0:20

There's this clip

0:22

of David Bowie, one of

0:24

many of him kind

0:26

of pontificating. eloquently about what

0:28

it means to be

0:30

a creative person and the

0:32

struggle of that and

0:34

the aspirations of that. And

0:36

in this clip, he's

0:38

talking about how it's really

0:40

important never to forget

0:42

that you got into making

0:44

stuff initially because you

0:47

just felt like you had

0:49

potential. You have

0:51

this feeling that there's

0:53

something in you that

0:55

you can, if you try

0:57

and you work it out,

0:59

you're going to be able

1:01

to somehow download this stuff

1:03

out into the world.

1:07

And there's just this

1:09

sense, just this

1:11

urge that there's something for

1:13

you to put out there. And

1:16

I totally recognize that. It's easy to

1:18

forget that. But I thought back

1:20

to like when I was even young,

1:23

starting to think about having

1:25

a creative practice, having

1:27

a body of work, that

1:30

I thought that if I played

1:32

my cards right, if I navigated the

1:34

creative journey properly, I

1:36

should get closer and closer

1:38

to kind of manifesting whatever is

1:41

on the inside, downloading it

1:43

out into the world, and that I

1:45

knew it wasn't going to be straightforward, I

1:47

knew it wasn't going to be easy,

1:49

but If I was taking the steps, if

1:51

I was doing the work, that I

1:53

would slowly but surely move that direction.

1:56

But when I

1:59

went to do that, it

2:01

didn't just slot in

2:03

with the ease that I

2:05

expected it to. As

2:08

I went to go download that stuff,

2:10

it didn't feel right

2:13

initially. It felt

2:15

wrong in a way that I

2:17

didn't expect. And so at

2:19

first, it just kind of causes

2:21

you to lock up and quit. And

2:24

in this episode, I want

2:26

to explore how to get

2:28

past that initial friction and

2:30

what to do with it

2:32

and how to know, is

2:35

this good friction or is

2:37

this bad friction? Spring

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or call 1-800-R-X or 1-800-545. You

4:06

know, there's a book called

4:08

The War of Art and it's

4:10

by Steven Pressfield. You've probably

4:12

heard of it. It's mega famous

4:14

in creative circles and for

4:16

good reason. And I think the

4:18

main reason it's so profound

4:20

and so relevant for so many

4:22

creative people is because the

4:24

central idea of this book is

4:27

that creative work is going

4:29

to go hand in hand with

4:31

this idea that Pressfield calls

4:33

the resistance. The

4:35

idea is that we all

4:37

love the idea of creative

4:39

work. We love getting into

4:42

the flow state. We all

4:44

want to find that ease

4:46

of just putting ourself out

4:48

into the world. However,

4:50

when we go to do

4:52

that, we

4:55

hit some unpleasant

4:58

feelings. We have

5:01

a resistance to show up.

5:03

There is a wall that we

5:05

hit sometimes when we sit

5:07

down. You know, I like

5:09

to think of this as what

5:11

Cal Newport talks about in his

5:13

books that he talks about when

5:15

you're doing cognitively demanding work, there

5:18

is a

5:20

barrier. that

5:22

your brain struggles to

5:24

make it over. And

5:27

it's the start of deep

5:29

work. You have to

5:31

muscle your way through a 10

5:33

to 15 to 20 minute

5:35

barrier to get into it. And

5:37

it's one of the reasons

5:40

he suggests like, don't go from

5:42

that deep work state. Once

5:44

you get in there, you don't

5:46

want to switch contexts. You

5:48

don't want to then start a

5:50

call or write an email.

5:52

You want to time block that.

5:55

even if it's an hour, even

5:57

if it's 30 minutes or, you

5:59

know, any amount of time, could

6:02

be two hours, could be two

6:04

and a half, two, 15, whatever.

