9 Lessons Fitness Taught Me About Living a Creative Life

First forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you’re inspired or not.

Octavia Butler

I’ve been a fitness coach for 14 years and a painter for 4.

Surprisingly, the two have a lot in common.

Both require motivation, inspiration, dedication, getting comfortable with doing uncomfortable things and a willingness to explore one’s personal limitations.

Here are 9 of the lessons fitness has taught me about cultivating creativity and living a creative life.

How to live a creative life; advice from a fitness professional

• Know your ‘why’. Want to develop a new habit or explore a new past time? Knowing your ‘why’ and identifying how you want to feel when you’re regularly engaged in that activity is a powerful way to make a new behaviour ‘stick’. For example, knowing that I’m calmer and sleep better when I’m exercising daily helps me to get to the gym when I’m ambivalent about a workout. Similarly, understanding that living a creative life makes me happier, better at problem-solving and more appreciative of the beauty around me, motivates me to head to the studio and make art as often as I can.
• Create a habit. Motivation and inspiration will only take you so far. On those days when there are other things vying for your attention, your fitness workout or studio session may just end up moving to the bottom of the list, unless you’ve made it a non-negotiable, and automatic part of your routine. Habits take time to create. Try scheduling your creative time in your daily planner the same way you would a fitness class or a trip to the dentist.
• Find your tribe. Surrounding yourself with like-minded people makes the creation of any new habit easier. Just knowing that your workout partner is waiting for you at the gym makes it much more likely that you’ll lace up your runners. Similarly, finding a group of creatives who are at a similar point in their art-making journey provides ready-made inspiration, motivation and an unlimited opportunity to learn. Try joining a free Facebook art community or sharing your creative discoveries on Instagram. It’s wonderful to have people who get what you mean when you talk about ‘activating the canvas’ or ‘pulling a ghost print’ 😉
• Do it every day. Bodies are meant to move. And artists are meant to create. Engaging in a daily fitness or art practice keeps the joints limber, the muscles strong and the mind engaged. Remember the old adage, ‘it’s easier to stay in shape, than get in shape’. Not every day needs to be a full on ‘workout’ though; mix longer and shorter sessions, alternate between materials, flow back and forth between the easier, intuitive work and the harder, analytic part of creating. Some days, all I have time for is a little sketchbook work or some collage. Recognize that a little can go a long way when it comes to living a creative life.
• Invest in the right equipment. Just like you need the right running shoes when you’re training for a marathon, investing in a variety of quality art supplies will ensure that you get the best possible results for your creative efforts. When it comes to paint, paper and brushes, choosing the most inexpensive brands might save you money, but it may also lead to a lot of frustration and an inability to produce the effects you’re aiming for.
• Experiment to find what you like (and what you don’t like). Sticking with a long-term fitness routine is much easier when you like what you’re doing for exercise. Same thing goes for creating art. Take some time to try different styles, different materials and different modes of instruction (YouTube is a great place to find free demonstrations and workshops on a wide variety of art forms and lots of art instructors offer week long ‘taster’ courses in advance of their paid regular content). Find what you like and do more of it.
• Don’t expect progress to be linear. Weightlifters know that plateaus are real. Despite regular lifting sessions, sometimes you just get stuck with the same weight on the bar for weeks at a time. Then one day, all of a sudden, your body’s ready for another plate. The same thing happens with art-making. New skills take time to integrate and sometimes it feels like your work is getting worse, rather than improving. Keep showing up, practice your craft without judgement and wait for the magic to happen.
• Avoid the comparison trap. Don’t compare your Day 1 to somebody else’s Day 100. Every single person in the gym is at a different place in their fitness journey. While it can be motivating to see what those ahead of you are capable of, it can also lead to feelings of insecurity and self-doubt. Same goes for artists. Those beautiful paintings you saw on Instagram? That artist may have spent years honing her craft. Be aware of the effect of more accomplished artists’ work on how you feel about your own. Remind yourself that acquiring new skills takes time and practice.
• Celebrate small victories. Hit a new squat PR? Figured out how to transfer an image onto canvas? Sold your first painting? Take a moment to stop, reflect back on where you started and appreciate the fantastic progress you’ve made. Oh and share it with your friends on social media; they’re bound to cheer you on.

Did reading this post make you want to paint? Or exercise? Or perhaps both 😉 ?