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Walt Disney famously used the phrase “How can we plus it?” when talking with his creative team. What can we add here to make this frame better? How can we add to this to make it a better experience?

But it’s also just as important what you take out.
Minus-ing

What are you minus-ing?
What things can you take out to make your work better and have it speak to the people you want it to speak to?
What things can you minus to serve your clients better?

Seth Godin had this to say when talking about the need to minus:

“[Minus-ing] Makes you more likely to finish. It makes you more likely to be the best in the world at something. At some point when you say we have everything, what you’re really saying is we have nothing.”

Minus-ing is important. Think on this this coming week and be mindful of things you can minus.

Happy Sunday!

Chris

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What do you think feeds your creativity? Is it something that you have to seek out? Or is it something that is a part of your daily life/routine?

Creativity is as much what you take in as what you crank out. It’s not all about production. It’s also about input. For me, there are things that I keep in my daily routine that feed me creatively: like reading, writing, listening to music. Then there are other things that I go seek out: like spending time with other creatives (sometimes in a co-working space), watching good films or tv shows, travel. No matter where it comes from, two things have to happen:

You have to be aware of what you’re taking in.

You have to take stuff in on purpose.

Sitting back and expecting creativity to constantly just happen is not owning your responsibility as a creative professional. You made a promise to the people who give you their money that you would be able to show up and make work that is consistent with or better than the work in your portfolio. If you can’t do that, consistently, people will stop giving you money. Creativity is a muscle. You can break it, you can build it, you can make it strong. But if you want to keep looking awesome at the beach, you have to work out… every day. #iworkout #creativesixpack
I-Work-out

So I want to challenge you today to think about what you’re putting in your brain. How is it affecting your work? What kinds of things can you add to your routine to intentionally feed your creativity?

I’d love to hear about what you’re doing to get your creative six pack and keep the muscle strong. If this is new to you and you need some ideas on how to get started, I’d love to talk to you! Shoot me an email with any thoughts and questions you might have:

chris@jenandchriscreed.com.

or if you’re getting my emails, just respond 🙂 if not, you can start getting them here.

Happy Wednesday!

Chris

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The most condemning critics live inside our own heads and we let them boss us around way too much. I heard Chris Brogan say on a his podcast once:

“We are fighting the war between our ears.”
chris brogan quotes

When you look at like that, as if there’s a war, that means we can use strategy to win. You get to say what comes in and what goes out. You get to choose. Choose to tell yourself good things. You’re worth it. Your work deserves it.

Happy Tuesday!

Chris

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So last night we watched We Bought A Zoo. Yeah. That movie that came out 3 years ago. I just watched it. Last night. And I have to say, as ridiculous as it might sound, I don’t know that I have ever been so moved by a movie. Just…. Weeping, like a little baby in its crib as I watched this story play out on screen. The whole time I’m wondering why is this making me so emotional? How did they form this story to make me feel this way?

How do you make people feel something that real?

You take them to a place that’s familiar. A place that makes sense. That IS real. A place they weren’t expecting but yet, somehow, they know it so well. It’s where they remember things that haven’t happened yet. Places they haven’t yet been but they remember what it felt like to be there. It’s a place that doesn’t exist but they remember what it looks like, what it smells like, what it tastes like…. It’s where art lives. And so do we.

That’s what a good story does:

1. Takes us to a place that doesn’t exist.
2. That is familiar yet unexpected.
3. Helps us remember what it was like to be there.

But that’s not all. Not only do you have to remind them of a place they’ve never been, you have to catch them at just the right time. They need to be ready for it or it will be lost. That’s why this movie about a family who buys a zoo got me, man! It happened at just the right time and connected with me in just the right way.

If we want people to connect with our art: We have to tell the right stories, to the right people, at the right time.
how to tell stories,

That’s the challenge of all of this. This making stuff for a living thing. We’re storytellers. We’re storytellers who make things that do not exist, that make people feel something real, just when they are ready to feel it. It will always be a challenge to do this but when it happens, when it all comes together, it truly is magic. Very real magic.

So what are you doing today to tell the right stories, to the right people, at the right time, with your work? That’s the question we have to ask today.

Happy Thursday, folks!

Chris

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  • Bruce - Chris,

    Great post! I loved being moved by a movie, a piece of writing, music… you name it. For me, great storytelling has a big emotional element to it that makes me feel deeply.

    Each time I come across something hat moves me deeply, like you, I step back and ask, “How do they do that? How does this piece make me feel so intently?” I still don’t know how to do it, but I’d love to someday take my storytelling to that level.

    Thanks for sharing!ReplyCancel

    • Chris Creed - What a great habit to get in to! Thanks for sharing, Bruce and thanks for reading!ReplyCancel

If you’re a creative entrepreneur in business for yourself, you know that what you create has a direct correlation to your bank account. Sometimes things are great and money is not a problem, other times, not so much. So I want to talk for a minute about solutions and fear.

Fear screams loudest when we see our basic needs threatened. Especially when there are other family members involved. Specifically tiny humans :). When we are faced with the thought of those needs not being met, we panic. We start to look for solutions. When we do this, we go back to Safe. We go back there because it’s comfortable and in our fear-fog, Safe stands like a lighthouse beckoning us to come back to the shore. Come back from the stormy edge into the still security of the warm cottage of Safe. The problem is that we know we can’t stay there. So why go back?
The-Money-Problem

Pro-Tip: Don’t try to solve “the money problem” when you’re scared. You will never make the right choice when fear is all you see. You don’t have to listen to fear, you have to solve the problem.

If the problem is lack of money, how can you make some money RIGHT NOW that will fix that? Free your brain from the fear for a second and think of solutions that fix the problem but won’t break your soul.

What freelance project can you take on?
Who of your friends might need some help and be willing to pay for it?
What assets can you use to drum up some business during this slow season?

Then, once you’re not operating out of fear, don’t forget to find a better solution so that you never have to worry about this problem again. Ever.

Sometimes the best solution is the one that solves the problem. Yes there may be a better solution, but the right one right now is the one that fixes the problem. We spend so much time thinking of ideal solutions or better ones and the problem doesn’t get fixed and we run, scared, back to Safe. Get rid of the Fear-Fog. Fix the problem, and look for a better solution once it’s fixed.

(P.S. Thanks to the group of awesomeologists who helped me work through my Fear-Fog this morning. I owe this post to them.)

Happy Wednesday!

Chris

Question:

Have you been operating out of fear? What would solving the problem look like if the reason for the fear didn’t exist? How would you solve it then?

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