6:06

You want to block it off

6:08

for that deep work because there

6:10

is this cognitive cost to getting

6:12

in there. And I think that's

6:14

part of the resistance. But then

6:16

there's also, there's so many aspects,

6:18

there's so many unpleasant feelings that

6:20

come with doing the work that

6:23

you're supposed to be doing that

6:25

is, You know, for me, I

6:27

look at the big projects that

6:29

I've done that have made the

6:31

biggest difference to my creative practice,

6:33

but also that it felt truest

6:35

to my creative soul. And they

6:37

came with so much baggage, so

6:40

much imposter syndrome, so

6:42

many middle of the marathon moments

6:44

where I was tired and uninterested and

6:46

I had to figure out ways

6:49

to push through it. And

6:51

so it came with this

6:53

resistance. It came with

6:55

unpleasant feelings. In

6:57

episode 500, I was talking

6:59

about the five things that

7:01

I learned that helped me

7:03

make a podcast for over

7:05

10 years and over 500

7:07

episodes. And the first

7:09

of those was that

7:12

bad feelings don't necessarily mean

7:14

that you're going the

7:16

wrong way creatively. and

7:18

I likened it to when you're driving down

7:21

the road and you see a wrong way sign

7:23

on the other side of the road and

7:25

it gives you a little bit of panic like,

7:27

oh man, oh, even if it's not on

7:29

your side of the road and that these bad

7:31

feelings, these quote unquote bad

7:33

feelings, unpleasant feelings, the friction

7:35

that you feel making creative work,

7:37

it's easy to interpret them

7:40

as This means you're not doing

7:42

it right because it should

7:44

be easy. It should be flow.

7:46

It should be just falling

7:48

out of you. And actually

7:50

think like, yes, there are times where you

7:52

show up to the page, you show up

7:54

to the canvas where it is just flowing. But

7:57

I don't think that that

7:59

is a result of just

8:01

finding the right groove. I

8:03

actually think that it's often

8:05

a result of the fact

8:07

that you have already engaged

8:09

in resistance, that

8:12

you already have engaged

8:14

in that unpleasant

8:16

feeling. And so in

8:18

this episode, I wanted to

8:20

explore how do you know

8:22

whether this resistance, this unpleasant

8:24

feeling is the kind that

8:26

says you're going the wrong

8:28

way. And it's genuinely, you're

8:30

rubbing up against your nature.

8:32

You're going against the grain.

8:34

How do you know if

8:36

it's one of those feelings

8:38

or is it the right

8:40

kind of resistance? It's the

8:42

kind of unpleasant feeling that

8:44

is just par for the

8:46

course that is part of

8:48

the equation and the ingredients

8:50

of making creative work that

8:52

is super meaningful and exactly

8:54

what it feels like to

8:56

slot in. and download this

8:58

stuff. Alright,

9:15

so we're talking about what

9:17

is the difference between the

9:19

good kind of resistance and

9:21

the the unpleasant feelings that

9:24

are telling you you're going

9:26

the wrong way. How do

9:28

you tell the difference between

9:30

those two unpleasant feelings? Because

9:32

they can feel pretty similar.

9:36

And last week, I

9:38

was doing a talk at

9:40

the Art Museum of Cincinnati. And

9:43

I was feeling like I

9:45

was slotted in. I was locked

9:47

in, downloading what was in

9:49

my soul into the people that

9:51

were there. And it just

9:53

felt like that flow and that

9:55

sweet spot that just feels

9:57

so good and so right. And

10:00

so I've been thinking about like, okay,

10:02

how like this wasn't easy to get

10:04

to this place, like prepping for this.

10:06

There was a lot of resistance. Why

10:09

was this the right one? Because I

10:11

want to just do this every time.

10:13

I want to be in that sweet

10:15

spot every single time. And so this

10:17

has been top of mind for me.

10:19

I've been trying to figure out what

10:22

did the resistance feel like this time?

10:24

Because that was the good kind. And

10:27

I started thinking about, okay, well,

10:29

I know this one went right

10:31

because it was really, really me.

