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We say things like “I need to be inspired.” Or “I need to find some inspiration.” But I don’t think inspiration works that way. I don’t think it’s something we can force or go look for. I believe that inspiration is something that happens to you. And more so, I believe that it happens more frequently to those who are being intentional about what they allow in their brains.

Inspiration is something that we think we need when we get to a point where ideas aren’t flowing and creativity is lacking. But the truth is, when we get to that point, we have to stop and start having intentional experiences.  To be inspired more often, you need to be intentional. Because creativity is not solely about inspiration. It’s also about being intentional about what’s going into your brain. When we say something inspires us, we mean that whatever that “something” was, gave us a spark and made us see something we couldn’t see before. The cool thing is, that we get to pick the “something.”
To-Be-Inspired

If you have a big project or shoot coming up soon and you’re not feeling inspired, don’t look for inspiration. Start being intentional. Inspiration will show up. Ideas will show up. But not when we’re looking for them or waiting for them. Just because we can’t force ideas to show up doesn’t mean we can’t help decide how frequently they show up. We can, because we get to be the ones who decide what goes into our brains.

Start doing things on purpose.

Start courting randomness.

Start.

Happy Friday!

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Just a quick thought today: if you’re tired of wanting to do something, just do it.

There are so many conversations Jen and I have about our dreams, goals, and things we just want to do like travel, building things, starting things… But sometimes we get tired of wanting to do stuff, tired of talking about someday. How about we just do it? The problem with the phrase “I want to…” is that it can become more than a statement. It can become procrastination.

I realize there are constraints of time and money and blah, blah, blah. No, I think if you’re tired of wanting to do something just freaking do it. If you want to make it happen, start, and you can figure the rest out as you go. I don’t mean hopping-a-plane-to-Europe-tonight kind of starting. I mean start figuring out how to realistically make it happen. The biggest problem I think is that we spend so much time thinking about these things but never put pen to paper and figure out what it would take to actually make these things happen.

We did that this week with some things that were tugging at us and here’s what we did. I grabbed a notebook and answered these questions:

This is what starting looks like

1) What is it you want to do?
-Be specific. Dreams are vague and talk is cheap. What exactly do you want to DO?

2) Realistically, what would it take to do it?
-Figure out the money thing, the risk thing, the logistics thing, and the people thing.
(How much will this cost? What is the worst-case scenario and can we survive it? Where will we go or what will it take to get there? Who is involved or who is it for?)

3) What is the next step?
-Then the next, and the next…

4) When can we go/when will we start?
-Put it on the calendar and hold yourself to it.

Doing-Stuff

Doing stuff is about getting it out of your brain. It’s easy to talk about it over, and over, and over but it will never get done if we don’t start. Dreaming is amazing. It’s vital. But getting it out of your head and into the world is when things start to happen. And by “things” I mean “awesome things.” If you’re tired of wanting to do something, just do it.

Happy Thursday!

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The words “Make Stuff” are written on your heart. Creative is not something you are or are not, it’s in your DNA. You were born for it. We’re all born to make stuff. Some of us do it for a living and some of us don’t but whether or not we get paid for it is irrelevant. We are made to create. Not to consume. So let’s try and tip the scales towards the create side.made to create, made to make stuff

 

Make stuff. Not becasue you have to, not becasue you’re getting paid for it… but becasue you’re MADE for it. That changes the game right? 🙂

Happy Wednesday, folks! 🙂

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I would know failure if I met him on the street. I know exactly what he looks like. Instead of punching him in the face, I think I’d probably give him a high five or something. Because we’re tight like that. I know exactly what it feels like to fail becasue I have never let myself miss a failure. I never let failure just slip by and I’m not totally sure that I’m proud of that.

I wonder how many times I’ve let myself miss a win? I get so busy kicking myself for something I screwed up that I missed what I didn’t. I wonder how many times that’s actually happened in my life. I think we’re so attuned to the failures we encounter in pursuit of winning that we forget to celebrate the win. It’s human nature: We want to learn from our mistakes but what if the real mistake was not celebrating the win? What if the real mistake was not acknowledging the fact that through all the screw-ups and pot holes along the way, all the times we ran out of gas or fell down, we got back up and still finished the freaking race?

Failure is a part of making awesome stuff. But you know what else is a part of that?
Making. Awesome. Stuff.

It’s ok to make something, look at it and say: I made that and it’s awesome. In fact, I think it’s a disservice to your art if you don’t appreciate it when it’s done. We don’t have to make ourselves miserable in order to make good art. We don’t have to live in the failures all the time. Sometimes it’s good to stop, look around, and be proud of what you’ve made. It’s not prideful, it’s not self-serving, it’s appreciation and it’s good.
Afrid-of-winning

Don’t be afraid of failing, becasue you will. Don’t be afraid of winning either becasue if you are, then you won’t.

Happy Monday!

Question:

When was the last time you celebrated a win for you?

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  • Kyle - I love the way your blog posts read haha! I put one in the win column this week and got to shoot my first session.ReplyCancel

You know how the to-do list can define our day’s sometimes? We stare at these tasks sometimes, overwhelmed by them, but we start doing them and then when we finally mark everything off, we do a quick happy dance and feel free! Then we do it all again.

I like having a to-do list mostly because it helps me to remember what I have to do. But I’ve been thinking about making sort of an anti-to-do list. I call it the To-Stop-Doing list and it will include things that make me feel like crap. Things I don’t really have to do but kinda suck up too much of my life, time, and energy. Finishing things on this list will not only give me a since of accomplishment but could actually improve quality of life, like right now. Just like the to-do list reminds me what I need to do, the to-stop-doing list reminds me of things I need to not do.

Chris Creed, Jen and Chris Creed, Creative blogs

The To-Stop-Doing list can have everything from:

too much time on social media
being around too much negativity
eating too many Chick-fil-a Minis
Spending too much time on a task I could delegate

Anything and everything that is having an undesirable effect on your life, put it on the list.

Things to consider before making the To-Stop-Doing list:

1) Start by paying attention.
-To the way things are making you feel. If the answer is bad, put it on the list and start moving towards having less time and energy spent on it.

2) Ask yourself, What’s the worst that would happen if I just didn’t do this?
-More than likely, the world will go on.

3) Once it’s on the list, don’t do it.
-Just like with the to-do list, once it’s out of your routine you’ll likely have more energy to do stuff that matters.

4) The list doesn’t have to be permanent or final.
-For example: If I say Chick-fil-a Minis are having a negative effect on me. I may want to stop eating them for my health and for my bank account but that doesn’t mean I’ll never eat them again. (That’s just crazy! So good.) Or if some aspects of social media are having a negative effect on me, maybe I have certain days when I don’t look at it? Just make sure if it’s having a negative effect, pay attention to that.

The thing is, I know I have just as many things that I could stop doing as I have that I need to start doing or to-do. Both are doing to help me get more work done. So I think some motivation or at least some reminder, like having a physical list, is order for things I should stop doing as well.

Questions:
What are some things you would put on your To-Stop-Doing list?

What kind of awesome stuff could you do if you did stop doing those things?

Happy Friday!

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