The Creative Giant Show with Charlie Gilkey

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing named “Stop Lying and Start Creating.” The key idea is that we creative people are particularly adept at making up stories and lies that keep us from doing work - especially when it comes to research.   Key Takeaways: [0:57] - Creative people have a unique talent that exceeds our ability to create. Charlie talks about meta-doing and how creative people often participate in this. [1:30] - While we’re meta-doing, we are in a comfortable space. Charlie goes on to explain why. [2:05] - It is easy for creatives to get caught up in research - studying other people’s work and going back to previous research. While this is part of the creative process, there is a point at which you have enough information to get started. [3:05] - At a certain point, research can make you more scared if you feel your contributions will be dwarfed by the “experts” and their work. [3:30] - Charlie gives some ideas of how to get creating for several different mediums. Create something in the world today!   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Original Blog Post Productive Flourishing  

Toku McCree joins Charlie to jam about what they’ve experienced in themselves and their clients, and how to move through the guilt of getting what you want to achieve success.   Key Takeaways: [2:16] - Obsession with tactics and doing and how it stifles their business and personal growth. Often times when people reach a certain level of success and plateau, they are not fundamentally focusing on what’s going to make the biggest difference. [3:25] - When you get to the top 10% - 25%, tactics only go so far. Leadership relies very heavily on who you are as a person, rather than tweaking the tech side of things. [5:20] - To make the significant change, the way in which you actually make decisions, actually respond to things, and actually see the world, have to reflect the reality that’s right in front of you. Reflective equilibrium: if our experience of the world is different from our theory about the world, we have to switch something - normally we change our theories to fit the world.  [7:33] - Toku speaks about what happens when the world shifts so dramatically with some people’s success. [10:01] - So many people get stuck at an 8 out of 10 in life. But the work in those last two levels is where the real challenge lies. Your focus begins to shift inward to figure out how you need to grow and be in the world to achieve a higher level of success. [14:34] - In what way is a more virtuous man happy? This question posed by the Greeks is relevant to this topic as we think about what the payout is. Will you have to sacrifice something to gain the success you want, whether it be personal or business? Toku suggests the top 1% or 2% have mastered the balance between the tactics and the work on being, which aids in their success. [21:31] - Charlie and Toku talk about the benefits of having a coach or a group of people that can help dig deeper than the tactics and get into the being. [22:55] - Toku poses the question: Are you willing to experience the guilt of getting what you want? To peak the plateau, you may have to change the groups you associate with and the kind of person you think you are. Ultimately, you get to decide what group you want to belong to, and who you want to be. [28:53] - The thing you have the least amount of control over is the groups you’re born into, but the thing you have the most control over is the groups you belong to. It is hard work to live a virtuous life. [32:22] - Toku shares his own story about the being piece.  [36:15] - Three-fold question: 1) Why do you want your business to grow a certain way? 2) In what ways do you want to pursue your personal growth? 3) How can you do this without there being a competition or a compromise?  [39:58] - At a certain point in your life, your growth may not be accelerating at the same pace. It might be a 10-15% improvement every year, and that is just fine. Embrace the plateau. [46:45] - If you’re willing to sacrifice your ordinary excellence for something extraordinary, and become a beginner again, you can be in a place of being in continual wonder and amazement of what life can give to you. We have to learn how to fall in love with a process over and over again. [48:42] - Toku’s challenge: For one week, try to make all your decisions based upon the question: “In this moment, what would bring me joy?” Lean into the discomfort of choosing joy and accepting the guilt that may follow.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group The Hero With a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell Productive Flourishing

