The Accidental Creative

One practice that is prescribed in The Accidental Creative is a checkpoint every three months to get ahead of commitments and ambitions for the upcoming quarter. On this episode, we walk through a Quarterly Checkpoint and offer some questions and prompts to help you plan for brilliance in the coming months. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidental and enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

It's the time of year when many people are thinking about what the next twelve months have in store. On this episode, I share four questions to help you think about 2020 and set goals for life and work. Download the worksheet here. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidental and enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

It's tempting to think that motivation is largely driven by the tasks that you do every day, but it's more accurate to say that you bring your motivation to those tasks. On this episode, we discuss three core motivational archetypes and how they affect everyday engagement. Are you a builder, a fixer, or an optimizer? This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Get two months of access to thousands of classes absolutely free! To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/AC. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

Most notes are simply facts, to-do's, and records that will never be reviewed later. However, there is a better way to leverage your notes to help you generate brilliant ideas and spot patterns in your environment. On this episode, we share some best practices for taking and processing notes more effectively. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Get two months of access to thousands of classes absolutely free! To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/AC. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

If you want to produce a body of work you can be proud of, you must be resilient. But, how do you learn to persist in the face of failure, resistance, and uncertainty? On this episode, Neil Pasricha share insights into how to become more resilient with tips from his book You Are Awesome. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidental and enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

Professionals spend a lot of time worrying about things that are outside of their control. On this episode, we discuss how to deal with organizational decisions, cultural forces, and other things that live outside of our ability to influence. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Get two months of access to thousands of classes absolutely free! To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/AC. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

Your "sweet spot" of effectiveness is discovered through active contemplation, not passive reflection. The broader your base of experience, the more patterns you will be able to discern. On this episode, we share three key principles for discovering what you're wired for, and navigating to a place of effectiveness in life and work This episode is sponsored by Quip. Brush better with Quip. Go to getquip.com/accidentalcreative to get your first refill FREE. 

As a creative professional, it's easy to get pulled into work that needs to be done at the expense of work that you'd like to do. You don't have the luxury of working only on things that excite you. This is why it's important to have some area of your life where you are taking risks, trying new things, and developing your creative intuition in a way that your on-demand work doesn't allow. On this episode, we share how to get started with Unnecessary Creating. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidentaland enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

There are three types of bravery that you might need to engage in as a creative professional. On this episode, we discuss each of them and how to be brave in the face of uncertainty. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidentaland enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

The first few minutes of your pitch can make all the difference between a successful and failed outcome. On this episode, former TV exec and expert pitchman Brant Pinvidic shares how to pitch better with tips from his book The 3-Minute Rule. This episode is sponsored by Quip. Brush better with Quip. Go to getquip.com/accidentalcreative to get your first refill FREE. 

Our world is full of distractions, both good and bad. How do you choose what to allocate your finite focus to each day? On this episode, Nir Eyal shares how to become indistractable with tips from his new book. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Get two months of access to thousands of classes absolutely free! To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/AC. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

Being an entrepreneur requires not only technical sense and business savvy, but also the right mindset. On this episode, John Jantsch shares mindset principles for entrepreneurs from his book The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidentaland enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

What makes a brand great? As the marketplace changes, how do you ensure that what you stand for and how your customers view you align? On this episode, Blake Howard of Matchstic shares insights for developing a brand that resonates. Join us on November 8 at Matchstic in Atlanta for the Herding Tigers Workshop. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidentaland enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

Brilliant creative work must be founded upon compelling data that illustrates a truth, and reveals an opportunity for the intended audience. How do you share that data in a way that is compelling, and that helps your audience receive it and act upon it? Today's  guest, Nancy Duarte, has spent years teaching leaders and organizations how to share their story well, and on this episode she teaches us insights from her new book DataStory. This episode is sponsored by Skillshare. Get two months of access to thousands of classes absolutely free! To sign up, go to Skillshare.com/AC. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.

If you want to be effective as a creative pro, as a marketer, or as a leader, alignment between what you say and do is critical. However, many organizations allow a gap to emerge over time between beliefs and actions, and the result is a lack of authenticity and work that doesn't resonate. On this episode, Ron Tite shares insights from his book Think Do Say about how to bring better alignment between our words and our actions. Today’s episode is sponsored by Freshbooks. To claim your free month trial – with no credit card needed – visit Freshbooks.com/accidentaland enter Accidental Creative in the how did you hear about us section. The intro music for the AC podcast is by Joshua Seurkamp. End remix is by DJ Z-Trip.