What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of creativity in business?
A creative business name, title for your latest offer or creating engaging content probably pop into your mind straight away.
It is so much more than this.
Creativity is an intrinsic part of business life and every aspect of your activities. There are many areas of day-to-day business which feel far from creative yet they are innately so and without creativity in every part of your business, it cannot thrive.
Creativity in business is centred in how you bring your natural skills and energy into the mix.
It’s what helps you design your business to be a comfortable place, where you find freedom to be you.
It’s also how you interact with your audience with a unique energy that gets you standing out in the marketplace.
And it’s the key to building a strong culture that sustains your business and creates growth.
Creativity is, without doubt, a defining factor in a thriving business.
But there is no standard for creativity. It’s utterly unique.
You won’t find it in a 7-step formula, a blueprint for a 6-figure launch or any rigid process with non-negotiable actions.
To understand how creativity factors in your business, you first need to wrap your head around how you create.
You aren’t the product of a formula; you are an individual. This is the source of your natural ability to grow your business – on your own terms.
And although we are all unique, there is a structure of creativity that is innate within us all because we live in a world that follows creative cycles, naturally.
If we restore these natural cycles to business, then creativity can come out to play and your natural genius can become the fuel for business growth.
Creative Cycles
These natural cycles are evident in the 4 phases of each day, 4 seasons of each year, 4 stages of a life, 4 stages of business growth…
Life is a forward flow. There are distinct changes that happen in each of these phases and they all correspond to an element of nature.
How you interpret these phases is the key to your natural ability to create business growth.
Earth is the creator of life and ideas.
Air is the imaginer of possibility.
Fire is the voice of passion.
Water brings meaning and the energy of the future.
The forward flow is through earth, air, fire, then water; as life demonstrates every single day. The elements have guided our understanding of processes for millennia with a beautifully simple and natural system of creativity.
Each idea we have forms, grows, becomes established and finally transforms into a new idea so the cycle can begin again.
The full cycle is the creative process and to be completed, each phase has to happen.
You are naturally attuned to a specific part of the cycle where your creativity is stimulated. It gives your approach a unique style; where you start defines how the creative process works – for you.
Understanding the style of your innate creativity empowers you to act in your zone of genius more of the time and design your business around your natural and developing strengths.
Creative Archetypes
Creativity is defined by broad creative archetypes. These aren’t limits in any shape or form, rather they are gateways to creative expression.
Whilst you will have a particular inclination to one, you are all of the archetypes at different times and in different situations.
Your dominant creative archetype is how you interpret each phase of the cycle. It is not a fixed label; life flows forward no matter how much you might want to plant your feet in the ground and stay still. It anchors you into the creative flow as long as you let yourself go with said flow.
The earth archetype will always see the details first.
The air archetype will always see new directions.
The fire archetype will always want to take action.
The water archetype will always want to explore the why.
As you travel through the cycle, you will see your creativity from different angles. It will become more robust, resilient and capable of bolder expression. You will discover how to be each archetype in your own way and find your creative freedom as you go.
If you are naturally attuned to the details, your flow will move from details to possibilities to action to why. But if you are a why person first and foremost, your flow starts here then on to details, possibilities and finally action.
As you move through the cycle, you will notice that your focus and energy shift. You will get more completed and develop as an entrepreneur faster.
Applying Your Archetype to Entrepreneurial Challenges
How does this help you strengthen your creative process and build a thriving business?
The applications are pretty much limitless but we can look at some of the common challenges entrepreneurs face and how understanding your creativity better helps to minimise their impact.
Some challenges are temporary obstacles but others are more ingrained patterns. These longer-term patterns are, more often than not, the things that keep your business from growing at the pace you would like.
Most of these challenges become a lot easier when you know how to work with the creative archetypes.
Goodbye Inspiration & Motivation, Hello Procrastination
How many times have you told yourself that you NEED to get a task done today, only to find yourself procrastinating like a trooper and making little to no progress?
Procrastination is a very real challenge. The longer you wait to get started, the bigger the project becomes in your mind until it reaches the levels of unachievable. So, you focus on what you think is achievable to make yourself feel better.
Nevertheless, inspiration and motivation desert you faster than a rat off a sinking ship. Am I talking from personal experience? Of course, I am.
We’ve all been there.