Angela joins Charlie as they tackle another question & answer session, exploring the priority cage match, how to bring in more diversity into your company, and what to do when your plans are too intense.   Key Takeaways: [0:54] - Can you elaborate more on the priorities cage match? How do you allot time to things in the middle? [2:41] - When you work on several things, it’s easy to see that some things may not hold as much urgency. As the cage match illuminates your priorities, there’s a middle section of projects and goals that aren’t the most important, but they’re also not at the bottom. [6:18] - Put these projects in the schedule and devote time to them, and don’t allow yourself to get distracted by other things. The progress might not look the same as with the first-priority projects, but that is okay. [8:07] - Do you stack functions or devote certain days to certain tasks? The more you can stack in the productive areas of your life, the better off you are. [10:57] - Some of these projects get stuck in the middle because we don’t give ourselves permission to do things that make us come alive. [12:45] - As a company which has started to incorporate more diversity into our leadership, how can we grow in this aspect, and groom people from more diverse backgrounds to become leaders in our company? [13:32] - Don’t be reactive about diversity. Be proactive about getting engaged with the communities you want to be diverse in. [16:53] - Diversity by design: Your organization becomes diverse because you design it that way, rather than hoping it will become that way. Be strategic about how you approach groups and market yourself as a diversity-friendly company. [21:07] - Make sure people from the diverse backgrounds have the awareness of, and same access to the professional development opportunities that everyone else does. [23:53] - How do you decide whether your plan is too intense-activity heavy? Do you have tips for noticing you’re doing this while planning? [24:45] - We don’t have as much of the high-peak creative time as we would like. We often under-account for how taxing mental activity is. [26:02] - Think about your work more like a fitness regime: you have to balance the sprints with the jogs and the walks. It’s better to put three solid points on the board every day, rather than some days where you have none because you tapped out the previous day. [29:33] - Working at a good 85% with 100% focus, and being okay with the additional margin, is a good place to be in because it gives you space to spend with whatever else comes up in your life. [30:39] - When you look at your list, really sort by how heavy of an activity is going to be. If you notice they are all very involved, look at how you can spread them out.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Productive Flourishing: Project Cagematch

Kristin Reinbach joins Charlie to discuss the question of whether happiness is dependent on the culture we’re from. They talk about the difference between social norms of success and happiness versus our personal concepts of success and happiness.   Key Takeaways: [2:45] - How did Kristin get to where she is today? What inspired her to get into the “happy-making business” she’s in now? [5:15] - Charlie and Kristin engage in a conversation about happiness in other cultures that seem not to make business endeavors a primary focus. Kristin specifically shares her experience from living in Germany. [8:07] - There seems to be a shift from entrepreneurial success to more of a focus on happiness and a good life. But is there a gender stigma surrounding this idea? [9:52] - Happiness across cultures can get convoluted because people think of the effect of happiness rather than the deeper level of flourishing and thriving. [11:35] - What if creativity was more important than well-being? Kristin suggests that perhaps happiness linked to joy is more of a short-term happiness, while creativity is a more sustainable version of happiness. [15:05] - As a Western culture, we don’t seem to talk about things like character and courage as much as we used to. These things can drive our creativity and our business. [19:45] - Kristin and Charlie talk about some cultural differences between the United States and Europe in terms of how we view creativity and success in conjunction with each other, and whether that career path is acceptable in that culture. [24:05] - What are some of the differences between the genders in terms of how they approach and react to their work? A good question to ask might be: How do you want to feel? [28:00] - We are conditioned by society. This can have a big impact on whether we should be happy (surface) versus whether we are really feeling a deep, internal happiness. How does age factor into this? [35:23] - Creativity is a great tool to extend our purpose and success beyond what we do day to day to make a living. [37:57] - It is important to recognize your own creative potential, and to be able to differentiate between your version of happiness from your society’s version of happiness. [38:40] - Kristin encourages us to reevaluate the way think about what should make us happy, and focus on more on feeling happiness at a deeper level. She presents four points: be conscious about when we should feel happy, pay attention to when we’re envious, be in touch with our feelings, and the 101 Wishes List. [44:26] - Lean into the things that matter to you. Find a way to reflect on the things that matter to you. [46:27] - Kristin’s challenge: do something during the next week that feels really pointless, and see what happens. Her invitation: be a good human being - support other people who are afraid to allow their creativity to flourish.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Krysalis Consult Club of Happy Lifepreneurs Coach Myself, by Cynthia Morris First Class Meetings, by Michael Wilkinson The 4-Hour Workweek Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life Wipe the slate clean 101 wishes - chicken soup book 750 Words  

