9to5’er or influencer; we are all creators

Embrace the need for purposeful making

The pandemic shifted the world in many ways. It shifted us.

The sudden stop in the everyday life, and the reminder of our fragility, forced us to come face to face with our most inner desires. It got us thinking and reevaluating what it all means and what really matters.

It was a blip though.

A pandemic blip.

It took us quite some time to recover. But for most, that period now seems like a distant memory. Something we can’t quite forget but that in many ways, seems to never have happened.

But it did.

Now that the world seems back to normal. We live reminicing everything that went through our heads back then. The questions are still there. Still echoing in our minds.

And we go about our lives now along economic crises and wars. Maybe we won a bit more flexibility with remote work. Maybe we waste less of our time commuting. But we remain ultimately chained to our desks. Chained to the never-stopping grind.

So we keep looking for escapes. We live through the fiction, entertainment and media that creeps into our every second of our everyday.

And as you’re reading yet another article, watching another video, listening to another podcast, you often stop a wonder: is this it?

I want you to think of a different time. A time when you had no worries or responsibilities. A time when all you had to do was explore your curiosity.

We were all children once. And life was more of a sum of exciting questions than a slump of rigid, stale, and petrifying certainties.

The world was one of possibilities, not one of limitations and compromises.

Remember when you built forts at home?

Remember the excitement of such an alluring goal? To build and make tangible something that came from your imagination?

Remember the anticipation of preparing and planning, the rushed and thrilled gathering of resources like a soft cushion for a bed, sturdy ones for the walls, and a blanket for the roof.

You assembled with determination and enthusiasm, thinking of solutions as problems arose.

You had a clear purpose. A goal. You persevered and succeeded.

Then you stood a few meters back. Looking at the fruit of your labor.

That fort was yours.

And the feeling of achievement was exhilarating.

Tap into that feeling for a second.

Don’t you miss it?

Your innate creativity and drive hasn’t gone away.

Your need for purpose hasn’t gone away.

If you listen closely, it is literally shouting not too far beneath the surface.

That extreme dullness you try to escape by filling every ounce of free time with plans, TV shows, video games, podcasts… that is not to be ignored. That’s your signal to look inwards and ask yourself: what if I built a fort?

Let me tell you one thing; your happiness and fulfillment depends on the answer to that question.

You have to tune into your creative nature.

Maybe you’ve forsaken it.

Maybe you think of yourself too old to try. Too untalented. Like creativity was something that was never meant for you.

But creativity isn’t just what’s culturally considered as art; even though we can see art even in the most mundane and trivial.

Creativity is nothing but making.

Making with purpose.

Humans are creators.

You were meant to create.

And nowadays you might cringe at the thought of that word. It seems to have been claimed by content creators. And the closeness to influencers, Tiktokers, and the likes, makes you reject it.

But content creators are just regular people that have figured out how to navigate digital media to make their forts.

They are just as human.

Looking for what gives them purpose and allows them to make a living.

Simple as that.

And the truth is, there hasn’t been a better time in history to become one with your purpose and truly pursue fulfillment.

The creator economy is expected to reach $480 billion in market size by 2027

To put it in perspective, that’s almost 1/8th of the GLOBAL tourism market size ($2.2B).

Tourism is a very mature market, and still there are new business coming into it every year.

The creator economy has been around since the early 2000s, but it’s nowhere near its mature stage.

It still remains one of the biggest opportunities to build profitable businesses.

A profitable business that stems from purpose and authenticity.

Specially as customers grow ever more weary day after day of big corporations.

People are hungry for real connection.

And they would much rather spend their dollars on creators they know and trust.

There has never been a better time to give your dreams a chance.

And in all honesty, it might soon stop being an option.

With the AI revolution advancing at huge leaps at a time. A lot of jobs might be heading towards the chopping board.

The traditional narrative of getting a secure job and staying with it for decades is no longer viable in this rapidly evolving economy.

Whether you feel excited or terrified by this shift, the reality is that you must take control of your own future.

Building a business based on your unique knowledge, skills, and experience is the key to transforming your life.

So you have to figure out what’s going to bring you that fort-building sense of achievement and start building it.

If anything, the AI revolution will bring about a human renaissance.

The connection people are already craving will become that much more acute.

And by then, you’ll be glad you’ve started sharing your voice.

So, ready to accept that you are a creator?

Ready to start building your fort?

Your blank canvas awaits.