The Creative Flywheel
Every creative has felt it—the frustration of starting strong on a project, only to fizzle out halfway through. The ideas dry up, the momentum disappears, and you’re left wondering what went wrong.
The truth is, most of us approach creativity the wrong way. We rely on fleeting inspiration or bursts of motivation, hoping they’ll carry us through.
But the creatives who achieve mastery—those who produce consistently for years—don’t rely on chance. They use systems.
Let’s call it a Creative Flywheel.
Here’s how it works: think of creativity as a flywheel—every small action you take (capturing ideas, working daily, reflecting) adds energy to the wheel.
Over time, as you keep the wheel spinning, the system builds its own momentum, making it easier to create. Eventually, the effort to keep it going feels almost effortless.
Take David Bowie, for example. Bowie didn’t wait for inspiration to strike. He built his own flywheel by setting up deliberate systems to fuel his creativity.
He constantly fed himself input—consuming books (he even made a list of his top 100), collaborating with other musicians like Brian Eno and Nile Rogers, and exploring new genres.
Then he took action. He wrote every day. Some ideas were snuffed out. Some became Life on Mars.
He tested his work live with audiences and trusted collaborators.
And finally, his output—releasing groundbreaking albums like Ziggy Stardust—generated the motivation and momentum to start the cycle all over again.
His flywheel kept turning for decades, evolving with every rotation.
These are the steps in the flywheel that will build your creative momentum.
Input
Action
Feedback
Output
(repeat)
Here’s your move:
Tonight, take 10 minutes to capture ideas. Don’t overthink it. Use a notebook, your Notes app, whatever works. Every idea, good or bad, goes in. That’s your input.
Tomorrow, use one.
That’s how the flywheel starts. One idea. One action. One step at a time.
Over time, that little system becomes a force. And you become unstoppable.