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing called “Welcome to Project World.” The key idea is that we no longer live in a world defined by careers, but rather by projects. What we finish is more important than what we’ve been doing and working on.   Key Takeaways: [0:51] - Charlie suggests that the Industrial Revolution began a time when the world of work was “career world.” The focus shifted toward work that served a mass of unknown customers. [1:55] - Jobs in project world: In career world, we go to school to work for a company we’d likely work for during our entire careers up to retirement. In project world, the longevity of the same job is much shorter. Charlie explains why. [4:02] - When we leave a job in project world, the only thing we take with us are the things that we have finished. What counts is what we build, sell, or manage. [4:56] - Entrepreneurs and small business owners in project world: In this day and age, things are changing so quickly and that can put a lot of pressure on entrepreneurs and small business owners. [6:05] - People want to buy and experience a product - they will only buy our words for so long. [6:23] - General practices in project world: Finish something every day. Charlie calls this “shipping” - getting something out of our heads and into the world. We are the most fulfilled when we make progress on meaningful goals. [7:17] - We have unprecedented autonomy, adventure, and chance for impact via network effects. We are happiest when we’re actually finishing the work we’re meant to do.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Welcome to Project World post Drive by Dan Pink

Charlie and Angela talk about values and expectations, priorities, and boundaries in order to amp up your holidays without amping up your stress.   Key Takeaways: [1:25] - Intentionality during the holidays: what do we want this time to look like? [3:22] - There are a lot of expectations surrounding the holiday season. It is important to have conversations about how we’d like to spend (or not spend) that time with our loved ones. We don’t want that time to pass and realize we were unable to make the connections we desired. [6:04] - It is important to focus on what we hope to feel during the holidays, rather than the things we have to do. When we’re focused on a feeling, we can project that feeling into the world. Make some space to sink into that intention so we can embody that. [10:05] - The holidays can end up becoming a process of capturing several moments that we typically have idealized in our minds. It can be hard to reconcile when something doesn’t go as planned, but we can still embody love (or any other feeling) during those times. [13:40] - Angela encourages us to take some time to think about what our intentions are during this time of the year, to gain some clarity about what they are and perhaps share our expectations with others. It is also important to be clear about our boundaries. [15:50] - Having intentions around feelings rather activities will help with expectations. There is a probability that things won’t go exactly as we intended them to, but how we react to those unmet expectations can really shape the feelings around the event. [17:17] - Typically, a lot of the responsibility for a picture-perfect holiday is tied up in women’s work. Angela encourages people to look for ways to pull other members of the family in, so they can contribute something unique to the larger expectation. Also, make sure you take care of yourself. [19:45] - If someone in the family is really passionate about one of the traditions, one option is to enroll them and delegate that responsibility to them. Enrolling other people can expose just the amount of work that goes into certain aspects of the holidays. [22:40] - Positive boundaries are things we are going to do; negative boundaries are things we are not going to do. Boundaries are important so our focus remains on our intentions and feelings we hope to project, rather than getting weighed down in things we have to do. [24:54] - Being intentional in the right way leads to us being happier and less stressed during this holiday season. It can also help us have time to be who we are and do what we need to do. [27:23] - Our intentionality with this time of year and the holidays can help to lead us into a happier new year. Charlie challenges us to be clear about the ways we want to feel and how we can project that into the world.    Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group

Our host, Charlie and his wife, Angela answer community members’ questions about networking, project post-mortems, and share real experiences of how they work together as a married couple.   Key Takeaways: [1:04] - As a solo entrepreneur, how do we go about figuring out how to be the one that gives instead of the one who takes? How forward can we be when offering our help? [2:06] - Think about how your personal values and principles can translate to your business practices. At the same time, think about how you can be forward about the specific kind of help you can provide, based on the knowledge of your career. [5:35] - Do you know of a methodology to archive or store learnings in order to serve as a knowledge base for other stakeholders within the business, specifically with post-mortems after projects are lost? How can it be used to upskill your staff and bring new people to the team? [6:25] - Make sure you have someone who will facilitate an after action review: what did we want to happen, what actually happened, and what do we want to do differently in the future? An honest conversation about how a project went is crucial for a beneficial project post-mortem. [9:57] - Make sure after you’ve reviewed a project, you put that information somewhere that you can access in the future. Before you start a new project, take time to re-read them so you can avoid making the same mistakes moving forward. [13:45] - How do you work in harmony as a married couple? How do you not let your entire life become about your work? [15:03] - Carve out time for you and your spouse as a couple, so you have a chance to be together outside of work, focusing on each other personally more than professionally. [18:30] - Angela and Charlie also have a practice where they don’t use their phones and also allow for transition time to move between work zone and couple zone. [22:18] - Discover your boundaries as an individual for work-related talk outside of business hours, and check in with your spouse or partner to establish a mutual understanding. [26:27] - When it comes to work performance, these types of conversations can get a little tricky. But it’s important to discuss them during business hours, rather than bringing them home into the personal realm. [29:00] - Continue to send in your questions on the Creative Giant Campfire or send your questions straight to Angela.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group The Small Business Lifestyle Confluence Igloo Evernote Google Drive Episode 117: Q&A 5 Angela@productiveflourishing.com