10:34

See, when I go do

10:36

a talk, usually, And

10:38

this one was different, but usually when

10:40

I go for a talk, I'm doing

10:42

one of three types of talks depending

10:44

on the circumstance. It's either

10:46

an artist talk, which is kind of

10:48

a portfolio talk, which I do

10:50

not very often, but sometimes the opportunity

10:53

just really calls for that kind

10:55

of thing where I'm going through my

10:57

work and just kind of talking

10:59

about it. Sometimes I'm

11:01

doing a talk that's more like

11:03

a memory storytelling kind of

11:05

talk where it's really just me

11:07

telling a portion of my

11:09

story with a takeaway and then

11:11

sometimes I'm doing a talk

11:14

that's more educational where it's like

11:16

a list of points and

11:18

I'm getting into the hyper specific

11:20

details of breaking down whatever

11:22

these ideas are. And so usually,

11:24

when I go do a

11:26

talk, I'm doing one of those

11:28

three things. Now,

11:30

last week, I did all

11:32

of them at the same time. I

11:35

just thought, I'm gonna do

11:37

a talk that is just completely

11:39

owning my ADHD and going

11:42

all in. Now that sounds like

11:44

flow. That sounds like locking

11:46

in. That sounds like being your

11:48

true self and doing your

11:50

art your way. And it was,

11:52

however, it was the product

11:54

of resistance. It was

11:56

the product of the

11:59

fact that I was

12:01

going to prep for

12:03

this talk and feeling

12:05

absolutely exhausted and burnout.

12:08

Okay. So at the end of last year,

12:10

all the way for the past couple of

12:12

months, I've been working, doing some deep work

12:14

on a picture book, like spent

12:16

probably like 35 work

12:18

days just painting, really

12:20

going deep on that. And then I

12:23

scheduled a bunch of calls, first

12:25

thing in April and all kinds of

12:27

appointments and catching up with client

12:29

stuff. And so that was where I

12:31

was when I was going to

12:33

prep this talk. I was just absolutely

12:35

spent. And so the reason

12:37

why, and again, those

12:39

are unpleasant feelings, but the

12:41

reason why I plan

12:43

to do this, maximalist ADHD

12:45

version of the talk was

12:47

because of those unpleasant

12:49

feelings. It was because of

12:52

that feeling of burnout. And

12:54

it was because doing

12:56

just the memoir talk, the

12:59

doing just the artist

13:01

talk or doing just the

13:03

educational talk, all of

13:05

those things require me to

13:07

really effort my way

13:09

to fit into those spots.

13:12

because it doesn't come naturally

13:14

to me to be

13:16

that segmented, to be that

13:18

constrained. It doesn't

13:20

really feel natural, but over

13:22

the past 10 years I've been

13:25

pursuing doing public speaking, it

13:27

was really important for me to

13:29

learn how to do those

13:31

different methods of. talks. It was

13:33

really important for me to

13:35

learn how to belong into those

13:37

various spaces and have the

13:40

chops to pull that stuff off.

13:42

But as I got into

13:44

this moment where I was just

13:46

exhausted, I knew that

13:48

I don't have what it

13:50

takes to effort my way

13:52

into slotting in to that

13:54

kind of download. Felt like

13:56

the wrong kind of slotting

13:58

in the way. And I

14:00

knew it. I could feel

14:03

that bad kind of

14:06

resistance. On the contrary,

14:08

I knew if I allow

14:10

myself to just be the ADHD

14:12

maximalist I am and do

14:14

this talk about ADHD in a

14:16

very ADHD way, I won't

14:18

have to effort my way at

14:20

all. I will just have

14:22

to be present and be me.

