Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: The First Rule of The Creative Leader's Edge

Creative people are dreamers.

We have to be.

A writer looks at a blank page and sees a world that doesn't exist yet. A filmmaker imagines a finished film before the first scene is shot. An artist sees something in an empty canvas. An entrepreneur imagines a business before there is a product, a customer, or sometimes even a name.

We spend our lives imagining what could be.

And yet, when it comes to imagining our own lives, something strange often happens.

We become practical.

We look at our age. Our résumé. Our bank account. Our education. Our responsibilities. The opportunities we've had and the ones we've missed. The things we've accomplished and the things that didn't work out.

Then we ask ourselves what comes next.

But there's a problem with that approach.

We're trying to imagine tomorrow while staring at yesterday.

Time Is Linear

There is one principle that sits at the foundation of the way I approach coaching and creative leadership:

Time is linear.

There is yesterday.

There is today.

There is tomorrow.

Yesterday has already happened. We can learn from it. We can examine it. We can celebrate it. We can regret parts of it. We can repair damage that resulted from it.

But we cannot change it.

That's not necessarily a sad thing.

It's simply information.

Yesterday can tell you what worked. It can tell you what didn't. It can show you patterns. It can reveal strengths you didn't recognize at the time. It can teach you lessons you might carry for the rest of your life.

What yesterday cannot do is tell you who you are allowed to become tomorrow.

That's where we sometimes give the past far more authority than it deserves.

We say things like:

I've never done that before.

I tried something like that once and it didn't work.

I'm too old to start over.

I'm not qualified.

Nobody has ever seen me that way.

I've always been this kind of person.

Those statements may contain facts about yesterday.

They are not facts about tomorrow.

Yesterday is information, not prophecy.

Go to Tomorrow Before You Plan Today

This is where I want to invite you to do something creative.

Before you make the plan, forget the plan.

Dream first.

Sit down somewhere you can think. Give yourself a little room. Take away the requirement that your answer has to sound practical, impressive, responsible, or even immediately achievable.

Then ask yourself:

What do I truly want to be?

Not what can I reasonably accomplish next.

Not what would look good on my résumé.

Not what other people think I should do.

Not what seems like the logical progression from everything I've already done.

What do I actually want?

And don't accept the first easy answer.

Dig.

Maybe your answer is, "I want to be successful."

What does successful mean?

Maybe it's, "I want to be a filmmaker."

Wonderful. What does being a filmmaker mean to you?

What are you making?

Are you writing? Directing? Producing?

Are you making independent films with a small group of people you love working with? Are you running a production company? Are you traveling to festivals? Are you creating enormous studio projects? Are you teaching other filmmakers while continuing to make your own work?

Keep going.

What does your morning look like?

Who surrounds you?

What kinds of problems occupy your time?

What aren't you doing anymore?

What does an ordinary Tuesday look like in this life?

That's where vision begins to become useful.

"I want to be successful" is difficult to navigate toward.

A deeply imagined future gives you something very different.

It gives you a destination.

Use Your Creativity on Yourself

This may be one of the most underused abilities of the creative spirit.

We readily give imagination to our work.

We imagine characters, stories, paintings, songs, inventions, organizations, experiences and solutions.

We imagine possibilities for other people.

Why shouldn't we use that same creative ability to imagine ourselves?

Creativity isn't only something you use to make things. You can use it to imagine yourself.

The person you're imagining does not have to be someone you've already been.

In fact, that's the point.

Creative leadership asks us to look beyond existing models and make room for originality and possibility. The philosophy behind The Creative Leader's Edge begins with the belief that originality is not something we need to remove from ourselves before we're ready to lead. It can be one of the things that guides us.

So dream.

Dream with detail.

Dream without immediately demanding evidence that you're capable of achieving what you're imagining.

There will be plenty of time for strategy.

First, we need the dream.

Then Come Back to Today

Once you can see tomorrow, come back.

Not to yesterday.

To today.

Where are you right now?

This requires a different kind of courage because we're no longer imagining. We're taking inventory.

What do you know?

What don't you know?

What resources do you have?

What skills do you need?

Who is already in your circle?

What habits are helping you?

What habits are getting in the way?

Where are you financially, professionally, creatively, emotionally?

This isn't the moment for judgment.

It's simply your current location.

Think about opening a GPS. Before it can tell you how to reach your destination, it needs two pieces of information:

Where are you now?

And:

Where are you trying to go?

If the distance between those two points is enormous, that's okay.

Coordinates aren't criticism.

They're information.

Today Is Where You Build

Yesterday gave you experience.

Tomorrow gave you vision.

Today is where you have power.

Because today is where you can do something.

You can learn.

You can practice.

You can write.

You can make the call.

You can introduce yourself.

You can research the program.

You can start the business plan.

You can develop the skill.

You can change a habit.

You can stop doing something that belongs to the person you used to be instead of the person you're becoming.

You can take one step.

And then another.

This is why I don't believe we should look at yesterday and use it to judge tomorrow.

The person standing here today has information the person standing in yesterday didn't have.

And the person standing here today can make choices yesterday's version of you never had the opportunity to make.

That's growth.

That's leadership.

That's movement.

The First Rule

So this is where I want The Creative Leader's Edge to begin.

Not with an assessment.

Not with an archetype.

Not with a productivity system.

With a dream.

Give yourself permission to imagine a future that isn't merely a continuation of your past.

Be creative.

Be a dreamer.

Sit with it long enough to get beyond the answers you're supposed to give and find the one that's actually yours.

Yesterday gives us information. Today gives us agency. Tomorrow gives us direction.

And then ask yourself one question:

If yesterday didn't get a vote, who would you decide to become tomorrow?

Don't worry yet about knowing exactly how you're going to get there.

First, we need to know where you're going.

Once we have the destination, we can turn on the GPS.

Find your compass. Set your GPS. Build your way forward.

Thank you for spending a little time at The Creative Leader’s Edge.

I believe creativity is more than something we make. It is part of how we think, how we lead, and how we imagine what comes next.

What did this idea bring up for you? I welcome your thoughts, experiences, and perspectives. If something here resonated, please follow, subscribe, and share it with another creative spirit finding their way forward.

Continue the journey with The Creative Leader’s Edge Explore the book and discover the Creative Leadership Archetypes, Elemental Energies, Action Avatars, Power Ups, Debuffs, and tools designed to help you better understand how you create, lead, and grow.

📖 The Creative Leader’s Edge — https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Leaders-EdgeTM-leadership-storytellers/dp/B0FKZ7GGNG/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

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Find your compass. Set your GPS. Build your way forward.

— Dr. AY Heath (Angel)

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