Mary Fran Bontempo joins Charlie to discuss how aging can be a gift, and how to make words like change, fear, and fine not be dirty words. They also discuss how much of our identities is fixed by the stuff we accumulate.   Key Takeaways: [1:19] - Introduction to Mary Fran Bontempo and how she got started in her writing career. She talks about how her creativity grew from a really dark spot in her life. The fear and hesitance of her situation sparked her creative process. [2:30] - Many people who are in the “fall/mid-winter” stage of their lives are reluctant to pursue creativity. Why? We should embrace creativity throughout the many years of our lives. Yes, there may be many more things on our plates, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make time for something new. [4:15] - What would you say to someone who is unsure of where to start and how to keep up? We can choose to continue to evolve with new technology developments and try things out to see what works. [6:48] - Mindset around aging - how do we see it as a gift rather than a sentence? Mary Fran talks about a new way to define where we are now; sometimes we have to learn to disengage from the expectations of our “now” to break into something new. [8:49] - Mary offers three tips and strategies for parents wanting to lean out of the routines that are no longer as relevant to where they are now. [9:56] - Charlie follows up on that discussion with ideas about a few different types of dependency: negative codependency and interdependency. This relationship between child and parent can be scary for parents when it no longer exists in the same capacity. [12:18] - As the average lifespan is increasing, we have more time - before, while, and especially after - having kids, that has so much potential for becoming a time of creativity. [13:55] - What are some of the fears that prevent us from doing the things we know we need to do to continue progressing? This is especially applicable for young people. [18:02] - There are often a host of opportunities available to us. As we are moving forward in our lives, it may be more beneficial to make decisions that will keep you moving forward, rather than getting stuck waiting around for something to come along. You may end up opening more doors for yourself! [19:25] - Charlie discusses the shift from a “career world” to a “project world.” What does that mean for younger generations as well as older generations of entrepreneurs and forward thinkers? [23:20] - Change as a dirty word. Change often comes hand in hand with fear - we think it will wreak havoc on our lives, but Mary Fran encourages us to remember that we deal with change on a regular basis and we can handle it. This perspective can help carry us through bigger changes in our lives. [26:35] - We typically underestimate our own capabilities. How will we respond when we receive the “cosmic kick in the butt?” Our response can show us what the full range of what we are capable of - don’t get too comfortable. [28:48] - The dirty word fine. Mary Fran and Charlie discuss different uses of the word ‘fine’, and the pros and cons of accepting fine and also exploring new words to define a similar state. [31:47] - Charlie talks about some societal norms we encounter when talking about our current state. How do people typically respond when we share some of the things we’re grateful for, versus the things that bother us? [35:01] - The self-talk that we run through our head is a choice, and we can choose to use that to put something positive out into the world. Conversely, we can change our self-talk to encourage better attitudes for the things coming ahead, creating a flow between the subconscious and the conscious. This can have a great effect on how we feel about getting older and our place in the world. [38:13] - Mary Fran encourages an exercise to gather a group of friends and write an introduction or a statement, in the hopes that we will begin to regard ourselves the way our friends regard us. [41:47] - When we start letting some stuff go and refine what we want our space to look like, we can redefine what we want our lives to look like. Releasing some of the stuff in our lives can allow a great amount of growth moving forward. This holds true for material possessions as well as emotional baggage that can weigh us down. [47:04] - The way we live our lives now is different - pursuing experiences is becoming more important than pursuing material goods. And we do acquire stuff, we use it! [51:57] - We should strive to define ourselves on the basis of who we want to be, no matter our age or place in life. It all begins in the “six inches between your ears.” Be intentional in your self-talk.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group The Woman’s Book of Dirty Words - Mary Fran Bontempo The Upside of Your Dark Side - Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo Episode 20 with Jennifer Boykin Episode 15 with Lucy Pearce

