I have spent the past two days helping six college-aged leaders develop keynote speeches they will deliver in the coming year. There has been a subtle, but definite pressure since the start of training to create something meaningful as thousands of people will hear these messages.
By the end of the week we'll have put in over 40 working hours into one speech. As we work through draft after draft, meticulously mull over wording, and implement storytelling theory to identify the perfect moment to illustrate our lessons, I'm reminded of how challenging and time-consuming creating something meaningful can be.
Unfortunately, we live in a consumer driven society, waiting for others to produce and create what we so eagerly consume, be it products or content. The creativity pyramid below demonstrates this point. Most of us can't even claim to be on the bottom level of this pyramid.
As these leaders work towards a final draft, which they'll deliver for the first time on Thursday to a live audience, I also consider the impact their creation will make. It can be exasperating writing a full draft just to throw it away and start again. But the potentially life-changing impact felt by the eventual product makes the effort worth it.
The world is full of people waiting for their problems to be solved, for solutions to be delivered to them. The only way we can begin to make this world better is by having less consumers and more creators.
Action
Create something new this week. Build something. Write something. Cook something. Revel in the satisfaction that you contributed to the world.
Question
What problem are you waiting for others to provide a solution for?
Quote
"I would have written you a shorter letter, but I ran out of time." -Mark Twain
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