The Laws of Creativity

Epictetus, the Greek philosopher, once said, “When someone is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval.”

Ask yourself, What will really happen if I don’t succeed? Frequently, the answer is: Not much. Failure can be a huge hit emotionally, but more often than not it is just a small hit to reality.

Anaïs Nin, the French-Cuban writer, said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” How big or small your world is—and the life you lead—is wholly up to you.

Take two or three of those curiosities—the ideas that develop from the things you know and learn—and combine them to form a new concept. Don’t force it, but find existing overlaps and nooks and crannies that help them naturally fit together.

The ideal number of concepts to combine is two or three. Any more than three and the person on the other end, the one trying to understand you, isn’t going to make all the necessary connections for your new concept to hit. Any less and, well, you just have one thing—that’s called copying.

The Law of Connection Base concepts can neither be created nor destroyed, they simply merge to form new combinations. Creativity is not about creating—it is about combining.

we inherit the assumptions of those who came before us, including ones that have been around for ages. But that doesn’t necessitate their truth. It is up to us to keep aware of the impermanent nature of ideas—to appreciate the difference between fact and “fact”—that reverberate through times and cultures, that are delivered by family, friends, auth

According to Alexander, “With the right attitude, self-imposed limitations vanish.” The trick is recognizing that most limitations, while seemingly originating from others, ultimately rely on you to give them power.

most limitations require one’s own permission to be applied, that many can be rejected or fashioned into new ones.