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing named “Shake It, Don’t Break It.” The key idea from this post is that you can walk to edge of the known world you see, and shake things up without completely breaking up and burning down everything you know and have built before that.   Key Takeaways: [0:53] - “We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of a well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.” - Mao Tse Tung. [1:09] - Charlie uses the above quote to describe how we as individuals often don’t see the full picture - there is so much more out there that we don’t see. [1:47] - If we limit ourselves to what we think we know or what we’ve seen, we are limiting ourselves from discovering new experiences. We sometimes have to step outside of our comfort zones to see what else there is to see. [2:55] - This can be scary not only for us as individuals, but also for our loved ones. We need to consider them when we prepare to take our leap of faith, and how we can convince them that there’s something new worth discovering on the other side. [3:30] - How can we shake up our world without breaking up our world? Remember that they’re not the same thing. Communicate why a particular change is needed to keep them along for the ride. [4:10] - Charlie challenges us to think about how we can shake things up without leaving too many things behind.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Productive Flourishing  

Angela joins Charlie Gilkey answer your questions and discuss how to determine what to delegate in your business, how to focus on high-value work, what low prices say about your products and services, and what to do when your getting off your schedules and productivity schedules.   Key Takeaways: [1:15] - Open invitation to share your questions and suggestions for discussion on the Facebook group. [2:08] - How do I determine how and what to delegate in my business? How do you decide what low-value work is worth doing at all, and how do you determine which stuff to put off until a later time? [3:05] - Charlie suggests making a list to guide your decisions about delegations. Are you doing the same thing every week (routinely) that could be delegated to someone else? Consider projects versus routines. [7:04] - There are different levels of delegation: tasks, projects, and responsibilities. Ultimately, the goal should be to move toward delegating responsibilities, rather than delegating tasks. [12:09] - Routines and other frequent tasks would be ideal to delegate, while more involved projects may not be worth the time spent making sure someone else can do the project. Focus on what will allow you to do more high-value work. [14:25] - What can you delegate that gets you ten hours a week back? [15:18] - Framework for business endeavors: Cash flow, opportunity, visibility. Use these principles as a guide to prioritize business goals. [17:55] - Creative Cage Match! When all of your projects are pitted against each other, which one will be the first one that won’t get done? The last one left standing remains high priority. Completed projects should help to set up other projects. [20:54] - When you see something priced low, do you assume it’s going to be crappy? Or do you assume the person is racing to the bottom to compete with price instead of great content? [21:39] - Don’t assume people won’t pay a higher price for your product or service. There’s always a segment of customers that are willing to pay a different price - based on those who are interested in quality of content. [23:34] - There is very little relationship between price and value, although many people do make that correlation when considering their purchases. Make sure you’re not selling yourself short based on the quality of your product. [25:29] - Consider the placebo effect of pricing: once they’ve paid a certain amount, people will value something a lot more because they paid that amount, not necessarily because of the value of the product. [29:43] - Be confident in the value that you’re putting on the table. [30:42] - When you feel you’re getting out of cycles that support you, or you’re off your schedule, what do you do? What can we think about to get ourselves back on track? [31:54] - Charlie notices he’s off his cycle when he starts to feel in a slump productivity-wise. Contextualize your experience. If it is something that is happening over a prolonged period of time, you may need to re-evaluate something about your process to get back on track. [35:10] - Reset! Once you diagnose what the problem is, think about what changes you can make to increase your productivity. [38:52] - To ask more questions, join the Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group or directly e-mail Angela.   Mentioned in This Episode: Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group Angela@productiveflourishing.com Fancy Hands Previous Q&A Podcasts: Episode 90 Episode 104 Episode 107 Episode 112 The One Thing - Gary Keller Three P’s of Pricing

