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

What if school got learning incorrectly? Here's how university creativity professor Juan Munoz is making more impression as a creative by beginning by becoming a better learner.

The first day of classes, creative and innovation professor Juan Munoz told his students they were free to submit their work in any way they chose.

"It could be written down, it can be in your own handwriting and it could be written by a computer. It may be a video or it could be a podcast. You can choose what you would like to accomplish. If you'd like to mail a messenger dove with your homework you are welcome to do so. You don't have to be constrained by a newspaper or Google Doc," he instructed.

But even with this freedom His students from his university turned in identical PDFs with exactly the same format every time.

"I was so frustrated," Juan remembers. "I thought this was the simplest task to complete. How can they discover creativity if they are unable to accomplish this?"

While the sequence continued, Juan wondered if there was a bigger issue that was at work.

"Students were taught programming over a period of ten to fifteen years in school. We've taught them that whether you're great or not excellent, you'll receive lower marks when you don't follow the template that teacher gave them to follow. It's a fear that's inherent in breaking away from the norm."

Juan realized that the internalized program was hurting creativity, and he wanted to improve things.

Juan loved teaching, but he felt constricted by regulations at the university. When he had free time reading, he would read TechCrunch and various other business-oriented publications and was given the inspiration to create a business.

There was no thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in his home country, Costa Rica, so Juan decided to help get the ball rolling.

"I hold a civil engineering degree and knew that some people might ask, "What does this guy know about business?' The first step I took was to put all my thoughts into a blog post and shared them with. I began my career as a creator by sharing my ideas online as well as sharing my ideas about what I'm able to do."

Today, Juan teaches creativity, goal-setting, entrepreneurship, and business through his online learning platform called Epico Academia . The platform offers online classes and a library of free workshops, and a paid monthly email newsletter that helps individuals live more imaginative and exciting lives.

This is how trying new things, exploring new paths and constantly making progress helped Juan create a successful online company and gain access to an approach to business which is enjoyable and fulfilling.

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

Based on his previous experience in creating courses as a university professor, making content wasn't a challenge for Juan. It was just a matter of figuring out the most efficient way to deliver that material.

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

"People will buy a course and only a handful of them will take the course. It's like going to being in school. Even if nobody's making me perform the task and I'm curious, my brain switches to the school environment. There's a teacher, there are courses, classes are offered."

Then Juan was experimenting with new ways to present his content to his audience.

"What is the likelihood of me trying the online course that lets you receive a cool email every week for a year ? or TikTok-style content, only thirty-second videos. Do I have the ability to create a course with tons of 30-second videos? I don't know, maybe. I'll test it to see if it's effective."

"I enjoy the fact that it allows me to create content that is basically what I'd like, in the order I want. I can make courses that are just 100 videos of 30 seconds and have people go through them."

One of the experiments that proved successful was a pro-Monday email newsletter

When it comes to experimenting, Juan tried something different and different and ended up putting together one of his most-loved resources: The Monday newsletter .

At the beginning of the online company, Juan noticed a trend.

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

"I started realizing these are the same people that call me to say, 'I don't like my lifestyle, I don't enjoy my job, I want to be better I noticed an underlying trend. I love marketing and branding and thought that this could be an intriguing brand idea because it's easy to be a grumpy Monday. There's already a group for that, and it's an enormous club. How do you accomplish something different?"

Juan created a weekly newsletter about how much he loved Mondays where he shared one idea, tip, or idea that would assist his readers in getting the most out of their day.

"It attracted a lot of people since people were unsatisfied about something within their lives, and I had been discussing ways to make their life more pleasant. It made people question"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 be sure to get as much knowledge as you can about your subjects of interest

Not every idea comes together in the same way as the weekly newsletter on Monday, and Juan discovered that the most effective way to get clarity on product and content ideas was to be a student and then a student.

"I'm always mind blown about how fortunate we are to be a part of a community that we are able to learn from everyone and that anyone can benefit from our lessons. It's amazing. If I'm into marbles I'll be able to find someone that's so much interested in marbles and show me something new. They could be from Singapore and I may have no idea who they are, but I can benefit from their writings."

To become a successful creator today, learn as much as you can about the topics you love.

"I recommend that people consume everything they're interested about," Juan recommends. "Often you'll find no-cost content on social networks. When you are consuming material, you realise that it's not all that complicated. He's discussing marbles. There is no requirement to be a Ph.D. in a subject."

"There used to be specialists," Juan explains. "There were experts who could know every aspect of a particular subject, but there was only a tiny amount of information. There wasn't infinite information like that we are able to access today. And the information was kept somewhere. There was a person who was knowledgeable about everything They were experts. But that's not any longer the case."

"There are a lot of people that know a lot but there's many who know a little and there's always someone with less knowledge than you. Therefore, you could create videos for them, and have a big impact."

The more you go out and learn, the more wisdom you'll impart to others in your life. If you're struggling with what or how to teach Try switching your roles and becoming a student again to rekindle your passion.

How would you feel if you made things to enjoy creating them?

One of the most profound learnings Juan learned in his entrepreneurial journey is that there are many different routes people can take to be passionate about their work.

It shouldn't just be about achieving some specific result or financial goal, nor a followers count. Instead, you should find a compromise between Telic and Atelic objectives.

"Telic goals are things with a certain end-product that is easily measured. These goals are great to do for the sake of making these. The way to approach creating with both types of goals in mind," Juan shares.

"If you're actually helping other people out, then it doesn't matter whether you help one person or one million."

Plus, there's value in the fact that your work exists in the world.

"If you post a tweet, Instagram post  or video but nobody is able to see it, it's still there. Someone can find it eventually. In addition, gaining likes on a post and helping people with your blog post are two completely different things. I like a variety of items that I never double-tap. Even if no one double-tapped your post or retweeted your tweet doesn't mean it wasn't beneficial."

"Creating is a visceral thing. It's emotional, vulnerable, it's very sincere," Juan relates. "It's an image of your personality and your thoughts, and putting that out there and having no person take notice is just awful."

"But even if no one buys it, it's still valuable. You still learned a lot. You can use that knowledge to help you with your next position or any. No one can ever take it from you. It's the soul's bond."

To keep in touch to what is important, Juan explains how important it is to be able to recall where you came from and to celebrate all you've accomplished so far.

"I advise that creatives keep journals, and reflect on the work you're currently doing by looking at yourself five years ago, or 10 years ago or even 20 years ago. Ask yourself what you would consider your current work. Since in the past you'd likely believe that it was great."

And lastly, Juan reminds creators that most important is getting your work out there. The goal is not to make the highest number of sales, followers, or clients.

"I find it arrogant to assume people won't want your product. It's arrogant because you're making an assumption for another. Let them make the decision. If they're interested and want it, they'll get it. If they don't, they'll not. You just have to make accessible to the people who need it. Get more blown away by the world around you, study all you can and create decisions that others will take their own decisions."

"Create your thing and put your work out there," Juan tells us. "You don't know what's going to take place next."