The Laws of Creativity

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.

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.

Keep in mind, however, that many assumptions are correct. Do not turn an exercise of validation into a witch hunt that focuses on proving the ideas you want to be true. If you aren’t careful, you will waste a lot of time and energy in denial before ending back where you started.

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 Disruption You have every right to challenge, question, and improve upon the ideas that are handed to you. At some point, these ideas evolved from and innovated on what came before them. It follows, then, that they themselves will eventually be replaced.

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.

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.

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

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