The Accidental Creative

These are not, as they say, normal times. And, extra-ordinary times demand extra-ordinary tactics. As I've conducted a number of training sessions and speaking events over the past several weeks, I realized that much of the solution to the low-grade anxiety that many of us are feeling at the moment comes down to three things, all of which start with the letter "B": Buffers: We need to establish some space "between" our commitments, including space at the beginning, middle, and end of our day, so that we can stay engaged and focused. Backburners: We need to have some way of engaging creatively beyond our on-demand work. This might look like developing a new skill, establishing a hobby, or finding some way of expressing ourselves and taking creative risks that are relatively actually low-risk because no one is judging our work. Breakwaters: We need to establish a bit of a sea wall against the onslaught of media and news that can easily overwhelm us and cause us to feel disengaged. This means putting some boundaries in place to help prevent overload. In this episode, we dive deeper into each of these three areas and offer some practical tips for implementing the three "B's". This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/accidental and the first 1,000 people to use our link will get a free trial of Skilshare Premium Membership. This episode is sponsored by Hover. Visit Hover.com/accidentalcreative and get 10% off all new purchases.

We are surrounded by sounds that impact our mood, our attention, and our sense of place and being. Yet few of us actually stop to consider how those sounds are made, or the strategy behind them. On this episode, we talk with Dallas Taylor, host of the 20 Thousand Hertz podcast. He shares with us the importance of opening our ears to the world around us, and offers insights into how soundcraft can shape human experience. Dallas Taylor is the host of Twenty Thousand Hertz, a lovingly crafted podcast with TED that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. He's also the Creative Director of Defacto Sound, the sound design source for the world's most thoughtful brands. Dallas is also a sound designer, consultant, writer, and TED mainstage speaker. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Creators — are you tired of being paid in clicks and likes? Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve. This episode is also sposored by Hover. Hover knows you will do something that will make a difference. Grab this domain name and many more at hover.com/AccidentalCreative for a 10% discount on all new purchases. Make a name for yourself with Hover.

Why does certain criticism sting so much? I’ve come to believe that it’s often not for the reason we suspect. When doing creative work, especially in public, you are essentially inviting feedback. I’ve said before that those who work in public are essentially painting a giant target on themselves, and thus must be willing to deal with the sting of the arrows. However, while I believe this to be true in principle, in practice it is often much more challenging. Which leads me to this question: have you ever considered why certain forms of criticism sting you more than others? Do you respond with more anger, defensiveness, or aggression with certain types of feedback than with others? If so, it could be that there is some form of limiting narrative or embedded belief/fear that is lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Here’s an experiment I’d like to propose: * Pay attention to your response to critique and feedback over the coming week. If it suits you, perhaps even write each piece of feedback down.* More importantly, see if you can identify why that feedback elicited such a strong response in you. Is it possible that there is some defining story that’s affecting your engagement?* If you can spot some beliefs/narratives, consider how else they might be playing out in your life and work. Are they affecting the choices you make, the opportunities you seek, or your relationships? Is so, how?It’s often not the circumstances we learn from, but our response to them. Identifying limiting narratives or patterns of self-destruction can help us spot them when they crop up, then nip them before they cause us to implode or obsess needlessly over critique. Understanding why criticism stings can help us learn from it and apply insights to life and work. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Creators — are you tired of being paid in clicks and likes? Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve. This episode is also sponsored by Lightstream.

