Society punishes creativity.

You’re forced to write a certain way at school.

You’re forced to read certain books at school.

You’re forced to take certain classes at school.

Every assignment covers specific ideas and topics. Your focus narrows to solve math problems.

Your problem-solving skills are at the forefront of everything you do at school.

There’s rarely a time when you’re free to step back and look at big-picture ideas.

This is why school is a turnoff for me.

Schools punish creativity and art by rewarding these skills only in drawing and painting classes (traditional art classes).

I convinced myself that I wasn’t creative.

I convinced myself that I hated art.

Sure, I can’t draw anything besides stick people. But art is bigger than drawings on paper or paint on a canvas.

Art is an act.

Creativity is an act.

Everything you do is an act. So everything you do is art.

The posts you write.

The newsletters you write.

The words flowing in your brain as you read this newsletter.

It’s all art.

But schools tie art to “art classes”. They don’t view solving math problems as an art. They don’t view human anatomy as an art.

But it is.

Art is your own unique way of doing something. Whether it’s writing a post, solving math problems, or studying human bones.

I never fully grasped this until very recently.

Matt and I were interviewing my good friend Tommy Christie for our podcast. We talked about this topic for five minutes and my eyes opened.

There’s tons of lifeless stuff on X.

How many small creators can you list off the top of your head?

Not many.

Here’s why.

Outlogic The Logic

Schools punish creativity.

I was raised to be analytical and logical (doesn’t help that my major is kinesiology).

I rarely ever spent time doing things that I thought were creative.

Painting
Drawing
Playing an instrument

I took the logic-based classes.

Math
Science
Anatomy

Why?

Traditional art jobs just don’t pay well.

This holds true for most people on X. They believe the secret sauce comes from being a logical robot.

They only write authority content.

Their “personal brand” has no personality.

Their bio feels like a cutout of some dude from LinkedIn.

It’s all based on logic programming from the school system.

They view X as a university class instead of the art they’re perfecting. That’s why most creators quit.

They feel the drag of “needing” to write and show up.

It’s never a need if you embrace it as part of yourself and your own piece of art.

This level of awareness sets you apart from 80% of writers.

Why?

They view the title of “writer” as a job. They don’t live and breathe their writing.

The result? Everything they write feels lifeless.

It feels shallow.

It feels forced.

They shoved a bunch of words onto a post.

They fail to inject any life into their stuff.

But why does this even matter?

Your Life Is Your Content

Humans are emotional beings.

We express this through body language, our words, and how we speak. Everything we do is emotion-based.

This holds true for every logical person you know in your life. Deep down, human nature reacts to emotion.

But people throw all of this away as soon as they open up a notion doc to start writing their next post.

Why?

They don’t live and breathe their content. It feels like a chore.

But here’s the thing.

This is your advantage. People simply aren’t aware of this. Their programming happens on autopilot.

Content filled with life is standout.

There’s reliability.

There’s entertainment.

There’s a connection formed.

Instead of sounding like everybody else, you tap into the core emotions of every reader who stumbles across your post.

Your content is an extension of you. Writing is the connection between you and your audience. Every piece you share connects to some sort of range.

If your content is lifeless, it leaves less of an impact.

If it’s filled with life, you’ll have the largest impact on your audience.

Your goal is to move your pointer toward content filled with life as much as you can.

Doesn’t matter if you’re writing for growth.

Doesn’t matter if you’re writing for leads.

Doesn’t matter if you’re writing for fun.

Connection and impact are the driving forces of everything.

People feel your creative juices flow as they read the words flow from one line to the next.

But you can’t do this without viewing your life as art.

Every piece you build. Every client you work with. Every call you hop join. Every space you host.

It’s all art.

There’s a level of creativity in everything you do.

This expands into your day-to-day life too.

Juices of Creativity

There’s levels to this.

It’s all an awareness game. Most never reach the pinnacle of human potential, let alone content creation.

Why?

They lack awareness.

Think of the schooling example from earlier. I never viewed myself as creative because I didn’t have the awareness to realize that creativity is more than painting on a canvas.

Most live their day-to-day lives unaware that they’re unaware.

This is why you must pick at your brain on a daily basis.

Without constant questioning and prying, you’ll never unlock true awareness and consciousness.

I stumbled across an interesting question that my friend Emma shared last week that got me thinking.

Are Your Beliefs Rooted in Truth or Conditioning?
— emma lyons (@_eemmaa_l) November 5, 2023

Everyone is conditioned.

I saw a few replies mentioning how their beliefs are rooted in truth.

This can’t be the case. To refuse to acknowledge you’re conditioned shows that you don’t have the awareness to realize you are.

We were raised by our parents, who were conditioned by society. They have certain beliefs and those beliefs impacted how we were raised as children.

It’s always an ongoing process of undoing your conditioning, but it never stops.

How does this even relate to content?

You can’t level up your content game without awareness.

Awareness to improve.

Awareness to find out why your stuff isn’t working.

But how do you build unbreakable awareness?

Awareness As A Tool

There are three things I do on a weekly basis to reshift my awareness.

Awareness gives you clarity and the answers you need to tough questions about building online as a whole.

Let’s dive into the three awareness essentials.

1. Question Everything

I dedicate an entire hour every week to questioning my thoughts.

I pull out my journal, pry at where my thoughts are at the time and dive into figuring out why I’m having them.

Why is this key?

Answers.

Most spend time thinking about their problems. Thinking about the hiccups they’re facing.

They rarely ever find time to dive into why those problems exist.

Matt and I interviewed The Journey Man this week for our podcast and one big topic we talked about was the ability to take a step back.

He mentioned how most people rarely try to understand another perspective during a heated debate. This holds them back from taking another step towards truth.

If you lock off your beliefs and don’t find time to dig for new answers, your awareness stagnates forever.

Find time to question.