14:25

And so, yes, working all

14:28

of that out, making those

14:30

decisions, There was

14:32

a lot of unpleasant feelings moving

14:34

through all of that. But

14:37

it put me in a

14:40

scenario where once I was

14:42

on stage doing this talk

14:44

about ADHD in this very

14:46

ADHD unfettered, unmasked way, felt

14:49

so good. And I can always tell

14:51

you, if you've ever done talks, you know,

14:54

you can tell what the audience is

14:56

feeling. And then after the Q and A

14:58

was lit, it was on fire, man.

15:00

We were just jamming and having a good

15:02

time, having a great conversation. And

15:04

it just felt incredible. And so I

15:06

started thinking about how did I get

15:08

into that spot? Because

15:10

I just want to do that every time.

15:12

How do I just be myself onto a

15:14

page? You know what I mean? Cause we

15:16

all, that's what we want. How

15:19

do I just do that the first time rather

15:21

than having to spend 10 years trying to slot

15:23

myself into all these different boxes in the wrong

15:25

way? And it reminded

15:27

me of this story

15:29

that I heard about Glennon

15:31

Doyle, who is a

15:33

memoirist, writing her book Untamed.

15:37

And she tells a story of...

15:39

on this book it being

15:41

really painful and she's writing these

15:43

chapters and she you know

15:45

She's just really she's so passionate

15:47

about what she's talking about.

15:49

She really wants to get it

15:51

right She's laboring over this

15:53

stuff and she sends it to

15:55

a fellow writer and memoirist

15:57

of eat pray love and big

15:59

magic Liz Gilbert and she

16:01

sends her these few chapters and

16:03

Liz is like, you know,

16:05

I really like A Glenn

16:07

and Doyle essay. I really like

16:09

these essay type things that

16:11

you've written, but I love when

16:14

you just bleed onto

16:16

the page, when you are

16:18

just messy chaotically spilling

16:20

your guts onto a page.

16:22

And these essays for

16:24

this book Untamed are so

16:26

tame. What would it look

16:28

like to show up to the

16:30

book Untamed in an untamed way?

16:32

And that's what it felt like

16:35

to do this talk in this

16:37

talk about being ADHD and discovering

16:39

I'm ADHD and what impact that

16:41

had on my creative life. and

16:43

my life in general and doing

16:45

it in this very maximalist ADHD

16:47

way, it felt like what I

16:49

have to imagine writing untamed felt

16:52

like when she was doing it

16:54

with an untamed disposition. And

16:57

I think when you hear that story, and

16:59

when I think about that

17:01

story, it's easy to perhaps

17:03

come to a conclusion that

17:05

feels obvious, but might be

17:07

learning the wrong lesson. Because

17:10

when I hear that story,

17:12

I think, oh, what you

17:14

should have just done is just be

17:17

yourself from the beginning. Just do it

17:19

the right way the first time. Just

17:21

always approach it just

17:23

with your unfiltered raw self.

