The Groove Issue 78 - How Creativity Rules The World
My book “How Creativity Rules The World: The Art and Business of Turning Your Ideas Into Gold” is published today by HarperCollins Leadership and the cover features the art of contemporary artist Allison Zuckerman.
The big day has arrived! After 13 years as a business owner and entrepreneur who has benefited beyond belief from the power of my creativity (after quitting a career as a miserable corporate attorney) + 2.5 years writing and editing, my book “How Creativity Rules The World: The Art and Business of Turning Your Ideas Into Gold” (HarperCollins) launches today!
This week I was interviewed by Barron’s, which you can read here and I was a guest on several amazing podcasts that I am highlighting at the end of this newsletter.
I am beyond thankful for the amazing response that you have given to my book! Thank you, a million times!
Remember that TONIGHT at midnight (EST) is your LAST CHANCE to claim $647 in bonuses for preordering a $25 hardcover book and you don’t want to miss that deal because I will never offer it again!
Bonuses include FREE access to:
• My comprehensive creativity online course which has been taken by hundreds of people whose breakthroughs you can read about here;
• Exclusive interviews with world-renowned contemporary artists and other leaders in diverse fields;
• An extensive creativity-booster audio-program designed to stimulate your creative mind and help you generate ideas that you can materialize and profit from;
• Monthly mastermind Zoom calls with me and a community of like-minded people;
• The eBook version of my book which you will get immediately so you can start reading right away!
All you have to do is purchase the hardcover from Amazon, B&N, Bookshop (this retailer supports your independent bookstores no matter where you are in the US) or through your favorite bookstores including the ones where I will have events (see below), and send confirmation to book@mariabrito.
What’s In It For You?
Whether you are an entrepreneur, an artist, or an employee, your creativity will help you turn the mundane into the extraordinary. This is the most crucial skill to have on your path toward success.
Creativity is nothing more than your ability to come up with original ideas of value that are relevant in today’s world.
If don’t consider yourself creative, this book will open up paths for you to train your brain to become creative and if you are already creative, this book will take your ideas above and beyond where they have been.
In its pages you’ll discover how to do all of the following:
• Turn your business around
• Invent something new
• Get unstuck
• Adopt habits and teach your brain to see things that others miss
• Make associations that you never thought about before
• Materialize your best ideas
• Pivot your career
I know it can be done because I have not only been my own guinea pig, but also taught hundreds of others—executives, entrepreneurs, freelancers, managers, business owners, artists, and many others—in person and online to do it.
But you must put in the time needed to understand that creativity is a series of actions that bring about desired results. The operative word is action—creativity eludes those who sit down and wait for it to come. Your ability to respond swiftly to changes and come up with novel ideas that can be realized will determine your long-term survival and success in any endeavor.
Why Did I Decide to Write This Book?
There has never been a more crucial time than now for you to develop your creativity and your ability to innovate regardless of who you are and what you do. In my book, I illustrate how creativity can be learned by everyone, and that it is merely a series of habits, actions, and attitudes that you can work on.
For the past 3 years, LinkedIn has been scanning the information shared in the network by roughly 660 million professionals, searching for the skills that were most in-demand in relationship to its supply. The number one most in-demand skill was creativity.
The World Economic Forum called creativity “the one skill that will future-proof you for the job market”. But when employees and freelancers were asked if they are living up to their creative potential, only 25 percent believed they were. Furthermore, 40 percent affirmed they didn’t have the tools or access to the tools they needed to become creative.
My book aims to solve this problem by helping close the gap between what the marketplace demands and what people believe they can give. Reaching our maximum creative potential in our jobs or occupations is paramount to living a fulfilling and meaningful life.
Where Did the Information in the Book Come From?
To write this book, I drew from the fields of art, history, business, entrepreneurship, psychology, and neuroscience. I reviewed hundreds of books, hundreds of peer-reviewed studies and hundreds of articles from reputable sources.
To say I spent thousands of hours researching the materials that allowed me to write this book is an understatement.
More importantly, in the past 13 years I have worked with more than 450 contemporary artists, some of whom are among the most successful ones in the world.
Most of the artists I’ve worked with can’t explain how they reach their creativity, but having observed them closely for over a decade, I’ve unearthed the patterns and categories that I present in the book.
Artists are some of the most creative people not because they have a special set of superpowers, but because they aren’t bound by content restrictions or subject matter rules.
I found the same characteristics in the most innovative and disruptive entrepreneurs. They see how far their ideas can get and they push until they see them materialize. That is pure creative alchemy.
Debunking Myths and Making Creativity Available to Everyone
“How Creativity Rules The World” builds the case for creativity as an inexhaustible resource that is available to everyone, and proves that it is the key to thriving in the business world and beyond. Coming up with original ideas of value is today’s most precious resource.
