Ep 134: Bring Your Ideas to Where You Are
Stop Waiting for the Perfect Method
SUMMARY
What if the only thing standing between you and your next big creative project isn't time, money, or talent—but the method you think you have to use? In this episode of Creativity Made Easy, we explore why your dream project isn't out of reach if you're willing to meet yourself where you already are.
At the Salt Conference, I had dinner with a creative friend who'd been sitting on a book idea for years. When I asked what was stopping them, they said: "I'm just not really the sit down and type kind of person. I can't imagine spending hours at my desk writing chapters." But here's what I noticed—this person creates constantly. They're always on their phone making reels, creating amazing content, and verbally processing with their team. So I asked: "Why not just do voice memos while you're driving? What if you wrote the book in the way you actually create content?" Immediately, the energy in the conversation changed. The book wasn't an impossible mountain anymore—it was just their normal creative process applied to a different medium.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
⚡️ Your native creative language is the fastest path to execution. Stop forcing yourself to work in ways that don't match your natural patterns. If you're a verbal processor, dictate your book. If you're a visual thinker, sketch first and write later.
⚡️ The market doesn't care about your process—they care about the value you deliver. A book is a book whether you typed it or dictated it. A course is valuable whether you filmed it in a studio or on your iPhone. Focus on the outcome, not the "proper" method.
⚡️ The less you have to change your behavior, the more likely you'll actually do it. Bring your big ideas to your existing creative habits instead of trying to adopt completely new workflows. This principle applies to relationships, health, business—everything.
NOTABLE QUOTES
💬 "That big creative idea that you've been sitting on, it's not out of reach. You've just been trying to reach for it the wrong way."
💬 "The less that you have to change your behavior, the more likely you are to actually do it. We know this is true in any area of our life."
💬 "Your method is the one that gets the work done. Use that."
EPISODE RESOURCES
Website: dustinpead.com
Social Media: @dustinpead
Free Resources: dustinpead.com/free
Getting Things Done* by David Allen
Show Your Work* by Austin Kleon
Steal Like an Artist* by Austin Kleon
TRANSCRIPT
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What if the only thing standing between you and your next big creative project isn't time or money or talent, but the method you think you have to use? Today we're going to talk about why your dream project isn't out of reach if you're willing to meet yourself where you are. Let's get into it.
Welcome back to Creativity Made Easy. This is the podcast for creative professionals who are ready to trade the chaos for clarity. I'm Dustin Pead. I help creatives build systems that free up their time, reduce stress, and let them focus on what they do best—creating their art. Whether you're running a creative agency, leading an in-house team, or building a creative business on your own, this show is here to give you practical strategies that you can implement today.
Now, before we dive in, I want to thank everybody for dealing with a replay episode from last week. Just to be candid with you, my daughter and I were involved in a pretty gnarly car accident. It was not our fault. We were on a two-lane road. I was on my way to take her to gymnastics, and a car going the opposite direction decided to make a left-hand turn in front of us. They did not see us. We hit them square in the side. All of our airbags deployed. The truck is totaled, and it rolled over two or three times. But by the grace of God, we walked away from that without really a scratch on us. I'm having some back pain, so if I flinch at any time throughout this episode, that's why. But we're very grateful to not have sustained any serious injuries. That was why we did the replay episode last week. So thank you for your grace. I hope you did rewatch that episode. Episode 90 with my friend Darren Cooper was one of our more popular episodes, and I wanted to share that with you again in case you missed it, in case you're new to the podcast.
So with that said, let's go ahead and dive into today's episode.
When I was at the Salt Conference a couple of months ago—I guess it would have been a month ago now—I was having dinner with a friend of mine, a creative who had been sitting on this book idea for years. When they were talking to me about it, they kind of mentioned it with this defeated tone, like it was some distant dream that they'd never actually reach. So when I asked them what was stopping them, here's what they said: "I'm just not really the sit down and type kind of person. I really can't imagine spending hours at my desk writing chapters."
In their mind, that's what writing a book required—sit, type, repeat for months. And yes, that is the traditional method. But what I noticed is that this person creates constantly. They're constantly on their phone creating different reels and really amazing content. So I thought, why not just do voice memos while you're driving or when you're creating your social media reels or verbally processing with your team? They're always writing anyway, right?
So what if you wrote the book in the way that you actually create your content? What if you drove and recorded your thoughts, dictated chapters into your phone, or captured ideas as voice memos? Immediately, the energy in the conversation changed. Suddenly this book wasn't this impossible mountain to climb. It was just their normal creative process applied to a different medium.
That's what I want to talk about today. The conversation made me realize how many of us are dismissing incredible ideas—not because they are truly out of reach, but because we're stuck in "the one right way" that we're supposed to execute them. Today's episode, I just want to talk for a few minutes to help us change that.
The biggest reason we dismiss some big ideas is this perfectionism trap. It's the "proper way" to execute things. We kill our best creative ideas before they even start because we assume there's only one proper way to execute them, and that is a form of perfectionism.
If you're writing a book, you think you have to sit down at a desk and type. Starting a podcast? You need expensive equipment and a studio. Creating a course? Oh, you've got to have professional video production for that. This perfectionism stops us before we begin. It distances ourselves from the ideas. They feel distant because we imagine doing them someone else's way, and we just can't see ourselves doing them that way.
But the beautiful part is that we are uniquely created. When we are uniquely created, we create uniquely. We forget that every successful creator started messy and found their own method. You see, it's not about the method. It's about the outcome. What matters is the end result. Yes, we talk a lot about process on this show, but it's not about the process having to be perfect all the time.
A book is a book whether you typed it or you dictated it. A course is valuable whether you filmed it in a studio or on your iPhone. The market doesn't care about that part of the process. They care about what value you are bringing to the table.
