James Clear once said, "If you keep showing up, you'll almost certainly break through — but probably not in the way you expected or intended. You need enough persistence to keep working and enough flexibility to enjoy success when it comes in a different form than you imagined."

Now, isn’t that just the perfect encapsulation of the creative process? And also life, for that matter. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned while trying to convince glass to cooperate in a 800-degree kiln, it’s that persistence (and maybe a bit of swearing) is key. But so is being prepared for your masterpiece to come out looking more like modern art than Michelangelo.

Creativity is messy. And by messy, I mean it’s a chaotic, frustrating, beautiful disaster that occasionally rewards you with a moment of “Oh, that actually worked!”—usually after about five attempts and the sacrifice of your sanity. If I had a pound for every time I’ve fired up the kiln convinced I was about to create the piece, only to end up with something that looks like it belongs in the reject bin, I’d be writing this from a yacht... oh that's right, we do actually have a yacht.

But here’s the law of the sod in action: those so-called failures often lead to something even better. Sure, my original plan to create a stunningly symmetrical wall piece might have gone up in smoke (quite literally), but what emerged instead was something unexpected—a beautifully organic, abstract piece that people seem to love.

This is where James Clear’s wisdom comes in. You show up, you do the work, and you stay flexible when the universe decides to throw you a curveball. Or in my case, when the kiln decides it has its own artistic vision.

The Joy of Breaking Through (and Breaking Glass)

As a creative, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of perfection. You have a vision, a plan, a Pinterest board full of inspiration. But the reality? Creativity is less like following a recipe and more like cooking without a timer or measurements. Sometimes you end up with a Michelin-star dish, and sometimes you end up scraping burnt bits off the bottom of the pan.

Take my Bombay Sapphire jewellery, for example. I started making it because I thought, “Ooh, wouldn’t it be cool to turn this gin bottle into earrings?” What I didn’t anticipate was the absurd amount of trial and error involved. Glass cutting? Harder than it looks. Melting it down evenly? Practically witchcraft. But I kept showing up, kept experimenting, and now those pieces are some of my best sellers. Persistence paid off.

Embracing the Unexpected

The other side of this quote—the “enjoy success when it comes in a different form than you imagined” bit—is just as important. Sometimes, the universe knows what you need better than you do. Sure, it’d be nice if it could communicate that without so much ambiguity, but hey, where’s the fun in that?

The creative process isn’t about rigidly sticking to your original idea. It’s about being open to detours, happy accidents, and the occasional spectacular failure. Because more often than not, those failures teach you something. They make you better. They give you stories to laugh about (after you’ve had a drink and calmed down).

Keep Showing Up

So, what’s the takeaway here? Creativity isn’t about waiting for inspiration to strike or for everything to fall perfectly into place. It’s about showing up. It’s about rolling with the punches and turning what might look like a setback into an opportunity. It’s about persistence, flexibility, and maybe a few choice swear words along the way.

And if you ever feel like giving up, just remember this: even if things don’t turn out the way you imagined, there’s still a chance they’ll turn out even better. Or at the very least, you’ll have a funny story to tell. And really, isn’t that the best kind of breakthrough?