People love to ask:
Where do you get your ideas?
It sounds like a compliment.
But it often masks something else—
The quiet hope that there’s a secret shortcut.
A trick. A gift. A hack.
There isn’t.
There’s just the work.
Bad Comes Before Good
Van Gogh didn’t start with masterpieces.
Neither did The Beatles. Or Oprah. Or J.K. Rowling.
Their early work was awkward.
Flat.
Forgettable.
The difference is—
they kept going.
The good stuff came after the bad stuff.
Because that’s how ideas work:
They don’t show up fully formed.
They sneak in sideways.
It’s a Practice
Most of us were trained for the test.
Learn the answer. Regurgitate it. Win.
But creative work isn’t about the answer.
It’s about an answer.
One that’s interesting.
One that’s worth sharing.
You don’t solve creativity.
You contribute to it.
And you do that by showing up—
not when the idea feels ready,
but because you said you’d show up.
It’s Showing Up
When you commit to doing the work every day,
something changes.
You stop waiting for permission.
You start noticing more.
Ideas begin to gather like steam on glass—
quiet at first, then impossible to ignore.
Some fade.
Some stick.
Some grow overnight, just from being left out where your brain could see them.
That’s not luck.
That’s repetition.
Simple But Not Easy
This isn’t magic.
It’s not talent.
It’s not inspiration.
It’s effort.
And it’s available to anyone.
Simple, but not easy.
So if you want better ideas—
don’t wait for them.
Show up.
Make the lousy stuff.
Let it get better.
Then repeat.
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