This episode is going to be a conversation between Angela and me about different learning styles and really getting to the bottom of how you learn, how you process and how you polish. The reason we’re going through this is because we’re both doing a lot of different creative things and we’ve found ourselves either stuck, or in the flow and we wanted to share how we’re working through that. Ready? Let’s do this!   Key Takeaways: [0:50] Charlie explains how periodic struggles in his writing and learning ways to get unstuck have given rise to the idea for this podcast. [3:21] The VARK modalities are brought up when talking about learning styles but these styles also apply to communication. [4.30] If you ever you find yourself stuck learning something, try switching modalities - write/draw/move/talk it out. [6:18] Charlie’s writing issue ended up being a great example of processing and expression style differences: he should have been drawing instead! [9:45] This goes to show you that sometimes you get stuck because you’re trying to express your ideas in the wrong style. [11:30] The three different ways to work through your creative process are conceptualisation, rough expression and polished expression. [12:39] Each of these three stages may require you to use different styles: you may ideate visually, rough orally and so on and so forth. [18:25] Sometimes, just switching modes will help you work through a jam and unstick your work. [21:35] You also have to realise that working on your creations in one style or another as well as your level of mastery of that medium will not make it “less than”. [26:05] When you’re not certain what style will best suit a particular activity, just try one, any one, it will help you to zero in on what works best. [28:36] When you have mastered a medium, be even more careful because your own belief that this is your strength might prevent you trying different avenues. [29:30] Our education system does not successfully foster different learning and communicative styles. [30:27] People are happiest when they are expressing themselves and learning what style is natural for you will help you move in that direction.   Mentioned in This Episode: The Small Business Life Cycle Momentum Planning Method VARK Learning Styles Communication Matchmaking Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group  

Remember MacGyver, the ingenious action-adventure hero from the 80’s who was able to do things like disarm bombs with a toothpick, swiss army knife and duct tape? MacGyver was a huge influence on me as a kid and his creator, Lee Zlotoff, joins me today to discuss the genesis of MacGyver, as well as the MacGyver secret—a simple process that can help you solve your toughest problems, because who wouldn’t want an inner MacGyver solving problems for them. Ready? Let’s do this!   Key Takeaways: [1:00] Charlie introduces Mr. Zlotoff and his impressive television and film career as well as his philanthropic endeavours. [2:54] MacGyver was imagined in opposition to a lot of his contemporaries — what if our guy had no gun, no gadgets, nothing! [6:45] Mr. Zlotoff goes over his ongoing mission to bring MacGyver back through a television series and film but also in the form of The MacGyver Secret. [8:50] The method covers management tools taken from MacGyver: avoid conflict, turn what you have into what you need and do it all with humour and humility. [10:48] The issues coming up during this century are unlike any other concerns that humankind has faced before, the need for ingenuity is great. [12:20] If MacGyver were recreated today, Lee would first make him a woman, then he would integrate her to the new technological context and finally, add a sense of global consciousness. [14:46] The MacGyver Secret came about when Lee realised his best creative insight came out during specific routine activities, and he set out recreating the mental condition for this subconscious or “inner MacGyver” to appear. [18:04] Everybody has an inner MacGyver and the method teaches you the three steps required to access that part of you in a reliable manner. [19:44] Step one, write your question or problem down in longhand and pass it on to your inner MacGyver -- read it to yourself. [20:29] Step two is to go on with your day! Let your inner MacGyver incubate the problem. [22:01] Finally, after a few hours, start writing anything at all, and within 30 to 45 seconds the answers will flow from the tip of your pen. [23:18] Activities that prevent the incubation process: watching television, reading, conversation (in any form—email, text, etc.), and playing high action video games. [26:16] We are completely overloaded by information in this day and age and most of it will inhibit the incubation: you need a slightly physical, unimaginative task. [29:04] The trickiest part is trusting that you do have an inner MacGyver and that it can give you answers! [31:15] This method will work differently for personal emotional problems — mostly because you will need to ask more than once and the answers will take a little longer to come. [33:50] This part of your mind will never shut down, it is a constant and is processing your daily experiences. Opening dialogue with that part of you will vastly enrich your creative and problem solving toolset. [37:26] Lee Zlotoff’s closing challenge: start with the understanding that you have enormous resources at your disposal, you simply need to learn to open a dialogue with yourself.   Mentioned in This Episode: The MacGyver Secret MacGyver Global Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group

Today’s episode is a requested reading of a previously published post on Productive Flourishing, named “Your Art is For You”. So many creatives and change makers get stuck because they feel torn between the art they want to create and the art others want. And by art, I mean that special medicine that only you can create, which may not be fine art and painting, it could be something you do in the world besides that. You’ve got to start by making art for you first.   Key Takeaways: [0:58] How many of your half done projects are stuck at the same spot? Did they halt when you started thinking about how to sell or share them? [2:30] Creative types don’t create because they want to make money, they create because they need to. [3:45] Yes, you do want to make money from your art, but it has to come from you first — you have to be interested and enjoy it. [4:30] Now go back to your half done projects and label them as “not for sale” or “just for me” and see what happens.   Mentioned in This Episode: Sarah Marie Lacey Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group

Today Angela joins me again for a jam and we’re talking about grief, transitions and health. This comes because we have gone through some death and grieving recently and it’s something that people ask Angela about a lot, and I do get questions sometimes, so we’re going to go ahead and do a jam about the subject. Ready? Let’s do this!   Key Takeaways: [0:54] Charlie and Angela introduce the show with some personal insight on why they chose to address these often overlooked hard issues that do come up in life. [3:09] Angela opens up on her recent loss and the gifts and blessings that came with that process of passing and the importance of opening up a discussion about grief and loss. [5:07] Grief is often portrayed as a life shattering thing, and we rarely address smaller scale grief — a child going to college, or getting over who we thought we might be. [7:58] The way each person experiences grief is unique and very personal, and what may be a “big G” experience for you, could be a “small g” experience for another. [11:40] Because each person processes grief uniquely, the multitude of possible definitions is acknowledged even as a broader definition is offered. [14:14] The feeling of loss, in all of its forms, will be positively correlated to the energy and meaning that we have vested those people, things and concepts that we feel we’ve lost. [20:11] It’s important to note that it is perfectly normal if grief is never completely resolved, even if it is less frequent and painful, it may come up for years. [25:04] Unhealthy grief happens and can be fueled, among other things, sudden loss, remorse, lack of inner resources or unhealthy boundaries in dealing with grief. [35:50] Healthy versus unhealthy grieving could be defined by the act of processing versus not processing, the important thing is to stop and acknowledge the loss and begin a process. [39:50] Having rituals is very important and affords us a space in which to grieve. [41:21] Charlie and Angela touch on some ideas about what to do when you aren’t certain how to help someone when they are grieving. [42:50] We wait for crises and emergencies to find out who our friends are, but if we did that when it wasn’t an emergency, we would be better equipped to help them. [48:56] If someone grieving is able to ask for something specific, especially if they ask for time and space, it is important to respect it and to not take it personal. [53:39] Grief also impacts teens and children and they need help and support in a most tangible way because they're not yet emotionally mature. [56:00] Grief is a natural part of life — good and bad emotions are part of life — even if it isn’t easy.   Mentioned in This Episode: Episode 75 with Kathy Kortes-Miller Episode 58 with Christine Meekhof The 5 Love Languages Live Your Legend -- Scott Dinsmore Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group

After seeing how much more fun it was to have Angela with me on the Q&A’s, we’ve decided that it’s the new standard. Today we answer questions people send in about preventing overwhelm when goal-setting, dealing with a bad day and hiring someone when you don’t have the immediate cash to do so. Ready? Let’s do this!   Key Takeaways: [1:22] Q1 from Cheryl is how to plan out your yearly goals without getting overwhelmed. [1:58] Q1 Answer — You should aim to break down your annual goals into manageable chunks — quarterly objectives, monthly objectives, weekly projects and daily tasks. [5:18] The place we get overwhelmed is at the daily task level, all of the small to-do’s that have trickled down from our overarching goals. [6:25] Charlie touches on the importance of having a prioritized, manageable quantity of yearly goals to reach for. [17:59] Q2 from Jeremy is about what you can do to get over a bad day. [18:20] Q2 Answer — We tend not to take advantage of the freedom we have as entrepreneurs: sometimes you need to evaluate if there is anything you can do. [22:45] When you get into a funk, move around some stagnant things but stay away from big decisions, email conversations and social media. [25:05] Q3 from Corey is how to scale a team if you don’t have the immediate funds. [25:40] Q3 Answer — You need a business audit to target the aspects of your workload that people could take on to free you to go out and generate more money. [37:07] There is a measure of trust you need to have in your business growth potential, a fear of failure will hold you back. [40:06] Every small business should look at financing options, you might need to leverage your revenue against a line of credit at some point. [44:00] Thank you to Cheryl, Jeremy and Corey for contributing to this Q&A with their insightful Qs.   Mentioned in This Episode: The Tuckman Model 12 Simple Ways to be Present 21 Ways to Quickly Short Circuit a Funk The ONE thing by Gary Keller The 2017 Momentum Planners Bundle Creative Giant Campfire Facebook Group