I need to get back to the gym.

Since turning 50, I feel my muscles atrophy much quicker than I remember them atrophying. The decay is faster. Recovery takes longer. Use it or lose it they say. Unfortunately "they" are correct.

So, beginning this next week, I will be going to the gym and lifting heavy things. This will have to become a habit. Something I do for the rest of my time on this earth, so it seems.

Creative work is much like going to the gym.

Talent is dangerous. Natural ability deceives us into thinking creation doesn’t take work. Creation does take work. Creativity is a muscle and a discipline.

Muscle. Creativity, like the muscles in my arms and my legs, must be worked out on a regular basis. It needs to be used, worked out, stressed, and rested. If we see creativity as a Muse or a magic or even some sort of inspiration, we view it wrongly - to our own creative failure. Creativity is a muscle. use it or lose it. There’s nothing magical about that at all.

Discipline. Here is a common myth: If I regulate creativity, if I schedule my creative times, if I discipline myself to do the work, there will be no magic. There will be no charm. My creative genius will cease to be. I'll be a slave to the schedule.

That is crap.

Creativity comes out to play when it’s scheduled. There’s nothing magical about it. It is a discipline.

If there’s one thing that daily blogging has taught me it is that I can’t wait around for words. I need to actually put the words on the page.

So what is your creative project? Schedule some time on your calendar. Turn off the Internet. Put your phone in another room. Pull out pen and paper if you must. Do it today.

Butt. In. The. Chair.
Do. The. Work.

Then do the same again tomorrow.

That’s exactly what creative genius looks like.