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Imagine a vast forest. Imagine standing right in front of it. The trees are tall and the smell of pine mixes with the fresh mountain air. You stare into this wilderness from the edge of it. From the edge, you can truly see the vastness of it. It makes your mind fill with wonder, with a strange excitement for what awaits as you take the first step in the wilderness.

What is it about the edge that makes us so curious? Approaching the edge of what can’t be done drives our creativity through curiosity. Thinking about things that haven’t been made, that do not exist, that’s the power that the edge brings to the table. It’s when we feel most alive: knowing that what we’re about to do is nearly impossible.

“I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can’t see from the center.” –Kurt Vonnegut

(From Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands by Kevin Roberts)

“Great ideas can come from anywhere, but most of them turn up on the edge. The places that are restless and resourceful. The places that don’t understand “can’t be done.”

“When species change, it almost always occurs first at the fringes. Here the population is most sparse and the orthodoxies of the center are weakest. Here you can flourish isolated from formula and rules, free from the corrosive belief that everything great has already been done.” The-Edge

Where’s your edge?
How can you take your work to the edge?
Where’s your “almost can’t be done?”
Where’s your wilderness?

I believe that standing on the edge of sure success and utter failure is where we feel alive. We thrive on that feeling of uncomfortable and it lets us know we’re here. The edge is where great ideas happen because we can see more clearly what COULD be made not just what’s been done. We can see what’s possible. The only question is:

Are you willing to go there?

Happy Thursday!

Chris

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You know how you’ve been told all your life that there are creative’s and non-creative’s. Like the people who took art and band in school, those are “Creative Types,” and you? You’re just… not. Well I really hate to bust that bubble for you (actually I don’t mind at all) because I know it’s nice to hide in there and pretend you just weren’t gifted with creativity. That way you’re excused from making stuff right? Wrong. You were gifted with creativity. You are a creative. Deal with it.
Suprise-you

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to do this for a living to be creative. You don’t have to quit your job, become a vagabond painter, and never make money again to be an artist either. That’s not what being a creative (or an artist) means. What being a creative means is that you have the ability to make things that do not exist and share them with the world. You have the ability to be creative as a parent. You have the ability to be creative as a doctor. You have the ability to be a creative as a vagabond painter if you want! Just don’t get lost in the fantasy that’s been drawn for you of what a creative really is. Because the truth? The truth is that we were born creative. We are made to create. You don’t have to have a certain job title to do that. Being a creative has nothing to do with your job and everything to do with the fact that you are a human.

My friend David Duchemin wrote an awesome book called A Beautiful Anarchy: When The Life Creative Becomes The Life Created here is his weigh in on the subject:

“… Anyone who persists in the idea that “I’m just not really creative” is unlikely to read this book, believing instead that the die has been cast and they’ve been excluded. They, of all people, need most to read it, and I hope they do.”

and also, David depicts our lives as a canvas. We’re free to put on it what every we want. We’re free to wreck it and make it messy. But, as David says, “Don’t you dare let it be blank.” You want it to be messy. You want it to be full. You want it to be yours. Just don’t leave it blank.

If you don’t want to be a creative for a living, then don’t. But that doesn’t mean you get to bow out. Sooner or later, the creative that lives in you will want out. The one that had his crayons taken away and was told it was time to do the real work. Let him out now. Take your crayons back. Go ‘head. Make stuff. Share it with the world.

Be a creative… because you are.

Happy Wednesday!

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**First of all, Today is Jen Creed’s birthday! I’m so stoked to celebrate her birth today and you should be to! She’s pretty awesome. Wish her a happy birthday and follow her on twitter @jencreed.**

I’m still trucking slowly through Rory Vaden’s book, Take The Stairs. He includes a case study early on in the book and I thought the whole thing was worth sharing.

Jeff Dobyns, financial adviser for Raymond James in Franklin, TN, has managed to build the top producing office globally out of 1,200 branches worldwide. Most of the folks at the top of the industry have over thirty years of experience, Rory says. But Jeff was able to take the top spot in only thirteen. In the case study, Rory says that Jeff is always perplexed when people ask what he does that is special because in his mind, it isn’t.

**Prepare for the longest quote ever**

“It’s always made so much sense to me that you have to pay a price upfront for the rewards that come later on. The first 5-10 years of this business take a lot of sacrifice to make the business run the right way. Unfortunately, we sometimes see young people wanting to focus more on balance than putting in the work, and it inevitable prolongs the time to which their desired freedom comes.

Going ‘all-in’ to any endeavor is the best way to be free of the mental clutter that stifles our progress. It’s the fastest way to get us where we want to go. Also, it’s not just about working hard but also making sacrifices to do the right thing. There are countless times when I’ve given clients advice that forfeits me commission in the short-term because another vehicle is honestly the best strategy for them. That type of advice would’ve gotten me fired in some organizations, yet is has become the very foundation that our reputation is built on. Over time, you develop a strong faith and realize that if you do the right things, everything will work out. But it’s always an ongoing process because as we master the process of sacrifice in one area of our life or business, it seems like we’re often just beginning to practice it in another. But in every area of life, those sacrifices become easier and easier to make until one day they become automatic.