Contrary to a myth that has been unfairly perpetuated, creativity can be taught and learned. I did it myself when I transitioned from being a miserable Harvard-trained, corporate lawyer in New York City to a thriving entrepreneur and innovator in the art world.
I consider creativity to be my superpower, and after applying all of the habits, principles, and tools in my book to my own business, I started teaching them to hundreds of people, ranging from CEOs to physicians.
Creative people come up with solutions that are relevant and novel for today’s world.
For years you’ve been told that to be like them you had to come to this world with a special God-given talent, that there’s something inside these visionaries that sets them apart and which nobody else can emulate. However, that is not true. Nearly everything that you’ve been told about creativity is a lie. Don’t believe the myth that creativity is only for the few chosen ones or that it is genetic.
How To Use The Book for Maximum Benefits
The book has four parts and each part builds on the previous one. There are 25 chapters plus the introduction and an epilogue.
Part I: The Intersection of Creativity, Art, and Business contains the history of creativity, explains why artists have been the original creators and innovators, tells the story of how I turned my life around, and dispels the myths and lies that we have been taught about creativity, all backed up with scientific research.
Part II: Habits of the Mind is about the qualities that artists and entrepreneurs nurture and cultivate in order to arrive at those amazing “aha” moments that turn their worlds (and ours) around.
Part III: Tools of the Trade offers a series of practical methods that can be used to form creative ideas, concepts, and processes in a more concrete way.
Part IV: The Way Forward explains how to put together what you’ve learned in parts I, II, and III and how to keep moving forward with your ideas to the point where you can easily spot opportunities, connect invisible dots, and invent the future at will.
Since I believe that your ideas can be turned into gold, at the end of each chapter is an “Alchemy Lab.” These are practical invitations to explore and apply what you learned in that chapter. If you want to reap abundant ideas, I urge you to dive into these sections with pen and paper. This is where you can absolutely see the book coming alive and absolutely every early reader loved these sections.
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart! If you have already received the book, please share it on social media and also review it on Amazon even if you didn’t buy it there. Every reader, bookseller, librarian and professor reads Amazon reviews first before buying a book there or anywhere else.
Thank you once again!
UPCOMING EVENTS
For all these upcoming book-tour events, I am going to be giving a workshop instead of a book reading. I am all for giving you value and content that can enrich your lives and careers.
All these events are online, you can join us from anywhere in the world! Make sure to register through the links below.
Wednesday, March 16 at 6:00 pm PST (9:00 pm EST) with the extraordinary Book Soup in LA. One of the most iconic bookstores in California! I am bringing my Angeleno friend Josh Spector with me that night. Josh is one of the most creative and sharpest people I’ve ever met. A veteran of content creation, he was the director of social media for the Academy Awards for many years and today he helps thousands of creators and entrepreneurs with his courses and materials in “For the Interested”. Register here.
Thursday, March 17 at 6:00 pm EST with The Lit Bar– a fabulous bookstore in the Bronx, NY owned by Noëlle Santos, and I am bringing a special guest with me: the incomparable June Ambrose, a visionary who shaped the style of hip-hop in the 90s, became Jay Z’s stylist in the 2000s and is now the creative director of Puma. Register here.
Tuesday, March 22 at 7 pm EST with Books & Books, the celebrated and super special bookstore that has several locations all over Florida. That day I will be joined by my dear friend Carlos Betancourt, a multidisciplinary artist who has lived in Miami most of his life and has been instrumental in shaping the art scene of that city for many decades. His work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Met New York, the New Orleans Museum of Art, The Bass and the PAMM in Miami Florida and many more. Tickets here.
Being a guest on podcasts has been a terrific experience for me during the launch of my book. All these hosts are brilliant interviewers and they have their own flavor and originality.
Here are the ones that came out in the past few days:
The Marketing Book Podcast: this is the most thorough chat I’ve had about my book.
The Unmistakable Creative Podcast with Srini Rao: This one is really fun, and the show has been described as “TED Talks meet Oprah”.
Young and Profiting with Hala Taha: this is one of the top five educational podcasts in the world. Hala reads two books a week and said that mine was one the best ones she’s read in the past year.
Latina to Latina: Hosted by MSNBC anchor Alicia Menendez, this is a short and sweet convo between us Latinas.
Create! Magazine Podcast: Another short and sweet chat with Alicia Puig who is the Director of Business Operations for Create! Magazine.
Ready, Camera and Abel with Barbara Barna Abel: Barbara is a phenomenal coach and her podcast explores the intersection of media and personal growth.
Behind the Grind: This is like a think tank for entrepreneurs hosted by Jimmy O'Donovan and Tucker Massey and they ask all the right questions.