In my book Die Empty, I examined the common places where bright, sharp, talented people eventually get stuck in their life and career. The goal, of course, is to get your best work out of you every day and to not leave it inside or take it to your grave with you like so many people do. We all have a unique contribution to make to the world through our life and work, but unless we are purposeful about getting to it, others may never experience it. There are three kinds of work that we engage in as we go about our day. (I also addressed these in a recent podcast.) They are Mapping, Making, and Meshing. Mapping is planning your work. It is when you strategize, conceive, think, plan, and plot your course of action. It’s the “work before the work” that helps you stay aligned. Making is actually doing the work. It is when you are creating the actual value you are being paid for, or doing the tasks you devised while mapping. Meshing is the third kind of work, and it’s often overlooked in the hustle of daily activity. It is all of the “work between the work” that actually makes you more effective when you are working. It’s comprised of things like following your curiosity, study, developing your skills, and asking deeper questions about why you are doing your work. Depending on how diligent you are at engaging in these three kinds of work, you will occasionally fall into one of four “productivity profiles”. Mapping + Making – Meshing = Driver Drivers are “heads down”. They are ploughing through their work and getting things done, and they are extremely effective in short bursts and in the short-term. However, over time they become decreasingly effective because they aren’t doing the little things that prepare them for future challenges and obstacles. They are not developing themselves or their capacity for future effectiveness. Mapping + Meshing – Making = Dreamer The dreamer loves to talk about ideas, and loves to develop skills and follow curiosity where it leads, but is not disciplined about getting the work done. They tend to have big ideas, but no follow-through. Of course, this is not a path to making a valuable contribution. Meshing + Making – Mapping = Drifter This is my achilles heel. The drifter is someone who loves to develop skills and follow curiosity, and loves to engage in the act of making, but they lack the conviction of a long-term strategic plan. Thus, they tend to leave a series of half-finished projects in their wake. They bounce from shiny new project to shiny new project, and fall prey to what Scott Belsky calls the “project plateau”, which is when they hop to a new project when the old one stalls. Mapping + Making + Meshing = Developer This is the most desirable of the four profiles, because it allows you to take advantage of all three kinds of work and weave them together to take advantage of opportunities. Developers are best positioned to spot and leverage opportunities because they are planning, they are being diligent about doing the work, and they are developing themselves and their skills to position them for future activity. So which of the four profiles most reflects your tendencies? The good news is that if you see yourself in one of them, it’s easy to adjust and get back on the Developer path. Everyone has their tendencies and weak spots, but awareness of them is the first step toward more productive and contributive activity. Question: Which of these four profiles to you tend toward the most, and how does it affect your work?

The key to producing a brilliant body of work is steady, regular, brave practice. You must engage every day with your work as a matter of discipline. No one embodies this ethic better than Seth Godin. Seth is the author of most of my favorite books, all of which have been best-sellers, and is a champion of those who make brave art each day. On this episode, we discuss his new book The Practice and how we can purposefully bring ourselves to our work every day. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve. This episode is also sponsored by Hover. Hover knows you will do something that will make a difference. Grab your domain name and many more at hover.com/accidentalcreative for a 10% discount on all new purchases. Make a name for yourself with Hover.

Since the early days of the Accidental Creative podcast we’ve closed off with the phrase “cover bands don’t change the world – you need to find your unique voice if you want to thrive.” A cover band is a band that plays other people’s music, and they often fill music venues and make money, but at the end of the night people go home singing the music. Cover bands are often quickly forgotten, but the music lives on. This doesn’t mean that emulation is always wrong. In fact, emulation is a key part of early growth and development. However, we cannot rely on imitation as a short-cut to success. If we do, our success will be hollow, and without a foundation. In order to add lasting, meaningful value, we must – eventually – find our own voice. But how do we do that? With the pressures and demands of daily work, it can often be overwhelming simply to deliver on expectations, let alone to try to find some unique way of engaging our day. But it’s often in the midst of our work that we will find the best clues for our deeper, resonant vocation. The sources of both “voice” and “vocation” are close to the Latin word vocare, which means “to call, or invoke”. Our voice is the thing that is being called out of us in the midst of our work. It is the underlying why of our passion, even if we’ve never considered it. We must actively search for our voice, and clear a path for it to emerge. It is uncovered, not manufactured. We may not even like what we discover at first, but by embracing it we will position ourselves to occupy the unique space for which we’re wired. Here are a few questions that may help uncover clues to your voice. Set aside some time with a notebook or journal to reflect on each: What angers you? Every super hero needs a bad guy. Without one, the super hero has nothing to fight against. Are there specific things that evoke a compassionate anger in you? (Key point of differentiation: this is not about road rage, poor service, or leaving the seat up. We’re talking about the systemic things that evoke a desire to intervene in a situation as an act of compassion or to rectify a great wrong.) What makes you cry? Think about the last several instances that caused you to cry. Movies are fair game too. I’ve noticed that I almost always tear up while watching stories of underdogs who overcome incredible odds. This is a clue to me that my greatest work may somehow involve fighting for those who are oppressed or unheard. (Hence…we call AC “freedom fighters for the creative class.”) What have you mastered? Are there tasks, skills, or opportunities that you have simply mastered and can do without thinking? These low-friction activities might give you a clue to ways you can continue pursuing your voice. We learn through action, observation, then correction. Start with what you do well, and work your way toward your goal. What gives you hope? What do you look forward to? What great vision do you have for your future and the future of others? Hope is a powerful motivator, and can give you a clue to the ways in which you may be able to compel others to act. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? We often forget the earliest clues to our voice as we are burdened with the expectations of peers, teachers, parents, and eventually the marketplace.