17:26

But I actually think that

17:29

might be the wrong

17:31

conclusion because as you go

17:33

to try to download

17:35

this stuff that's inside and

17:37

slot into the world

17:39

somewhere where you can get

17:41

that out into something

17:44

beyond yourself. In

17:46

my experience, you

17:49

can't just do it the right

17:51

way the first time and that's

17:53

it and you're locked in. And

17:55

it reminds me of this meme

17:57

that I've seen on the internet

17:59

a few times that I just

18:01

love because it's such a true

18:03

observation, and it's a meme about

18:05

a USB stick. And

18:07

the idea is that when you

18:10

go, try to slot in

18:12

and download the stuff inside a

18:14

USB stick. The only way

18:16

to do it, it's a three

18:18

step process. The only way

18:20

to do it is put it in, feel

18:23

a bit of resistance, a bit

18:25

of friction, switch it

18:27

around the other way. and

18:29

then try to put it

18:31

in and feel more resistance,

18:33

more friction, know

18:35

that it's the wrong way and then

18:37

flip it back and then put it

18:39

in the right way again. And

18:41

so you got it the

18:43

right way the first time, the

18:45

wrong way the second time,

18:47

but you only actually slotted it

18:50

in the third time when

18:52

you realized that that bit of

18:54

friction, that bit of resistance

18:56

was the level that you're supposed

18:58

to feel. when it's the

19:00

right way. And

19:02

so the lesson from Glenn

19:05

and Doyle, the lesson

19:07

from my talk, the lesson

19:09

from the frickin' USB

19:11

is that you have to

19:13

do it the wrong

19:15

way first to know that

19:17

the resistance you're feeling

19:19

is the right kind of

19:21

resistance when you're going

19:23

the right way. And

19:26

for me, The takeaway

19:28

here is that creative

19:30

work requires work. It

19:32

requires not just getting

19:35

your mindset right. thinking

19:37

about it right and

19:39

then flowing from the

19:41

get -go, it requires

19:44

doing it the wrong way first. Now

19:46

this has been true in almost every

19:48

area of my creativity. So

19:51

when I think about what's the

19:53

difference between resistance and the wrong

19:55

way, you only know by doing

19:57

both. and so you

19:59

have to do the work. For me,

20:02

this looks like, this is exactly the

20:04

same thing happened as I learned over

20:06

the past decade of doing this show, interviewing

20:09

people that, here's how

20:11

it went, okay? I

20:13

would schedule an

20:15

interview, I would prepare, over

20:18

-prepare, I'd be like Miss Mullins

20:20

in School of Rock, I find

20:22

it best to over, Prepare and

20:24

then I over prepare all these

20:26

questions really think about it know

20:28

exactly what I wanted to talk

20:30

about and I would show up

20:32

to this interview and I wouldn't

20:34

talk about any of the questions

20:36

that I prepared But the interview

20:39

would be better than I thought

20:41

it was gonna be And so

20:43

I thought okay well That's

20:45

gotta be the wrong way to do

20:47

it. I just wasted all this time

20:49

preparing all of this friction, like

20:51

obsessing and worrying about it. That's

20:53

gotta be the wrong way. Next time,

20:55

I'm not even gonna do any

20:57

prep and we're just gonna flow, baby,

20:59

because that's what we did anyway.

21:01

And then I do the next interview

21:04

with zero prep and it's just

21:06

an absolute nightmare, okay? And

21:08

it's bad. And I'm

21:10

like, what the heck is going on,

21:12

man? And what I learned was, that

21:15

the first way was actually the

21:17

right way, even though it was uncomfortable.

21:20

And it was actually much less uncomfortable

21:22

than getting into an interview that

21:24

I hadn't prepared for and it tanking.

21:26

And so I had to flip

21:29

that USB stick back around and

21:31

slotted in knowing that that friction

21:33

of over -preparing, that vigilance of just

21:35

doing the research and coming up

21:37

with ideas of how it's gonna

21:39

go before I go into it,

21:42

that is the type of friction

21:44

that is necessary to find that

21:46

flow, that finding that direction that

21:48

I didn't see coming. That only

21:50

shows up when I do the

21:52

prep first, even if I don't

21:54

use it. and

21:57

who knows what it is. Maybe it's

21:59

just a feeling of confidence going into it.

22:01

I really don't know. Maybe it's having

22:03

stuff in your back pocket that you can

22:05

hit while you, you know, refine the

22:07

flow in the middle of an interview that's

22:09

kind of finding its way as you

22:11

go. I don't know, but what I learned

22:13

was I had to do it the

22:15

right way, the wrong way, and then realize

22:17

which is the right way and which

22:19

is the wrong way to do it. And

22:21

the only way to do that is

22:23

to do, to do it.

22:25

not to think about it. This

22:27

is why I'm so passionate

22:30

about creative habits, about creative action.

