Here's something I've learned after 25 years in creative: your gut knows more than you think.

That sounds like some vague, inspirational wall art, but I mean it in the most practical way possible.

This thought hit me after reading a post about Mario Puzo—the guy who wrote The Godfather.

Not only did he write the book, but he also adapted it into the screenplay. That rarely happens. Usually, they bring in a seasoned screenwriter to do that part. But Puzo did both.

And after The Godfather won two Oscars he bought a book on screenwriting.

What did the first chapter say?

"Study The Godfather."‍

He wrote the thing they were telling him to study. He already knew more than he gave himself credit for.

And guess what? So do you.

The problem is that we humans love rules. We love frameworks, formulas, laws, and theories. It's comforting. Science is our safe space—if I drop an apple, it'll fall. Guaranteed.

But when we try to apply that same mindset to creative work? It breaks down. The formulas… stop working.

I can't tell you how many articles I've read that say, "Hook your viewer in the first five seconds!" And yet, one of my most viral videos doesn't even get to the punchline until 45 seconds in. Forty-five. It breaks every "rule" out there—and it worked.

I've had people analyze my work on LinkedIn, breaking down the timing, the structure, and the emotional arc. "At 0:35 they use contrast, and then at 0:46 they…" No. No, we didn't. We were winging it. We felt it. That's it.

And I know that's scary. It's unsettling. Because the gut doesn't come with a case study, it's not measurable. It doesn't show up in an ROI report.

And that's why it's easy to second-guess.

But creativity doesn't live in spreadsheets. It lives in that weird part of your brain that lights up when you shower, walk, or stare at the ceiling like a zombie.

Here's a metaphor I always come back to: when JFK was assassinated, people couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that one guy could kill the most powerful man in the world. That seemed too simple. So, cue the conspiracy theories: CIA, KGB, second shooter, grassy knoll. Why? Because our brains can't deal with simplicity, breaking all the expected patterns.

It's the same with creativity. We assume that if something worked, there had to be a master plan behind it. But a lot of the time? It was just a hunch. A guess. A gut feeling.

The irony is that we don't celebrate people who followed a ten-step process they found in a LinkedIn carousel. We celebrate risk-takers. Rule-breakers. The people who had two weeks of runway and a wild idea. The ones who didn't know if it would work but did it anyway.

So, if you're doubting yourself and hesitating to pitch that risky idea because it doesn't follow "best practices, " I want you to remember this: you already have the framework. It's inside you. It's your gut.

And if you don't trust your gut yet, that's okay. You can borrow someone else's. That's what agencies are for. But if you hire someone for their gut, trust it. Don't pile on frameworks and strip them of their magic. Let it do what it does.

Creativity isn't scientific. It's messy. It's unpredictable. But it's also magic. And the sooner you stop trying to fit it into a clean little spreadsheet, the sooner you'll make something unforgettable.

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