Perhaps, it’s your interactions with other people that change you, rather than your individual efforts to change.
I am not much of a creator. At least, that’s how I feel right now. I am a thinker with a lot of ideas but I can’t seem to produce much in the way of external creations despite all the ideas swirling around in my head. My tendencies — being cerebral, perfectionistic, and reserved with my creations — prevent me from putting my ideas out into the world. I have tried and failed to overcome these tendencies through personal reflection and self-analysis. However, I want to create things. I want to turn the ideas in my head into impactful realities. I want to impose my insights and theories onto the world.
It occurred to me that maybe connecting with others — creators in particular — is the way to do this, or to bring myself closer to this goal. In the past, I have felt I need to develop a creative skillset or body of work before collaborating with other creators. What if, instead, I connected with creators first — bringing my already developed non-creative tools/skillset — to their pursuits? The goal would be to immerse myself in their activities and allow their tendencies to rub off on me, gradually pulling me beyond my current self into a new, more capable, self.
What are some examples of skills I have?
- Writing — I view my writing as low-level but I have an instinctive sense of grammar and don’t have to have someone else proofread my stuff to make it look professional. That is a skill a lot of people don’t have and would find useful.
- Connecting concepts — I’m enthusiastic about connecting disparate topics and ideas. A lot of people can’t do that. I know this because they think I’m “random” and ask me, “How you come up with this stuff?”
- Teaching Simply — I have been told I’m very good at breaking things down and communicating them simply. I also make a point to do this whenever I’m explaining something to someone. A lot of people don’t even think to do this and don’t care about it much, which makes it a somewhat rare skill. Also, I suppose not everyone is good at doing this, even if they do care enough to try.
No matter how unimpressive a skill seems to you, there are other people who don’t have it and could use it.
Make a list of skills you have and could contribute.