In the face of uncertainty, teams need good, effective leadership. Not just bold, brash, decisive leadership, but empathetic, focused, generous leadership. Is it possible to accomplish a lot of great work while simultaneously growing a great culture? Yes, but it requires that leaders routinely model for their team what a great culture looks like. There are three words that every creative pro needs to hear from their manager: "I'm for you." I want to see you thrive. I want to see you excel. I want to help you accomplish your goals. Here are three specific ways we can model this sentiment to our teams: * I believe in your abilities. I won't try to control your work, but will instead allow you to operate within clear principles and will give you the freedom you need to bring your best thought to the work. * I won't let you settle. I will hold you accountable to expectations and to a high standard of performance, not because of how it reflects on the team but because I believe you are capable of more than you think. * We are in this together. We will get to the other side in lock step, and I will fight to protect the resources, time, focus, and energy you need to do what I'm asking of you. If teams begin to operate in this fashion, it unlocks trust and deep engagement. On this episode, I dive into each of these three principles and how to implement them. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Creators — are you tired of being paid in clicks and likes? Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve.

Some people think of design as the afterthought of a project. It's about making things look good, tweaking the usability, or simply making a product or service more appealing. However, those who understand the value of design know that it must be baked into the very fabric of a product or service. Design is not an afterthought, it's a starting point. On this episode, Scott Berkun shares principles from his new book How Design Makes The World, and offers some tactical insights for how we can be more intentional about approaching our everyday interactions and work through the lens of good design. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Creators — are you tired of being paid in clicks and likes? Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve.

If there was one word that I would use to describe those who succeed in the face of adversity, it would be resilience. Some professionals are able to withstand changing times, shifting expectations, and limited resources in a way that others aren't. And, if there was one quality that is most needed right now, it certaintly is resilience. On this episode, we feature an interview with John Jantsch, author of The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur. John discusses key principles for growing self-reliance in the midst of disconnected times, and how small business owners can continue to succeed even as the ground is constantly shifting beneath their feet. In part two of this episode, I share three key principles for developing creative resilience during these uncertain times: * Train yourself to take risks in low-risk environments.* Always be learning a new skill, to create layers of redundancy and a mindset of perseverance.* Take time to synthesize and to think systemically and in layers, so that you can parse the noise and uncertainty. This episode is sponsored by Indeed. Try Indeed out with a free seventy-five dollar credit to boost your job post at Indeed.com/creative. This episode is also sponsored by Hover. Hover knows you will do something that will make a difference. Grab your domain name and many more at hover.com/accidentalcreative for a 10% discount on all new purchases. Make a name for yourself with Hover.

