I was in the Minneapolis skyway last Thursday when the news hit: Prince was dead at 57. I was in shock. Seeing another man nearby, I blurted, “Have you heard? Prince is dead!”
He snarled, muttered “Not a fan,” and sped up to get away.
Fan or not, it is hard to deny that Prince was a fascinating, complex, creative soul. He was a Minnesota original, and he happened to be my age. His death has made me stop and think. When something lands that hard, I hope you will stop too.
Some coaches talk about dozens of moments each year that could change how you live—if you actually reflect on them. Prince’s passing is one of those pauses for me.
A strong feeling after a hard event is not only grief. It can be a door. Listen to the inner voice that wants to work the moment over, and you may find a kind of creativity you rarely use. In graduate work on creativity I learned a simple claim that still holds: we are all creative. It is not a gift reserved for a few. Some people have practiced it more. Research on creative skill says you can stretch it.
Here is how Prince is teaching me, in three parts.
Personality
He pushes me to be myself and to define a personal brand in color, not beige. Few people owned a look the way he did. On SNL’s tribute, Jimmy Fallon said it plainly: Prince had his own color. Who else has their own color? He owned purple.
I am asking: What is your brand? Is it consistent? Does it serve your purpose?
Persistence
His career is a case for not quitting. Critics and some crowds did not always come with him. He still would not trade away the vision. In October 1981 he opened for the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The crowd turned on him; the first night he left the stage before the set was finished. He still went on.
Persistence is half of what Angela Duckworth calls grit: passion plus perseverance toward a long goal. Her book Grit came out in May 2016. The Atlantic asked that same spring whether grit was being oversold. The useful core remains: successful lives are not magic. They include rejection. People who last keep going anyway. Prince did.
I am asking: What is in the way? What would perseverance look like this week?
Passion
He also pushes me to chase the thing I cannot quit. He played into the small hours and built a world around the music and the people in the room.
A few years ago I was sure my passion was fashion and image consulting. I moved the business that way. I disliked most of it. I was judging people by their clothes, which collided with what I actually value. I bought fashion books and read everything but fashion. I am back where I belong: helping people find their brilliance and make something worth making.
I am asking: What do you love so much that you lose track of time? What theme keeps returning? That is the thing to follow.
Dearly beloved, take time to notice what moves you—even if it is not Prince. Ask the hard questions. Let them rev the engine. Use this as a frame if you need one.