9/10 the root of the problem is a to-do list that’s out of sync with your energy. There is little point trying to force yourself to sit down and do your taxes when content ideas are exploding in your head faster than popcorn in a microwave. Just as there is little point forcing yourself to write sparkling copy when your head is in details mode.
The tightly defined daily to-do list is the enemy of inspiration and motivation when it is out of step with your creative cycle.
When you start your work day, ask yourself where you are at today. Are you in details mode or do you want to explore and research? Do you just want to get going or would you rather sit with your project a bit to orientate yourself?
This will give you a really good steer for your daily tasks. Pick ones that meet you where you are at and watch yourself tick them off with time to spare.
Confidence and Courage
Possibly the first and biggest challenge you come up against as an entrepreneur is talking about your business.
In the early stages, you are finding your feet and working out your niche, messaging and USP. You don’t feel as confident, clear and persuasive as you feel you should; little doubts creep in, your voice loses its power and the ever-delightful imposter syndrome comes to visit.
When this happens now and then, it’s relatively easy to pick yourself up and re-motivate yourself. But when allowed to fester, it can become a huge, long-term problem that keeps your business small.
Instead of searching the internet for standard frameworks for defining your niche and core message, start by looking at your dominant creative archetype to understand how to position your business.
Earth archetypes are solution-focused. If you like to get down into the details and show your processes, this is your zone for your niche and message too. You are a creative problem solver, who likes simple, easy processes that do what they are meant to. You are solid, reliable, trustworthy – a safe pair of hands if you like.
Air archetypes are innovation-focused. If you are bored by processes but love to throw down the gauntlet of new ideas, this is your zone. You shake things up, challenge perceptions, bring new opportunities into the mix. You are a breath of fresh air because you don’t mind rocking the boat. It’s a selling point.
Fire archetypes are action-focused. If you have no time for rules or pie in the sky ideas and want to forge ahead making a difference, this is your zone. You are a kick up the behind to move and often the force that’s needed to make progress. You don’t hold back and you get things unstuck – fast.
Water archetypes are purpose and people-focused. If you like to get under the skin of a challenge, problem, dynamics or anything else, this ability to get below the surface is your zone. You weave the problems into solutions that work for everyone, because you can see the bigger picture. This makes you a wonderful accountability bringer.
Whichever archetype you fall into, your niche includes people who need the specific approach you offer to the challenge you solve. Your creative approach combined with your skills and expertise is your USP.
Being Run BY Your Business
It’s 2am and your business plans are running through your head while your body is crying out for sleep.
Your business has taken over.
It’s the easiest thing in the world for entrepreneurs to become their business and lose touch with other aspects of their lives. There is a huge amount of societal conditioning living rent free in your sub-conscious telling you to be productive, what productivity looks like and how much progress you should have made by now. It keeps you wedded to your business in full-on productivity mode.
Which has a huge impact on your wellbeing. Not in a good way.
If there is one thing I have learnt from working with natural cycles it is that there is a season for everything. Energy rises and falls like the seasons and so should business.
You will go through quiet phases where you want to sit in your water archetype and works things out. There will be times when you are in the earth archetype getting the resources together so your next project can move ahead smoothly, air archetype times when you want to challenge the scope of what’s possible for you and fire archetype times when you just get on with it.
This is the natural cycle of life. You can change gear and still be making progress. Remember, these are all seasons not permanent residences. It is a cycle. High energy and lower energy times are natural and healthy for your business. As long as you know you are moving, you won’t feel that you aren’t doing. Sometimes starting your day with 15 – 30 minutes of quiet reflection is the most productive thing you can do and sometimes heading outside for a walk to process your next steps is the epitome of productivity.
Be kind to yourself and let the flow pull you forward. Before you know it, you will be in the next phase of the cycle and taking your business into its next stage of growth.
There are so many more ways your creative archetype can help you build a business that works for you – from choosing your business model to writing copy or working out how to build your team through to product development. I could and probably should write a book about it.
My goal for sharing this with you is to let you know that you do not have to approach business the same as everyone else. You can do it your way.
Conforming is crippling. It’s not good for your wellbeing. You started a business because something much bigger was whispering away inside and it needs you to be true to who you are to come to life in the way it deserves. It is asking for your uniquely creative perspective to be front and centre and to walk your own path in your own style.
If you can recognise yourself in these archetypes, I hope that you can begin the process of igniting your creativity and making all your business dreams come true.
