Mapping to Creativity

Creativity begins when you find your North Star

Goals are often hailed as the gold standard to achieving results. However, there’s a critical oversight in assuming that goals are enough to get to your dream destination. While it may be true that well defined goals illuminate the path forward, it’s actually just the initial footing for a long journey ahead.

Embarking on a creative endeavor is similar to navigating through a misty unknown terrain. Goals act as beacons that we lay along an unknown path. Unfortunately, even the most SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals only provide faint germane guidance that can often lead you into hidden pitfalls if not careful.

The Stability of a Map

In order to successfully traverse through an unknown and dimly lit path, one skill required is to carefully balance between asserting assumptions and rapidly implementing feedback. The tool that best captures this is roadmapping.

In all creative paths I’ve worked in such as music, painting, writing, or software engineering, there is often a pattern of starting with broad strokes and artfully finishing with refined strokes to bring your work to life. Creating a roadmap is no different.

A roadmap is your comprehensive strategy that adapts to the evolving nature of your creative work. For creative professionals, the path is rarely linear. And no matter how critical an end goal is, the journey to get there is just as vital.

Here’s 4 ways a roadmap is indispensable to a creative journey:

• Adaptability: Roadmaps are flexible and allow for changes as landscapes change or more insight is received
• Visibility: It gives you a a clear overview of where you are. You get both, a sense of progress as well as clear steps to move foward
• Focus: Work being chunked down into smaller more bite-size pieces prevents burnout and overwhelm. It keeps you focused on small steps to keep the momentum going.
• Balance: A well crafted roadmap takes account of the noise and demands of personal life and integrates them into the plan rather than making them obstacles keeping you from your passion.

Crafting a Course to Creativity

Every artist is both a navigator and an explorer. A roadmap serves us to stay anchored to our vision while having the flexibility to weather through storms of anxiety or foggy days of uncertainty.

A well drafted roadmap is a living document that grows with you. A roadmap doesn’t just get you to your destination, it also enriches the journey with a blend of stability and flexibility.

A roadmap helps truly unleash your creativity by allowing you to remain focused on the next smaller action item while granting certainty and psychological safety that you’re headed in the right direction.

Originally published at https://mentalchai.substack.com.