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I’m walking around my house today looking for things I don’t want to do. Like, say, write this blog post. I just haven’t “Felt Like” writing this week and if I’m honest, I don’t feel like it right now. What I can deduce from this sudden fallout is that I’ve finally lied enough times to myself by saying “I don’t want to do that,” that I actually started to believe it. The truth is I DO want to write this blog post. I do want to be sharing with you guys. I do want to be creating stuff. So, then, I will.

We tell ourselves these lies all the time.

I don’t want to workout.

I don’t want to get up early.

I don’t want to eat better.

I don’t want to do the dishes.

I’ve literally said all four of those things. Today. But they’re all lies. I do want those things and my body and sink full of dishes will remind me of that, slowly. The problem is that I say these things out loud so much that they become real. And then I really start to actualize them as truths.
Whose-Voice

If you’re a creative entrepreneur working from home or own your own somewhere, no one is there to hold you accountable. Guess whose job that is? That’s right, yours.

Guess whose voice you listen to the most? Right again. Yours.

So we have to keep ourselves accountable and we have be careful what we’re saying to ourselves. Literally.

All that to say, Hi. I’m Chris, and I want to write this blog today. I want to do the things that make me stronger, healthier, more alert, more creative, and more awesome at my work and life. Because I am responsible for those things and I want to continue to grow as a human who creates and contributes to the world.

Happy Friday!

Chris

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Defining-your-motivators
Things that motivate us matter. There are things that motivate us that are external. And things that are internal. Both have value. Both should be defined.

For example: I’m motivated to make stuff because it’s how I make money (External). And because when I don’t, I’m not fulfilled (Internal).

External motivation is important because it lets us know something is working. We make goals, we hit them, we keep moving. External motivation can help with things like self-doubt. It’s validation. But external validation only works 80% of the time. The other part of validation has to come from within. From your soul. What feeds your soul?

Internal motivation is essential on this path that we’re on. It’s really what gets us out of bed in the morning. It’s your why. Your reason you make what you make and how it has value even if money isn’t involved. These motivations help us get through times when there is no external motivation. Slow times. We lean on our internal motivation to get us through to to the other side. And when things aren’t slow, when they’re busy, we lean on them then too. To remind us that we’re getting to do what we love.

So have you defined these for yourself? Do you know what motivates you? Internally and Externally? Defining these motivators is essential to the creative entrepreneur. We need to know why we’re doing this. Otherwise we will surely quit. Not fail. Quit. Don’t let that happen.

If you need help finding your motivators, look at where you spend your time and your money. Look at your relationships. Look at your goals. What things stand out to you as trends? These things are probably where your priorities lie and that’s always a good place to start. If you don’t like what your priorities look like, spend some time on those first. Then it should be easy to define what motivates you to keep going.

Happy Thursday!

Chris

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What do you think it takes to live a big life? Is it made in big grandiose experiences? Or smaller seemingly insignificant ones?

If you want to life a big life, if you wan to change the world, it happens in small displays of kindness, generosity, intentionality, and appreciation. That might sound hippy-dippy to you, but it’s just true.

Still think it’s impossible to change the world? I don’t like that word “impossible.” It sounds too much like impose. As in “to force (something unwelcome or unfamiliar) to be accepted or put in place.” Yeah. I’m not down with that.

It doesn’t take much. It doesn’t even have to impact a ton of people. It might just be one person in fact. If you could have an impact on one person a day until the day you die that’s roughly 20,000 people. If they in-turn do the same, that multiplies to 400,000,000 people. What’s more is that we all have the ability to make something that could impact so much more.
live a big life

Small, seemingly insignificant displays of awesome are what build a big life. Show someone your awesome today. It doesn’t take much to live a really big life.

Happy Tuesday!

Chris

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You know how when you spend more money than you make you end up in big time debt? That’s called living beyond your means. And it’s not sustainable.

How often do you push yourself to exhaustion creatively? How often do we create beyond our means?

On this episode of The Work Blog Podcast, I talk about creating beyond your means. I also give action steps to make sure it doesn’t happen as often.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS!

Happy Tuesday, yo!

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“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” – Jim Rohn

We tend to act like the people we’re around. We start to talk like them. We start to walk like them. We even start to eat and drink like them. If the people we’re around really have that much influence on our lives, then I think it’s worth thinking about from time to time. That means not deciding just once who you want to be around but regularly auditing your relationships and their effect on your life.

The people I get to be around encourage me, challenge me, push me to things I wouldn’t do on my own. They sometimes take me out of my comfort zone. They respect me and I them. I can’t tell you how much it means to my life, my work, and my general well-being to have people like that.

Who are you around? I heard someone recently (wish I could remember who) say,

“Inspired action comes from being around inspired people.”
Inspired-Action

Do you need some inspired action in your life? If so, maybe it’s time to stop trying to scrounge it up from nothing. Instead, find some inspired people and hang out with them. A lot.

Happy Thursday!

Chris

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