It’s a surprising revelation that what started out as a disciplined sacrifice later becomes a deep source of satisfaction. We take pride in putting in the work necessary and making it a priority to do the right things for our clients. What I think most people underestimate is, how much greater the impacts are positive or negative in the long-term.” Go-All-In What I got from that is: If you want success long-term, go all in. If you want freedom long-term, go all in.

This follows a theme Rory gets on in these first couple of chapters: Commitment. He says, without commitment things slip away. We end up in a Should I? mentality instead of a How Will I? mentality. Should I? puts us in a place of “I’m not sure yet.” How Will I? put’s us in a place of commitment, of “I’m here for good.”  The “how will I?” question opens our minds up to think creatively on how to make it work.

He goes on to say, “If you don’t shift from ‘I’m not sure yet’ to ‘I’m in for good,’ then you are already slipping back to doing things the way you’ve always done them.”

There is no one foot in, one foot out, half-way to do this thing. Commitment is undoubtedly a key to long-term success. If you’re going for it, go all in.

I needed to read that this morning and hopefully someone else needs it too.

You can buy Rory’s book here: Take The Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success.

Happy Monday! And Happy Birthday to Jen Creed!! 🙂

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The ideas that are crazy. The ones that keep us up at night. The ones we haven’t told anyone about because they’re seriously that crazy. Those ideas? Those are the ones we need. Those stories are the ones that need telling. We need them for two reasons:

1. There has never been an idea that changed the world that wasn’t crazy.

2. There has never been an idea that changed the world that was comfortable.

Crazy and uncomfortable are two characteristics of an idea that scare us. We’re afraid because we understand that once we tell people about it, they won’t see the idea but only the crazy-uncomfortable-ness. Guess what? That’s a valid fear. That’s exactly what will happen. But let’s look at why that doesn’t matter. Two reasons:

1. There has never been an idea that changed the world that wasn’t crazy.

2. There has never been an idea that changed the world that was comfortable.

Edison, Franklin, Orville & Wilbur, Tesla: they had crazy and uncomfortable ideas. What if they had never told anybody? What it they let that uncomfortable fear stop them from making stuff?
tesla, crazy ideas, wright brothers, chris creed blog

The ideas that are crazy are the ones you need. They’re going to make you feel alive. The sooner we tell the world about it, the sooner we can all start to get over that fact that it’s uncomfortable and crazy.

Happy Thursday!

Chris

Question:

What are your uncomfortable, crazy ideas?

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If you had come up to me a year ago and asked, how do I fight burnout? That feeling of lostness, of where-do-I-go-nextness, of doneness, of over-it-ness in my business, How do I fight it? I would have had an eloquent answer. I would have talked about creativity, and how we can plan for these times by being prepared for riding the waves that being in a creative profession throws at us, and about how to fight. All things I would still tell you and still believe. But If you were to ask me today, How do I fight burnout? I would first answer with a question:

Do you want to?

Because you don’t have to. You don’t have to be in business for yourself. You don’t have to make stuff for a living. When we’re faced with a burnout feeling we’re faced with a choice: we can fight, or we can run. Only you can know which one is right when you step to that point, but be damn sure that you’re sure. Because maybe it’s not time to run. Maybe awesome is just on the other side of this crap-storm. Is it worth the fight to see? That’s entirely up to you.

Here’s three questions you can ask to help you figure it out:

What are you fighting for?

Why did you pick this and are you ok with picking it again, everyday, even if it sucks?

Are there any aspects of this that you could do without/change/outsource?

We need a reason to wake up in the morning that’s not money or an alarm clock. We need something to fight for, to champion. What are you fighting for? If it’s worth fighting for: Fight. Like. Hell. That’s why it’s so important to answer the why question. When you know why you’re getting of bed in the morning, you know what you’re fighting for today. We need that why to lean on when things get tough.


how to fight burnout, yosemite, jen and chris

Fighting means you pick this. You choose to pick this every single day and you fight for it.

I wrote this as a challenge to anybody who starts this crazy journey as a professional creative and it has become a part of our manifesto:

To be courageous and brave in the face of fear. In the beginning of the void. In the midst of the wilderness. Be bold with your steps and daring in the reckless pursuit of a life you envision for yourself. Because this is it, walk like you know where you’re going and fight like hell.

If you want to fight through the burnout, here’s how:

1. Rest

2. Return to why

3. Put a plan/system in place to help you better recognize and deal with it next time

4. Keep making stuff.

We’re never going to be at 100% awesome all the time. But if we want to make something that means something, we have to be willing to fight. Is it worth fighting for?

Happy Wednesday, friends!

Chris

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