So what I'm saying here is: don't follow the tools. Follow ideas. Don't let the tool or the way that you're supposed to execute this idea dictate the idea. Start with what feels natural and then optimize it later.
We're going to be talking in upcoming episodes about how some of our processes are too far out of reach for our teams, and that's why we make processes but no one follows them. It's because they're too far out of reach. The same is true of our creative ideas. If the way that you envision having to complete that idea seems too far out of reach, then you'll just give up.
So many successful creators use what Austin Kleon calls "productive procrastination"—doing the work in an unconventional way that feels easier and actually moves the project forward. What makes a project successful is that it takes a step forward. Are we one step closer to the idea today than we were yesterday? And then tomorrow, are we one step closer and one step closer?
I love the phrase "get 1% better" or "suck 1% less." It's about the small incremental changes that you can make to get towards what you want.
Meet yourself where you are. This is the fastest path to execution: working within your natural creative patterns, not against them. If you're not a sit-down-and-type person, then don't sit down and type. Do use voice memos. What do you already do that naturally creates content? Bring the idea to your natural ability, into what you already kind of have the wheels in motion for.
Are there conversations where you explain things really well? Capture those conversations. These are your native creative languages, and you need to use those to actually take one percent and one more step closer towards your idea.
If you're already creating voice memos, that's your book draft. If you're already posting on social media, guess what? Those are blog posts. That's content. If you're already having great conversations, record them and have podcast episodes. If you're already sketching ideas, that's your visual course content.
Don't overthink it. Just make it better. The less that you have to change your behavior, the more likely you are to actually do it. That's what we're going to focus on over some of these next episodes when we're talking about our systems and processes as well. It applies 100% to your ideas. The less you have to change your behavior, the more likely you'll actually do it.
We know this is true in any area of our life—whether we're talking about relationships or our health, physical or mental, jobs, travel, vacations, any of that stuff. Meet yourself where you already are creatively. Let the idea come to you. Bring the idea to you instead of you trying to reach out to some far distant landscape for it.
So let's break it down for your unique creative style.
For my verbal processors out there—you have to process things out verbally. I hear you. Literally, I hear you. Use voice memo apps: Apple Voice Memos, Google Recorder, a Zoom recorder, whatever it is. Try dictation software. There's different built-in dictation software that you can have on your phone or your laptop if you need to. Start recording conversations about your ideas. If you're sitting down having a conversation about your ideas, just say, "Hang on a second. Do you mind if I record this?" Hit record and go. You can use Descript, Otter, Rev, any of those things like that to transcribe when you're done with those verbal processing sessions, whether it's just you or with a group of people.
For my visual thinkers: sketch first, write later. Use mind mapping tools like Miro or Whimsical or MindNode. Create mood boards before you're getting into detailed plans. Drive yourself visually because you are a visually thinking person.
For kinesthetic creators: use physical note cards that you can move around and walk through the ideas. Voice record while moving. Create physical prototypes or sketches. Use a standing desk or movement while thinking. One of my good friends just moved his stationary exercise bike into his office, has a little thing where he can set his laptop on there, and he rides while he has meetings. So anything, whatever it takes to motivate yourself through it.
If you're a social processor: talk through these ideas with a team or your friends and record it when you do. We've talked many times on this podcast about recording everything and why it's so valuable. It's because you're going to forget the things that you said, and you're like, "Oh, that's so good."
Songwriters are really good at this. They will record everything—every little thought, every little hook, every little melody line that comes in their head, whether they're in a writing session or not. They will record it so that future them can reuse that and not forget it. Turn those conversations into content. Post your ideas on social and let the engagement guide you. Is this getting any feedback?
All right, so what now? What do we do with all this? Now we're motivated to bring our ideas to us. What are we going to do? I want to just give you three quick action steps moving forward.
Number one: start identifying your native creative language this week. Start paying attention to where you are most creative or when you are the most creative naturally. Are you creative when you're talking? When you're walking? When you're sketching? When you're typing? That's the answer for how to capture your future ideas and bring your ideas to you so that you can start moving forward on them.
Number two: take that too-big idea and shrink down the method. Instead of worrying about the whole book, just write down one sentence, one paragraph. Write down one creative project that you've been putting off and ask yourself: What's the traditional method that I think I have to use? And then ask: How would I naturally create this type of content right now instead? Match the idea to your current creative behavior.
And lastly: just start capturing five minutes a day. Capture five minutes a day of your ideas in your preferred method. Everybody's unique and everybody has their own methods. So bring the idea to you. Voice memos, sketching, recording conversations, typing during your peak energy time—all of that stuff builds muscle before you have to worry about the polish of the idea being done.
There are some great books that talk about these things that I've mentioned on the show today. Obviously, David Allen's Getting Things Done is a great book. Show Your Work and Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon can help you focus on process over perfection and also help you kind of remix your methods a little bit and steal like an artist.
As always, you can go to dustinpead.com/free for some frameworks and tools to help you implement systems that work for you and not against you.
But here's what I want you to remember: that big creative idea that you've been sitting on, it's not out of reach. You've just been trying to reach for it the wrong way. So bring it to where you are. Meet yourself in your natural creative process. Stop waiting for the perfect conditions or the right tools or the right method. Your method is the one that gets the work done. Use that.
So this week, I challenge you: take one idea that you've been dismissing as way too big and ask yourself how you'd create it if you could only use the tools that you already use every day. You might be surprised about how close you already are to that idea.
Listen, I'd love for you to connect with me on this topic and this episode. You can follow me on social media at Dustin Pead. That's D-U-S-T-I-N-P-E-A-D. I'd love to hear what ideas you are bringing closer to where you are.
Thanks so much for listening to Creativity Made Easy. Now get out there and create something today.