, maybe I should for a split second give myself some element of credit and say, you know what, there is some creativity there. What I've done though is really kind of think around this creativity and, and how it's evolved for me over the past couple years and, and made a list of those things that I think I did, the very specific tactics, uh, or strategy that I deployed to become a little bit more creative and in doing so have some more content to share with all the No Days Off Nation. Here's what I found. I think that creativity is, is a muscle. It's like any other muscle. It gets stronger, stronger the more you use it, the more you develop it. I think I'm a pretty highly analytical individual, and I tend to be a bit more strategic. My creativity, uh, has kind of come historically from more structured thinking rather than what I would say is free-flowing imagination. However, I found that that imagination had to be enhanced in order for, for me to come up with, with a lot of the stuff that we cover here at No Days Off. So what did I do specifically? As I reflect over the past years, the past couple years, here's, here's what I think I've done. And I think a lot of these things could very much apply in your world if in fact it's your desire to become a bit more creative. Number 1, I think I, I, I was purposeful. I know I was purposeful around changing my inputs. What do I mean by that? Uh, the biggest thing for me is consuming all different sorts of content at a higher level than I ever have before. I've always been, uh, one that, that reads a fair amount, and I've always been curious But I have really had to ramp it up over the past couple years. I've had to read, uh, not just business books but things outside of business. I had to mix in some fiction there, even some philosophy. So I'm consuming all different types of content. Historically, it's always been straightforward business and entrepreneurship, but if you look at the books I'm reading, maybe the podcast I'm listening to, you're going to see a greater diversity of, of, of content than you've ever seen before in my world. In addition, I've been pretty purposeful around surrounding myself with pretty creative thinkers. Not only do I have a fair amount of creative individuals around me, I really observe how they process things. I observe how they think, how they problem solve. I observe how they make connections. Between variables. So not only am I consuming content, I'm actually consuming or analyzing the behavior and actions of those I've surrounded myself with. And like I said, a lot of people I'm around these days, I would, I would deem to be pretty darn creative. So I had to not just change my content, but change my environment a little bit. Lastly, in terms of changing inputs, I think I've been pretty purposeful around exploring new experiences. I have attended more events in the past 2 or 3 years outside of my industry than I ever have before. From going to different college courses to going to technology-related events or seminars, I've really expanded the events that I'm attending beyond just my industry. And that's really challenged my thinking. So those new experiences have kind of challenged my thinking. So in terms of getting creative, becoming more creative, number one, I've changed my inputs. Number two, I've been purposeful around using constraints to my advantage. What do I mean when I say that, using constraints to my advantage? What I've found is that, and you've probably found the same thing, creativity tends to thrive on constraints. So, when I give myself rules, for example, solve a business problem with only $100, or if I challenge myself on a podcast to explain a concept in 7 minutes versus 17 minutes, because of those constraints, because of those rules, I am forced to be a bit more creative. In addition, I think that I have been more purposeful over the past couple years about reverse engineering success. So I study the creative thinking behind different breakthroughs in business and in life and in sports and in marketing, and I work backwards. So it forces me to unpack— so the constraint that is, here's success, and how— and then, then challenging myself to really uncover how it truly happened, I think that that allows for me to study more creative thinking behind those breakthroughs, exposes me to something different. So again, number 1 was change your inputs. Number 2, use constraints to your advantage. Number 3, I think it's a big one for all of us. If you want to be more creative, if you want to develop your creativity, think in what-if types of scenarios. So, ask yourself questions like, what if I had to do this without money? What if I approach this problem from an opposite, from the opposite perspective? What if I started with the end in mind? What would I do if I had half the resources I have today? What would somebody else sitting in my seat If they were to take over my role today, how would they go about handling this? So, I ask a lot of these what or what if questions. And in doing that, or just asking powerful questions in general, I found it prompts me, it forces me to develop that creativity. And then lastly, when I think about how I've really kind of developed creativity, I'll tell you, I've really kind of made a daily habit around it as it pertains to this podcast. And, you know, having gone through hundreds of episodes now, I literally, no joke, walk around each and every day throughout life and business, and I'm constantly thinking, uh, about different ideas, or I observe different things in the world and think, that's a podcast opportunity. That's a podcast idea. That's something I should talk about on the podcast. Sounds somewhat of an unhealthy habit, but it is fascinating to have that lens and see how it's not just enhanced or improved the podcast itself, but how it's improved me and my creativity. I'm writing down ideas every single day on the Notes app on my phone. Every day. There's not a day that passes that I don't jot something down. That I observed or experienced and thought, gosh, how would I articulate that? How could I share that with the No Days Off Nation? Maybe these are business ideas, maybe these are, like I said, topics, maybe these are challenges or things that I've experienced that I got to think a little bit around. Maybe there's ways to improve my team, or maybe they're even just, you know, new approaches or even inventions, believe it or not. I jot these things down and While I scratch out an awful lot of them when it comes recording time, it's amazing how that's forced me to develop this creativity muscle. So, I've got this what I would call idea capturing system. This idea capturing system where I'm using the Notes app, but I also do things like, you know, have a notepad pretty much everywhere including my shower. So, I can write these things down and in doing so, really kind of develop or enhance that creativity. So, just wanted to share some of the steps I've taken to, to develop creativity. My guess is that one or two or a couple of these things resonated with you. And so, the question for you is based on what I discussed today, or maybe not even what I covered today, but it prompted you to think about something else, what steps can you take to develop your creativity? And when you do that, how might that enhance your business, your life, your relationship— relationships, and so on? That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.