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The Calm Before The Storm
The storm refers to the times of sheer chaos: project overload, miscommunication, and oversights. The average percentage of stormy weather for most creatives is about nine months out of the year. In the three months of calm, we can often be misled as if we have conquered the storm, but those more experienced know this is a farce, that the storm is only in a holding pattern until it returns its wrath once more with a vengeance.
Intentional: The Word of the Year
If you’ve been reading my content for more than a few months, you know that in 2023 my phrase, stolen from a good friend of mine, was “WORK HARD. TRUST GOD.” While I have carried that mantra into 2024, the real theme of all of my goals this year is intentionality, thus my word of the year is INTENTIONAL.
Protecting The Creative Engine
Like all professional creative endeavors, the creative engine is the driving force behind innovation and artistic expression. Protecting its integrity is crucial for sustaining our ability to create and inspire. We can preserve this vital aspect of creativity by remembering and implementing these four checkups:
The Ideal Week+ (aka The Perfect Week)
The term “ideal week” was popularized by Michael Hyatt and his team at Full Focus. It’s a concept that allows you to structure your week in such a way that you get things done at assigned times so nothing falls through the cracks.
In my coaching and consulting, I like to take it a step further and implement Carey Neuhoff’s lesson from At Your Best about energy zones, and lastly, I add in batch tasks to create what I call, The Ideal Week+, or if you’re so bold, “The Perfect Week”.
Coaching vs. Consulting: Navigating Your Creative Journey with Clarity
Find Your People
In the Wild West of creativity, there exists a powerful force that fuels inspiration, growth, and fulfillment: connection. For us creatives, finding our people – a community of kindred spirits, collaborators, and supporters – is not just a luxury but a necessity.
The Habit of Planning
Scheduled Incubation
The truth is, our naiveté about deep work is probably just jealousy. Jealous that they were somehow able to carve out the time to make such strides on a project or vision that we wish we had the time for.
Batching Tasks
Fractional Help
The Lost Art of Completing
We don’t have a shortage of ideas, but we do have a shortage of completion. We tend to give up or move on to the latest great idea before we ever complete anything. What’s left is a pile of half-realized concepts that never see the light of day. Think of all the things you thought about, maybe even began, creating only to abandon ship before it arrives at port.
Spring 2024 Reading List
Startups and Shutdowns
Work Hard, Trust God
Are The Most Creative People Just Lucky?
How’s Your Year Been?
The Secret To Your Greatest Creative Success
We often think that in order to counteract this perception we must get louder, bolder, stronger; and establish our dominance as the almighty creative who doesn’t get questioned: “Don’t look behind the curtain! Fear me!”
The reality is the secret to your greatest creative success isn’t you proving or producing anything else.
What's Your Specialty? Discovering Your Creative Strengths
Think BIG and Follow Through
Creativity is the lifeblood of innovation, and for creative professionals, thinking big and following through are crucial steps in turning imaginative ideas into reality. In a world that constantly craves fresh perspectives and novel concepts, creative individuals have the power to shape the future. Let’s explore how creatives can cultivate a mindset that encourages thinking big and the strategies to ensure those grand ideas come to fruition.
Helping Your Team Realize Their Full Creative Potential
The biggest impact on my team’s potential was speaking into all of the potential I see in them and in the creative culture we are trying to build.