Counter the effects of culture (steering your design ideas) by going out and looking for new experiences.
When you have something truthful to say, it will design itself.
Forget all the rules you ever learned about graphic design.
Once you have the statement, it will design itself.
No matter how many times your amazing, absolutely brilliant work is rejected by the client, for whatever dopey, arbitrary reason, there is often another amazing, absolutely brilliant solution possible. Sometimes it's even better.
I've never had a problem with a dumb client. There is no such thing as a bad client. Part of our job is to do good work and get the client to accept it.
Be stimulated by rejection