The inertia behind creative work

Generating great ideas without a muse comes down to momentum.

Jan 03, 2025

The misconception about creativity is that output depends on being creative.

From what I’ve found, those who believe this often produce the least. As romantic as it sounds to be the artist or poet waiting for a muse, this approach neither pays the bills nor turns daydreams into professions.

Consistency — even in mediocrity — beats the rare spark of genius. I learned this early as a blogger and later as a financial reporter. When my day job at Business Insider grew stale at one point, I turned to fiction. When I needed a new challenge after that, I explored freelancing and magazine writing.

I didn’t have to pursue those interests, but I considered it then a way for me to scratch a creative itch. One simple rule — “write everyday” — pushed me to find new ways to pull the same lever over and over.

I realize now as an entrepreneur that I probably benefitted more from the constant movement than anything else. Running a business has expanded my understanding of what it means to do great creative work: Momentum is everything.

When inertia becomes the North Star, there is no waiting or stopping. Forward movement is lifeblood.

Between marketing campaigns and sales and filming a podcast and editing videos and interviews, I switch hats a dozen times a day. This also affords me a dozen different creative outlets — all of which contribute momentum for myself and the business.

Even a simple question like, “How can we make more money this month?” demands a type of problem-solving that I seldom needed to access previously. The range of ideation makes me a more creative thinker in my life and business.

While I do write less than I might otherwise with fewer tasks on my plate, I remain anchored to my daily financial newsletter, which accrues momentum of its own. I published 196 editions in 2024, and I’ll pen another 260 by the end of this year.

There’s no question as to whether I’ll create the product each day, only one of what topic to cover. The cadence operates like a forcing function that eliminates doubt and pushes the pace.

Momentum, I’ve learned, doesn’t just fuel creativity. It transforms it, like rushing water reshaping stones in a river.

There’s something accretive about thinking hard about multiple problems across different mediums. Each one sharpens the next — the cumulative effect makes every output that much better.

It’s still too early to know how sustainable this juggling act is, but the perpetual movement is energizing. Counterintuitive to say, but the more I pile onto my plate, the more creative firepower I can muster.

If I could share advice with myself from five years ago, I’d start here: