How to Build a Creative Practice That Keeps You Sane When Life Gets Loud

What a Creative Practice Actually Is (And Why You Need One)

A creative practice for entrepreneurs is a consistent, intentional habit of making something — music, writing, sketching, brainstorming — that keeps your mind sharp, your emotions regulated, and your vision clear, even when the rest of your life is chaotic. It's not a hobby. It's not a side hustle. It's infrastructure for your mind. And if you're building something real in the world, you need it more than most people realize.

I've worn a lot of hats — founder, musician, author, problem-solver. And the one thing that has kept me from burning out or losing the plot isn't a productivity app or a morning routine I found on the internet. It's the creative practice I've built and protected over the years. When life gets loud — and it will — that practice is the place I go to find signal in the noise.

Why Entrepreneurs Specifically Need a Creative Outlet

There's a reason so many of the greatest entrepreneurs in history were also painters, musicians, writers, or inventors in multiple domains. Creativity isn't separate from strategy — it's the engine underneath it. When you're running a business, you're solving problems constantly. Your brain is always in output mode. A creative practice gives it somewhere to go that isn't transactional.

Without that release valve, one of two things happens: you burn out, or you go numb. Either way, your best ideas stop showing up. The sharpness fades. You start executing on autopilot, which is fine until it isn't.

A creative practice rewires how you see problems. It trains your brain to look for unexpected connections, to sit with ambiguity, to finish things. All of those skills transfer directly to how you lead, how you build, and how you adapt.

How to Start a Creative Practice (Even If You Think You're Not Creative)

1. Choose One Medium and Commit to It

You don't need to be a musician to have a music practice. You don't need to be a writer to journal. Pick one creative medium — something that feels like play more than work — and give it a real chance. Writing, drawing, music production, photography, even cooking. The medium matters less than the consistency.

I write and make music. Both of those practices inform each other and both inform my work as a founder. My Mixed Feelings EP and my Long Story Short album weren't just creative releases — they were how I processed years of lessons, losses, and breakthroughs. Stream XoTyree on Spotify or Apple Music and you'll hear what I mean — the music is honest in a way that business decks can never quite be.

2. Protect the Time Like It's a Meeting You Can't Cancel

The biggest mistake people make is treating creative time as optional. It gets bumped for urgent things, which means it never actually happens. Put it on the calendar. Even thirty minutes counts. The ritual of showing up — regardless of output quality — is what builds the muscle.

Some of the best ideas I've ever had came out of a session where I sat down thinking I had nothing. The practice creates the conditions. You don't wait for inspiration; you build a room for it to walk into.

3. Let It Be Messy — at First

Perfectionism is the enemy of a sustainable creative practice. The first draft of anything is supposed to be rough. The first few songs you write will be awkward. The journal entries will be scattered. That's not failure — that's development. Give yourself permission to make bad work on the way to making good work.

My book Nightmare Eyes didn't start polished. It started as something I had to get out of me. That rawness is still in there, and it's exactly what makes it land. Grab Nightmare Eyes on Amazon if you want to see what happens when you commit to finishing something that scares you a little.

4. Let the Practice Feed the Business — But Don't Force It

One of the quiet gifts of a creative practice is what it gives back to your work without you trying. You'll find yourself coming to meetings with fresher perspectives. You'll solve problems in the shower because your subconscious has been loosened up by creative play. You'll communicate with more clarity and more humanity.

Don't force the connection. Let it happen organically. The cross-pollination is real — you just can't schedule it.

What Happens When You Protect Your Creative Life

The entrepreneurs I admire most — and the ones who seem to last the longest without imploding — almost all have some form of creative practice. It's not coincidence. There's something about regularly making something that has no immediate ROI that keeps you honest about why you started in the first place.

It keeps you human. And that matters more than most people admit, especially when you're building something that's supposed to serve other humans.

I've got a new album in post-production right now, and the process of making it has already changed how I'm approaching my next business chapter. Two more books — Altar Ego and Enchanted Echoes — are in the works. All of it feeds all of it. That's what a real creative practice looks like at scale.

Start small. Stay consistent. Protect the time. The rest takes care of itself.