22:33

You know, after I did the

22:35

picture book earlier this year,

22:37

I opened up some creative direction

22:39

coaching calls that hadn't done

22:41

in over a year, maybe a

22:43

year and a half, something

22:45

like that. I opened them up

22:48

really sporadically and had a

22:50

flood of calls and it was

22:52

great. felt like I'd forgotten

22:54

how to talk, sitting in my studio, doing

22:56

all these paintings. So it

22:58

was really great. And I love

23:00

talking to people that listen to

23:02

the show, and I love strategizing

23:04

for creative careers and creative practice,

23:07

just something that I am deeply

23:09

passionate about and love to do. But

23:12

as I have gone to do it, I

23:14

realized that I'm gonna come up with a

23:16

new rule, which is, you know, I open

23:18

these up from time to time. Often

23:21

after I do a call with somebody, there's

23:24

more questions later on in

23:26

the process. And so

23:28

I thought, okay, well, if I've done a

23:30

call with you, even if I don't have calls

23:32

open, I will do

23:35

another call. You can

23:37

schedule and book another call,

23:39

but with a new

23:41

added disclaimer. which is the

23:43

only way you can book another

23:45

call is if you don't have

23:47

questions because you've thought through what we

23:50

talked about and you've got complaints

23:52

or concerns and resistance but that

23:54

you've taken the call and you

23:56

went and made some stuff. I

23:58

don't care if it's stuff that you've

24:00

made exactly like what we talked

24:02

about on the call or if

24:04

it's stuff in exact opposition. It

24:06

could be the right way or

24:08

the wrong way or the up way

24:10

or the down way. It doesn't

24:12

matter, but I've decided it has

24:14

to be like at least, I'm

24:17

leaning towards four to six pieces

24:19

that you have created and put out

24:21

into the world on. in

24:23

some fashion. That could

24:25

be on Instagram, that could be

24:27

on Spotify or it could just

24:29

be on your blog. You know,

24:31

you could just launch some demos

24:33

or just some short stories or

24:35

some comics or some articles or

24:37

whatever it is, but you have

24:39

to have made and published to

24:41

some degree four to six pieces

24:43

inspired by our talk or reacting

24:45

against our chat before I will

24:47

do a follow -up call. Because

24:50

the only way to do creative work

24:52

is to do it, not to think

24:55

about it. The only way to know

24:57

if you're going the right way is

24:59

to go the wrong way. And

25:01

I really, really believe this. You hear

25:03

this with stand -up comedians all the

25:05

time. I've heard this story, you know,

25:08

I listened to a lot of stand -up

25:10

comedy podcasts and I'm just a big

25:12

fan of the craft. And one thing

25:14

that you hear a lot from people

25:16

that have done it for a long

25:18

time and really found their groove is

25:20

that often when they start, that's

25:23

the material and the approach that

25:25

they show up with at the

25:27

beginning. deeply resembles

25:29

or has some of the essence

25:31

of what ends up being

25:33

their groove. But sandwiched in between

25:35

those things is a long

25:37

period of time of trying to

25:39

be other people, trying different

25:41

things, exploring different ways of approaching

25:43

it. And it sounds like

25:45

the obvious conclusion to that would

25:47

be like, you should have

25:49

just stuck with what was you

25:51

from the beginning, man. But

25:54

again, that would be wrong. that

25:57

it is part of the process

25:59

to leave home. This

26:01

is one of the reasons why

26:03

I'm so obsessed with the hero's

26:05

journey is it's because it's the

26:07

idea that the hero's journey starts

26:10

at home and it ends at

26:12

home. But in between that sandwiched

26:14

in between is going out of

26:16

your comfort zone going out of

26:18

ordinary into the extraordinary world Leaving

26:21

who you think you are Into

26:23

a place where you don't you

26:25

don't know who you are anymore.

26:27

You don't know what's going on

26:29

You're uncomfortable. You're pushed you're challenged

26:31

and then making the return That

26:34

it is a requirement to leave

26:36

your comfort zone and leave your

26:38

essence and forget who you think

26:40

you are and test it and

26:42

be open and try things and

26:44

do stuff in order to really

26:47

solidify what it is you have. It

26:50

reminds me of the Wizard

26:52

of Oz. You know, Brian McDonald,

26:54

I feel like I've heard

26:56

this in a couple books actually.