Have we worn out the phrase "unprecedented times" yet? OK, let's just say that we are continuing to wrestle with the uncertainty of our systems, our expectations, our relationships, our team dynamics, and even the edges of our workdays. In addition to the overwhelming loss of those who have succmbed to the virus, another major thing that has been taken from us is a sense of rhythm. We are wired for rhythm, and without it we are less focused, productive, and engaged. On this episode, we share three core principles for dealing with Covid overwhelm: Understand and use your natural motivaiton to overcome overwhelm. Discover your unique motivations and bring those to what you do every day instead of waiting for your circumstances to inspire you. Gave clear edges and set buffers. Define the beginning and end of your work day, and establish breaks in the midst of the day so that your obligations don't stack up. Mind your dailies. Have routines and practices that keep you grounded. Feed your mind, work your body, and feed your soul every day. We are wired for rhythm and Covid has stolen it. On this episode, you'll learn some strategies for taking it back.

We often hear about the importance of curiosity, or intuition, or exploration with regard to the creative process. But, one word we rarely hear is wonder. Wonder is a word that perfectly captures the state of awe and inspiration when we are at the precipice of a breakthrough. It encapsulates the sense of possibility being greater than expected and more expansive than previously known. When we can operate with a sense of wonder, our world expands. On this episode of the podcast, Harris iii shares insights from his new book The Wonder Switch that will help us activate wonder in our daily lives and live with our eyes on possibility, not just pragmatism. This episode is sponsored by Patreon. Creators -- are you tired of being paid in clicks and likes? Patreon lets you build real, sustainable income through the direct support of your fans. Sign up on patreon.com now and start building the steady income stream you deserve.

There are many misunderstandings about what it means to be "motivated". Typically, we think that either someone is motivated or they aren't, as if motivation is a switch to be flipped. The reality is that we are always motivated to do something, and once we begin to unlock the secrets to what drives us we can learn to bring our motivation to what we do each day instead of waiting for our work to motivate us. On this episode, I share a passage from the new book The Motivation Code in which my co-authors and I dispel some common misunderstandings about what drives us: * Motivation is just about diligence or laziness.* Motivation is about enjoying tasks.* Motivation naturally comes with "the perfect job".

In today's workplace, there are multiple generations working side by side, meaning that in order to collaborate effectively and lead well it's important to understand the unique qualities and characteristics of each generation, and also how they uniquely contribute to the fabric and mission of the team. On this episode, Jason Dorsey (expert in generational dynamics and co-author of Zconomy) shares insights into how to understand Gen Z, lead them, and unleash their best work. This episode is sponsored by Grammarly. Get 20% off Grammarly Premium when you sign up at Grammarly.com/creative.

Leadership isn't about being on top, it's about being in the middle. This means that you not only have to learn how to manage those on your team, but also that you must develop the ability to manage up in order to get what you and the team need to succeed. On this episode, we share a few key principles for entering into difficult conversations with your manager: * Approach the conversation with respect and assume the best.* Have your supporting facts in order and make your case clearly.* Aim for small wins and build from there. This episode is sponsored by Indeed. Right now, Indeed is offering our listeners a free seventy-five dollar credit to boost your job post – which means more quality candidates will see it, fast. Offer valid through September 30. Learn more at Indeed.com/creative. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

At some point, we've all heard "Don't worry about motivation. Just do it!" While that advice is well-meaning, it misses the mark, and here's why: You're motivated to do something whether you realize it or not. If you're procrastinating, that action is motivated by something, even if you don't know what it is. If you spend three evenings working late to refine a project that few people care about, it's motivated by something, even if you can't identify it. By better understanding what it is that truly drives us, we can unlock ways of approaching our work in a more meaningful way. That brings me to my point: you can't wait for your tasks to motivate you, you need to bring motivation to your tasks. Searching for the perfect job is like chasing vapor. We all have to do work that we may not enjoy. However, once you begin to better understand the themes that drive deep engagement and fulfillment in your life, you can learn to structure your work so that you are bringing that motivational energy to your tasks more consistently. That's when things really unlock for you. On this episode, I share a few key insights from the beginning of my new book The Motivation Code to help unlock why motivation is critical, and how to begin to leverage it daily.