The professor of creativity Juan Munoz published his newsletter for 162 weeks in a row. These are the results of his experimentation. off. |

How could school be able to teach in the wrong direction? Here's how university creativity professor Juan Munoz is making more impact as a creator by making himself a better student.

On the first day of class, creativity and innovation instructor Juan Munoz instructed his students that they could turn in their assignments in any manner they liked.

"It is possible to write it down, it can be in your own handwriting and it could be written using a computer, it can be a video, it could be a podcast. You are free to do what you wish to do. If you'd prefer to mail a messenger take a dive with your assignments, that's fine. There's no need to be restricted by a paper as well as Google Doc," he instructed.

Even with that freedom the students at his college turned in identical PDFs with the same formatting every single time.

"I was so angry," Juan remembers. "I thought this was an easy task to complete to complete. What are they doing to discover creativity if they are unable to accomplish this?"

While the sequence continued, Juan wondered if there was a bigger issue in play.

"Students are taught to be a certain way of thinking over a period of ten to fifteen years in schools for ten, fifteen years. We've taught them that regardless of whether or not you're good, you'll be given a worse grade when you don't follow the template that teacher gave you. It's a fear that's inherent in deviation from the normal path."

Juan was able to see the fact that internalized programming had a negative impact on creativity and he wanted to improve things.

Juan loved teaching, but was frustrated by the university rules. While at home reading, he would read TechCrunch and other entrepreneurial publications, which gave him an idea for an enterprise.

At the time, there was not a vibrant entrepreneurial environment in Juan's home country of Costa Rica, so Juan decided to help get things moving.

"I am a civil engineer with a degree. I was aware that some people might ask, "What does this guy know about business?' Therefore, the first action I took was that I recorded all of my ideas into a blog post and spread them around. I launched my creator career by putting my thoughts on the internet and sharing the things I'm able to achieve."

In the present, Juan teaches creativity, goal-setting, entrepreneurship, and business on his learning platform, Epico Academia . He offers online courses as well as a collection of no-cost workshops, and a paid weekly email newsletter to help users live more artistic and exciting lives.

Here's how experimenting, taking unplanned paths, and continuously learning has helped Juan create a successful online business, and also unlock an approach to business which is enjoyable and fulfilling.

How do you provide information in a way that doesn't look like school

Based on his previous experience in creating courses as a university professor, making content wasn't a challenge for Juan. He just had to figure out the most impactful way to deliver that material.

"The greatest obstacle is getting people to consume our content," Juan shares.

"People will buy a course and only a handful will go through it. It feels like being in school. If nobody's compelled me to do it and I'm really curious, my brain switches to the school environment. There's a teacher. are classes, and there are classes."

Then Juan started experimenting with other ways to present his content to his audience.

"What if I try an email-based course where you receive a cool emails every week throughout the year ? Or TikTok-type content, just 30 second videos. Could I make an online course that has a lot of videos that are 30 seconds long? Maybe. I'll try it out and see if this works."

"I enjoy the fact that it allows me to make basically any content I want in whatever sequence I'd like. I could create an entire course consisting of 100 30-second videos, and have people go through the course."

One experiment that paid off was a pro-Monday email newsletter

When it comes to experimenting, Juan decided to try something new that went against the norm, he ended up creating one of his most-loved resources: The Monday newsletter .

In the early days of his online business, Juan noticed a trend.

"Every Sunday night, and on early on Monday, everyone will make memes of how they hate Mondays," Juan says. "I thought, there's never going to not be a Monday. You can't escape it. The question is, why do you remain in a bind about this?"

"I realized that they are exactly the people who contact me and tell me"I'm not happy with my life, I don't love my job and want to improve,' and there was a trend. I love marketing and branding, and I thought this could be an intriguing branding idea since it's so easy to get bored on Mondays. There's already a club specifically for this, and it's a big club. However, how can you achieve the opposite?"

