How To Be Creative

My favorite points:

2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to change the world.

3. Put the hours in.
Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. 90% of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort, and stamina.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.
Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the lonelier it is.

7. Keep your day job.
I'm not just saying that for the usual reason i.e., because I think your idea will fail. I'm saying it because to suddenly quit one's job in a big ol. creative drama-queen moment is always, always, always in direct conflict with what I call "The Sex & Cash Theory."
THE SEX & CASH THEORY: The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs. One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended.
A good example is Phil, a NY photographer friend of mine. He does really wild stuff for the indie magazines.it pays nothing, but it allows him to build his portfolio. Then he.ll go off and shoot some catalogs for a while. Nothing too exciting, but it pays the bills.
I'm thinking about the young writer who has to wait tables to pay the bills, in spite of her writing appearing in all the cool and hip magazines who dreams of one day of not having her life divided so harshly. Well, over time the "gharshly" bit might go away, but not the "divided". This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended. Anyway, it.s called "The Sex & Cash Theory." Keep it under your pillow.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.
The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
Diluting your product to make it more “commercial” will just make people like it less

via Change This (pdf)