If you are a creative then there are a number of personality traits you are going to exhibit, to one degree or another. Reading this list is likely to make you feel uncomfortable, or may even make you scream, but if you think it’s rubbish then may I suggest you take the challenge at the end? I did and my wife laughed at me!

1. Life is often seen in black and white.
   Creative types have a tendency to think, write and speak in absolutes - perhaps you are one of those people who ends a lot of sentences with exclamation marks, perhaps even two or three to really make your point? Things are either brilliant or terrible, amazing or awful, in fact anywhere but somewhere in the middle! This is often driven by the fuel in our creative tank, passion - harness that and you can change the world! How black and white was that sentence?
2. We like to try and be perfect
   Many creatives spend their lives trying to achieve the impossible with their gift, perfection. It was once said that mixes are never finished, just abandoned. I’m yet to write a song, mix a track or release an album that I’m entirely happy with - if that’s you too, then join the illustrious club of creatives. Write 99 good reviews about me and I’ll still remember the one that didn’t like what I did. This taps into another thing in our creative personality, sensitivity. However gregarious we may seem on the outside, it’s normally a cover for the thing inside that’s needing the talent to be recognised and celebrated.
3. Starting is easy - finishing is harder.
   They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, if it is, then most the people who built it are creatives. It’s no surprise, we are ideas people and if you’re like me, then you may have a couple of dozen before breakfast, however a lot of them don’t get finished. I’ve bought more books on planning and time management than I can remember - not one of them worked. There’s no harm trying to be organised, but it is highly likely you won’t ever do it. 
4. We are combination of genius mixed with stupidity
   Creative types can do some remarkable things; write great songs, paint amazing pictures, even code incredible software, yet at the same time we can also fail at the most basic levels of decision making, personal relationships and life-skills.  
5. We are combination of extrovert and introvert
   I’ve been lucky enough to have hung around with some of the best people in the music business, but even the not so famous seem to display a similar trait. Extroversion mixed with introversion - the ability to stand on a stage and entertain for a couple of hours and then sit quietly afterwards and just drink coffee on their own. There too many people who think that to be creative you have to be an extrovert - in a study Psychology Today concluded ‘In fact, in psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliably measured. Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.’

One of the most librating things we can discover as creatives is that we’re often some, if not all of the above. Then we can embrace who we are and stop trying to be who we are not, although if I’m honest perfection will get the better of most of us and keep us wishing we were someone else.

If the list above seems outrageously black and white, disjointed and incomplete, then what did you expect, it’s written by a creative. If you are creative and think it’s not you, then may I suggest you show it to your partner or a parent and see what they say… go on I dare you!!!!! Discuss.