Juan started a newsletter all about how much he loved Mondays. He would offer a tip, concept, or concept that could assist his readers in getting the most of their day.

"It was a popular topic with a lot of people since people were dissatisfied with a situation that was going on in their lives and I talked about strategies to make their lives better. This made them think"Why you think I get so annoyed on Mondays?'"

Today, this experiment-turned-newsletter continues to grow through word-of-mouth referrals, and Juan still loves writing it every week.

To become a better creator, learn as much information that you can on subjects you're interested in.

It's not every thought that comes together in the same way as the Monday newsletter, and Juan realized that the best method to gain clarity about the content or product idea was to be a student and then a student.

"I'm always mind blown about how fortunate we are to live in a world where we can learn from anyone and anyone can take lessons from us. It's amazing. If I'm interested in marbles I'll be able to locate someone who is so much in love with marbles, they'll help me learn new things. It could be that they're in Singapore and I may not even know their name and yet I'll take advantage of their knowledge."

For you to become a thriving creator today, learn as much as you can on the topics you love.

"I encourage people to read everything they're interested about," Juan recommends. "Often you'll find free content on social media. When you are consuming material, you realise that it's not all that complicated. He's talking about marbles. There is no requirement to be an Ph.D. in a subject."

"There were experts," Juan explains. "There were people that knew everything about one subject because there was a small amount of information available. It wasn't as extensive as the information we get today. the information was kept somewhere. It was clear that there was one person who had all the information, and they were experts. However, that's not any longer the case."

"There are many people who are knowledgeable but there's a lot of people that know a little and there's always someone who knows less than you. Therefore, you could create videos for them, and make a huge impact."

In essence, the more you go out and gain knowledge, the more information you'll be able to share with people who are around you. If you're feeling stuck on the best way to impart knowledge Try switching your roles and being a student once more to rekindle your passion.

What if you created things to enjoy doing it?

One of the most profound lessons Juan has learned from his business experience is the fact that there are numerous avenues people could take to share their passions.

Creating also shouldn't be all about reaching a particular outcome or financial goal, nor a followers count. Instead, find a balance between Telic and Atelic goals.

"Telic goals are things which have a fixed result that can be measured. These goals are great to do for the sake of doing them. The way to approach creating with both types of goals in their minds," Juan shares.

"If you're helping other individuals, it doesn't matter whether it's one person or one million."

Furthermore, you can gain value from your work simply existing within the global community.

"If you share a tweet, Instagram posting  or video, and no one sees it, it's there. Somebody will find it. In addition, gaining likes on a post and helping people with your blog post are two distinct items. I like a variety of things that I don't double-tap. If no one has did double tap your tweet or liked your tweet does not mean that it isn't valuable."

"Creating is a very visceral experience. It's a feeling, it's sensitive, and it's sincere," Juan relates. "It's an image of who you are and your thoughts about yourself, and then putting it out there and having no one engage with it is horrible."

"But even if nobody buys it, it's still worth it. The lessons you learned are still valuable. You can use that knowledge for your next consulting position or any. You can't take it away from you. That's soul bound."

To stay in touch with what really matters, Juan explains how important it is to remember where you came from and be proud of what you've accomplished in the past.

"I recommend that creators keep journals and think about what you're doing now by looking at yourself five years ago, or the past ten years and 20 years back. Think about what you'd consider your current work. In the past, you'd probably believe that it was great."

And lastly, Juan reminds creators that the most important thing is getting your work out there. It isn't about getting record-breaking sales, likes, or clients.

"I think it's arrogant to assume people won't want the product you offer. This is because you're making a an assumption for another. You let them decide. If they want it and want it, they'll get it. If they don't want it, they'll not. You just have to make the information available to the people who need it. Take a deeper look at the world, learn as much as you can, and make decisions that others will take their own decisions."

"Create your thing and put it on the market, Juan tells us. "You don't know what's going to take place next."