The Groove Issue 31 - Create More Than You Consume
Welcome to the 31st issue of The Groove.
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CREATE MORE THAN YOU CONSUME
Successful artists and entrepreneurs share almost every one of these traits: they are resourceful, agile, solution-oriented and above all, they create abundantly with passion and purpose.
Pablo Picasso photographed in his studio near Cannes, France in 1956 by Arnold Newman surrounded by canvases, drawings, ceramic vases and many other creations.
Creation vs. Consumption
However, the other face of creation is consumption. Not to be confused with consumerism, known as the mindless acquisition of things, but instead the act of passively receiving information outside sources such as movies, books, social media, and anything else that doesn’t actively engage our own abilities to bring out the best of us in the world.
Don’t get me wrong, we need a balance between both creation and consumption: inspiration, education, ideas - those all come in part from consumption. I love a good book, a Netflix binge, an amazing meal at a great restaurant. But I always feel happier when I give: whether I’m teaching one of my courses, serving my clients, writing an article, filming a video or even playing with my kids. As humans, we are the most satisfied when we are creating more than we are consuming.
Finding a Balance
Pierre Reverdy, Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Brassaï in Picasso's studio at rue des Grands Augustins, Paris, April 27, 1944
The most prolific artist in history is Pablo Picasso, who remains unbeatable almost 50 years after his death: 800 paintings, 1,200 sculptures, 2,800 ceramics and 12,000 drawings. People usually marveled at Picasso’s output and the volume and variety of everything he made.
Brassaï, his friend and occasional photographer, described a conversation in his book Conversations with Picasso, that the two of them had at Picasso’s Normandy house in 1943 where Picasso said, “I can rarely keep myself from redoing the same thing. Sometimes it gets to be a real obsession… after all, why work otherwise if not to better express the same thing?”
We also know that Picasso read books, went to other artists’ studios, and sat in all the cafes of Paris’s Left Bank, where he drank coffee and wine and smoked cigarettes with friends for hours on end. But the thing that drove Picasso the most, that burned the fuel inside of him, was the act of creation. He got better and better by doing more and more.
In Life and Business
A detail of Andreas Gursky’s photograph of one of Amazon’s warehouses ©Andreas Gursky/DACS, 2017
A few days ago, when I read the last shareholder letter that Jeff Bezos wrote before he will step down as Amazon’s CEO, it struck me that he used the same concept. He pushed his company from a startup operating from a garage in Seattle 26 years ago, to one of the biggest and most efficient enterprises in the world.
Bezos wrote, “If you want to be successful in business (in life, actually), you have to create more than you consume. Your goal should be to create value for everyone you interact with. Any business that doesn’t create value for those it touches, even if it appears successful on the surface, isn’t long for this world. It’s on the way out.”
There’s a lot to unpack in that paragraph, because it does extend to every aspect of your life. I always tell my students that before asking “how can you help me, what’s in it for me?” they take a 10-second pause and flip the proposition to “what can I do for this person first?”
Intentional Consumption
I’ve noticed that for me, one of the factors that triggers consumption is boredom. But when we ask ourselves about our gifts and how to share them, we always come up with ideas about achieving some equilibrium between the output and the input of our life. I try to move away from the boredom by actively engaging in a mindful activity. Even talking to a client on the phone or doing some marketing planning for my business, are quick ways to regain balance.
I’ve also seen how “intentional consumption” helps me curb my desire for mindlessly scrolling on social media or reading news obsessively. Frequently ask yourself: “Am I creating or am I consuming?” Not to be preachy or to punish yourself, but to have mindfulness of where you stand on that scale of consumption vs. creation. There’s nothing more powerful than full awareness of how we spend our time.
Sharing, in any way, is an excellent way of creating. Whether it is knowledge, or volunteering, starting a new project, engaging in deep conversations, or training your employees to be better, you will always have more fulfillment by giving than if you’d only be receiving.
Picasso expressed this so well with remarkably simple words: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Thank you for reading this far. Looking forward to hearing from you anytime.
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THE EXTRA GROOVE
Read:
Conversations with Picasso by Brassaï
The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, by Steve and Karen Anderson
How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life by Catherine Price
Watch:
Watch Picasso Make a Masterpiece by Henri-Georges Clouzot
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos by PBS
Living in Survival vs. Living in Creation by Dr. Joe Dispenza