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How Giving Myself Permission to Suck for 30 Days Transformed My Creative Process

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How Giving Myself Permission to Suck for 30 Days Transformed My Creative Process

This entire journey started very simple...

I wanted to beat my perfectionism and procrastination tendencies.

Well, let me tell ya... when you allow yourself to SUCK, you really do flip perfectionism off because you're putting things out there that aren't "ready" and you become braver and braver in your creation process. So much so, you're shipping things in days!

If I hadn't done the 30 Days of Sucking challenge, I would not have shipped The Creative Business Companion so fast, or ever. And what a shame that would've been. 

You don't think that's marketing? That's cos it's creative marketing!

You don't think that's marketing? That's cos it's creative marketing!

I could spend an entire day listing things that don't *seem* like marketing.

Doodles, thought pieces, blackout poetry, your photos on Instagram, a collection of your favorite blogs, your crazy creative process, 5-minute podcast monologues, a free consulting session, a 30-day challenge and community where everyone creates together...

These are all things people use as marketing because IT IS MARKETING!

Hey creative business owners, call the shots on those trade-off's.

Hey creative business owners, call the shots on those trade-off's.

I've had to adjust my strategy a lot in the last few weeks. It doesn't have to do with trying to make more money. Some will call this approach silly, but I'm actually working really hard toward making my business DELIGHTFUL - both for my audience and for myself.

As you can imagine, the first year of business is intense. You get to battle with yourself a lot, go mad a little, and sacrifice some sleep and sanity along the way. Mostly because you're improvising and trying to do everything and failing and it's hard...

I've decided that the self-inflicted madness stops. TODAY.

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Feeling stuck? You need a higher mission.

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Feeling stuck? You need a higher mission.

I like to believe that I've discovered my life-long mission. It's to help people become more alive and confident about their creative superpowers. It's to help others see things differently and think and act in authentic and courageous ways.

It's to awaken the creative rebel in everyone.

Your higher mission - or purpose - is the natural resolution of your life. All of your talents, skills, and life experiences have led to this moment. Now let's explore it a little bit closer and see how you can trigger it in your own life.

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If you want to stand out online, you gotta think outside your industry.

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If you want to stand out online, you gotta think outside your industry.

You know the saying "think outside the box?"

This is the same, only I'm telling you to think outside your industry.

If I think back to every industry I've ever been in - creative writing, photography, startups, marketing - I've always found annoying things. You too? This doesn't mean we're haters or that someone's going to jump out and expose us. It just means that we have a unique opportunity to transcend the things we don't like in our respective industries. 

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How to "make it happen" as a creative and a dreamer.

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How to "make it happen" as a creative and a dreamer.

Have you noticed how every week a different topic is trending?

You can very easily see this if you're on twitter every day, even just for a few minutes because suddenly everyone is talking about the same thing. And I'm not talking about some kind of event or you know, the latest stupid thing twitter is doing... I'm talking about a topic that can be seen from many different perspectives. The latest popular theme has been "the fetishization of passion" as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it in this podcast episode.

She says that it's dangerous to put so much pressure on passion because it was never meant to carry it. There's a scary trend of people wanting their passions and creative talents to become their full-time jobs...

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Why Hustling Is Actually Bad for You and "The Four States of Being"

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Why Hustling Is Actually Bad for You and "The Four States of Being"

Last week I experienced a catharsis. This particular one was EPIC because it caused a major shift in my mindset. It was the resolution to a constant battle with burnout — one that I’ve been losing for years. It felt as if a strong wave of calm washed over me, leaving me behind feeling like a Hindu cow. FINALLY. I WAS FREE.

Free of constant hustling, of feeling like I have to do everything, of the expectations imposed on me by me, of the constant need to prove myself, of going in circles and feeling like a hamster stuck in a cage, the wheel my only friend.

Do we have to try so hard? Does it have to be so difficult?

The 5 Keys to Cutting Back On Consumption & Amping Up Your Creativity

The 5 Keys to Cutting Back On Consumption & Amping Up Your Creativity

You've got a ton to do, but everything's distracting you. You find yourself using social media too much and reading too many blogs, and by the way, you should have finished that product a hundred times by now, but you keep putting it off...

Did I get it right? Probably because I felt this way just two weeks ago. 

I've been putting off finishing important products and launches, and for what? For a ton of tweets, reading blogs I don't care that much for, and Gilmore Girls re-runs?! If I want to up my game, I'll have to figure out a more productive system, and here it is.

9 Steps to Making Your Writing Extra Engaging (A Guide for Bloggers)

9 Steps to Making Your Writing Extra Engaging (A Guide for Bloggers)

You know how sometimes you start reading an article, but you quickly find yourself skimming the rest? Or you start reading and stop at the second sentence? Or you read the whole thing and end up feeling empty and betrayed, like something was missing?

Today we'll learn how to avoid doing that to our readers by becoming more ENGAGING writers (and bloggers). It's not enough to just write something and share it like mad. You need to make it intrinsically engaging, so your readers won't just skim and walk away, but get hooked and read more and more of your writing. I've been getting some great feedback on my own writing, so I've decided it's time for a crash course.

Ready? Let's engage them out of their pants, rebels! 

You don't have to be a Master Networker to run a successful business!

You don't have to be a Master Networker to run a successful business!

I see people trying to be everywhere and burning out. It's this frenzied way of hustling that's not exactly healthy that I see all around me. It's why the book "Essentialism" is so popular, because what we need is a solution to this modern madness.

Wanna hear about my solution? -> Don't try to be a master networker if it doesn't come naturally. Invest in things that have more YOU in them.

To paraphrase Dr Seuss, you were born to stand out, not blend in.