Giving creativity a target to aim at.

We need structure that creativity can flow within.

I’ve messed this up in the past.

If you don’t know, I’ve run highly successful content production agencies for over a decade — hiring hundreds of creatives and consistently producing multiple seven figures a year.

I once had a very talented creative working at my agency. She was a videographer, editor, and director. A beautiful soul who went on to win awards, land some incredible gigs, and build serious momentum.

For this story, let’s call her Beatrix.

I brought Beatrix on board to help launch a new department I’d opened while trying to generate a fresh revenue stream in the business. It was focused on social and brand work.

My mistake was that I told her:

“Do whatever you want to do. Literally anything. You imagine it, you create it.”

I thought I was funding a badass creative to do a dream job — get paid to experiment and make cool stuff with zero pressure.

But what came back — while technically high quality — wasn’t even close to her creative or stylistic potential.

And it frustrated me to no end.

This was early in my entrepreneurial journey. Early in my leadership journey. I definitely had some growing to do.

Even after she left, when I saw what she was creating elsewhere, I thought:

Why the fuck didn’t you do this here?!

And really, the answer was: I didn’t give her enough direction.

See, I hate structure. I hate people telling me what to do. I go where I want.

But that mindset isn’t always transferable. It’s not for everybody.

I didn’t tell Beatrix clearly enough where I wanted the final destination of the work to be.

Instead, I told her to make her own map to a destination unknown.

An impossible task.

She needed more direction from me. A target. An endpoint.

Structure — that creativity can flow within.

I’ve found this to be true for many creatives.

It may be true for you too.

Do you find yourself working gig to gig, project to project — but never actually going anywhere?

That’s how most of us do it.

But personally, things shifted for me when I set up some checkpoints for my life. Not necessarily an endpoint — but checkpoints.

Places I wanted my creative career to take me.

Moments in life I was working toward.

The next level. The next stage.

So if you’re creating — in whatever capacity — think about your why.

Think about a place you want to end up.

Not only is it a powerful motivator, especially when you feel like quitting, but I’m also a firm believer in telling the universe exactly what you want.

If you never speak it into existence, you’ll never get there.

And I’ve found time and time again: once you point to what you want and where you want to be, the universe goes to work — sending you the people and events that align with making it happen.

If that resonates, take some time now to write down where you want to go.

This isn’t your ultimate dream-big goal — this is your next destination.

Once that’s clear, you can start working backwards from there.

Then take action. One foot in front of the other. One step at a time.

But now you’re actually getting somewhere.

Keep creating. Keep traveling.

And you’ll be ticking off those destinations in no time.