Empathy is a vital part of creativity. If you can’t walk in another person’s shoes or appreciate their experience, you can’t provide viable, sustainable solutions for their pain and problems.
You can’t meet their needs because you can’t understand their needs, and if you can’t understand those needs, you’re not the right fit for them.
The success of your venture lies in you identifying who you can help and why you’re the best for the job.
We often gravitate towards those most like us because we understand them well enough to anticipate and fulfil their needs.
When you’re designing or testing out an idea, it’s not just about how good it sounds, but also how useful it is for your intended audience.
Does it resonate with them?
Do they feel an emotional impact deep in their sternum that makes them snatch up your offer because it’s exactly what they need?
Are you speaking right to their pain and giving them something solid to ease that pain?
Making sure your idea’s useful and emotionally powerful means you’ve taken the time to develop something robust that actually makes a difference when you share it.
Knowing your audience’s needs well enough to meet them is a sure sign you’ve felt what they feel, you know their pain points, and you’ve come up with something to ease the ache.
This doesn’t mean you have to scare them into working with you because you know their weak spots.
It simply means you can be objective, empathetic, and clear about how you can help them get from where they are to where they want to be.
You map out why it’s important to act now so they don’t stay stuck where they are.
When you highlight the differences between where they are and where they want to be, you tap into the urgency of choice and action.
They can choose to act now and face their pain so they get relief, or they can sit back and wait for a more convenient time when they’ll be less scared to face it.
Oh and FYI? That time doesn’t exist.
Being an empathetic creative means you can be firm yet compassionate, giving your clients the care and solutions they need without pandering to their excuses.
Many problems are caused by wrong mind-sets, and before you can shift a mind-set, you have to acknowledge it and consciously switch it out for something more nourishing and powerful.
Being firm is helping them identify negative mind-sets and thought patterns keeping them stuck, and being compassionate is kindly teaching them how to be more positive and proactive.
You can’t help anyone you alienate, so remember that if/when you get frustrated with their behaviour and progress or lack thereof.
While you know what they’re capable of, you also have to make room for their honest mistakes while they learn how to overcome the obstacles holding them back.
Don’t let your focus on who they can be blind you to their very real needs and struggles while they’re becoming that person.
Again, you’re not pandering to their excuses, but you’re aware they will falter because they’re trying something new.
Know the difference between resistance to doing the work and mistakes while doing the work.
Encourage them to keep going even in the face of mistakes, setbacks, and other challenges that may pop up on their journey with you.
If you’re committed to being an empathetic creative, you need to listen deeply to the people you’re trying to help.
What are they saying?
What are they struggling with?
What do they wish they had access to right now, and how do those needs mesh with your abilities?
Actively seek out information that shapes your creative process so you don’t waste your precious time and energy making something nobody wants or needs.
Even if you get an idea you feel will go gangbusters, test it out before you devote huge blocks of time, attention, and energy so you don’t have to start from scratch over and over again if you can help it.
There may be times when your ideas and projects just don’t work, but the more deeply you listen to your tribe, the better your chances of doing great work you don’t have to toss in the trashcan.
Tapping into an urgent need and creating an answer to that need is the definition of a successful creative, so make the time to do your research before you commit yourself to a course of action.
How deeply are you listening to the people who need you most?
Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay
Talk To Me