“If you feel safe in the area that you are working in, you are not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”

David Bowie

We can learn a lot from the master of reinventing himself – David Bowie – about pushing ourselves to our creative limits. These insights aren’t just for artists. They apply to business, learning, sport, and many other things.

Go outside your depth

It’s easy to live below our potential. It feels safer flying under the radar. But this can become quite boring and unfulfilling.

• Do you feel like you are playing it safe at the moment?

• What are limiting beliefs holding you back? And how could you move beyond them?

Remember why you started

“Always remember that the reason that you initially started working was that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest it in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society”

David Bowie

Often we get lost from the original purpose, which energises and sustains us.

• How can you get back on the path?

Beware of expectations

“I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfil other people’s expectations. They generally produce their worst work when they do that.”

David Bowie

We get buried in other peoples expectations. All these extra demands wear down our creativity and leadership capacity. This weight could be holding us back from true greatness.

• Do you find yourself diluting your work down for a generic audience?
• Are you simply trying to please others?
• How can you step up and lead with your best work?