For years, I felt stuck—like I had ideas but no clear creative voice. Sound familiar? Then I cracked the code and developed a simple framework that changed everything.

Your creative career isn’t broken; it just needs a reset.

I spent seven years as a creative director in advertising and tech, but last year, I walked away from the corporate grind to help creative professionals like you reset how they live, work, and play.

Plan Your Creative Sprint

I love the simplicity of making 30 first drafts in 30 days because it helps you learn rapidly and iterate faster. But you also have to pick a hyper-specific goal you want to achieve in that time span.

For example:

• If you’re a poet, write 30 poems in 30 days.
• If you’re a digital artist, create 30 drawings in 30 days.
• If you’re a content creator, commit to making 30 videos in 30 days.

Now, I know you’re thinking, this isn’t sustainable for the rest of my life, and you’re absolutely right. I’m not expecting you to make content every single day forever. Social media platforms would love that, but the goal of this sprint is rapid growth.

The best way to grow quickly is to commit to a specific period of time and follow through with your vision.

Finding Your Creative Voice vs. Making a Final Product

Finding your creative voice isn’t about creating a polished, shareable product. It’s about giving yourself the freedom to explore. You’re defining what you can create and building a system for making things you absolutely love—at a faster pace.

Think of this as pre-work before immersing yourself in a larger creative project. For example:

• A filmmaker could create 30 visual sketches in 30 days.
• A writer working on a romance novel could write 30 one-page scenes.

This is about putting in the reps so that when it’s time to do the real work, you already know how.

My 30-Day Challenge Experience

I’ve worked in creative industries my entire career. Outside of my day job, I’ve launched my fair share of creative experiments. One of my favorites was a 30-day illustration challenge when I first got my iPad Pro in 2016.

I committed to posting a new illustration every day on social media. Back then, you could actually grow an account just by posting photos. These days, video is the dominant format, but that’s a conversation for another time.

The results of my challenge were impressive:

• I exponentially increased my followers.
• I got featured in a blog, which led to my first illustration contract.
• That contract led to three more illustration gigs—all from people who either saw my work or read that blog post.

Building an Inspiration File (Without Getting Stuck There)

Start by picking a specific creative focus, then spend two to four hours making a mood board or gathering inspiration. This is important: limit yourself to two to four hours.

Many people mistake inspiration-gathering for actual work, but it’s not. We don’t want to get lost in the clouds.

A Pro Tip on Finding Better Inspiration

Avoid relying solely on contemporary trends. Often, you’ll find more interesting ideas by researching historical time periods, different cultures, or unexpected influences.

Great creative work often comes from merging two seemingly unrelated ideas. Austin Kleon talks about this in Steal Like an Artist, and it’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received.

Once you have your inspiration, spend about 30 minutes reflecting on what you admire and how you’d make it your own. Ask yourself:

• I love the colors in this piece, but how can I use them in my own style?
• I like this writer’s staccato style, but I want my poems to be longer.

This differentiation process helps you develop a unique creative voice instead of mimicking others.

Committing to a Schedule

Your creative sprint should fit your lifestyle, but it’s okay to be a little obsessed.

I’ll be honest—one of my biggest fears was that committing to being an artist would ruin my life. And in some ways, it did. But only because it left little room for distractions that weren’t serving me.

Before I committed to my art practice:

• I spent about five hours a day scrolling on my phone.
• I watched four to five hours of TV daily.

Now, I can barely sit through an hour of TV before I feel the urge to create.

Finding Time in Your Schedule

You might need to do this before work. I know that sucks. But 30 days of intentional focus could change the way you make creative work forever.

When I was getting my master’s degree while working full-time, I structured my schedule like this:

• Tuesdays & Thursdays: 6:30–8:30 PM dedicated to creative work.
• Wednesdays & Saturdays: Focused on homework.

Breaking your schedule into structured blocks prevents burnout while maintaining momentum.

Productivity Over Perfection

You don’t need to show up every single day, but you do need to be consistent enough to complete the challenge.

Over the years, I’ve done five different iterations of a 30-day challenge. And I’ll be honest—I’ve never completed all 30 pieces. But that’s not the point. The goal is to build momentum, explore your creative voice, and develop a sustainable practice.

So, are you ready to reset and find your creative voice?