26:58

It might be Christopher Vogler's

27:00

Writer's Journey, that

27:02

book as well as Brian

27:05

McDonald's Invisible Ink. There's

27:07

a couple places where I've heard

27:09

some breakdowns of the story of

27:11

Wizard of Oz, the movie of

27:13

Wizard of Oz. And Brian McDonald

27:15

says that the idea here is

27:18

that you already have everything you

27:20

need. Dorothy

27:22

already has the ruby red slippers that'll

27:24

take her home. The scarecrow already has

27:26

a brain, so on and so forth.

27:29

But I actually, I think that's true, but I

27:32

take it a little bit differently because it's

27:34

not that you get to the end and you're

27:36

like, oh man, I didn't even

27:38

need to do this journey. I already

27:40

had everything I need. But

27:43

in fact, that the journey

27:45

was required to figure out

27:47

what it is you had

27:49

that you needed. that the

27:51

journey is the way, that

27:53

leaving home, going out and trying

27:56

on a different pair of shoes,

27:58

a different way of being is

28:00

the only way that you figure

28:02

out what it is that you

28:04

have. And so

28:06

if you're feeling

28:09

resistance, quite possibly

28:11

the only way you're going

28:13

to know it's the wrong

28:15

way, is by

28:17

doing the wrong way and the

28:19

right way, by doing the

28:21

work, not just thinking about the

28:23

work, not knowing that you're

28:25

doing it right before you're doing

28:27

it. And I'm gonna

28:29

do an episode. in the near

28:31

future about how, yes, I'm a

28:34

big believer in plotting and strategic

28:36

creative work where you show up

28:38

and you have a goal in

28:40

mind and you do the work

28:42

towards that goal. And that's really

28:44

essential. But I also want to

28:46

explore what it looks like to

28:48

do exploratory creative work, stuff that's

28:50

a risk, stuff that you don't

28:52

know what's going to happen until

28:54

you're doing it. And it's essential

28:56

to not know is this the

28:58

right way or the wrong way

29:00

before you start out. Let's

29:02

talk about how to

29:04

get started and put

29:06

this idea into practice.

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30:29

right, it's time for the creative

30:31

call to adventure. You know, on

30:33

this show, we don't like to

30:35

just get you pepped and send

30:38

you on your way and be

30:40

like, have fun feeling inspired and

30:42

do nothing. No, we want to

30:44

do something with these ideas and

30:46

put them to action. So this

30:48

is our creative call to adventure.

30:50

It's called USB yourself, just USB

30:52

yourself. Okay, you get it.

30:54

You've heard all the ideas. That's

30:56

it. Have fun. I'm

30:59

just kidding. I'm gonna

31:01

explain what USB yourself means.

31:04

It means USB, we're gonna break it

31:06

down into three parts. The next

31:08

piece that you do, whether it's for

31:10

a client, whether it's for yourself, you

31:13

know, something in the middle. I don't know

31:15

what that looks like, but USB, you

31:17

is for usual. S is

31:19

for switch and B is for

31:22

B, like be yourself. Okay,

31:24

just be it. You know,

31:26

being what comes natural, who you are and

31:28

the only way you're gonna find that B

31:30

is if you go US first. If you

31:32

do the right way, the wrong way, then

31:34

the right way. Okay, we just

31:36

don't know which is, if the right

31:39

way comes first, the wrong way comes first, but

31:41

we know we're gonna have to try both of

31:43

them. So here's what I want you to do.

31:45

If you're a visual artist, you can think about

31:47

it like sketches. If you're a

31:49

musician, it might be like demos, but

31:52

let's say for the first

31:54

try, do the you,

31:56

do the usual way, do the

31:58

way that you're already working right

32:00

now, the same way that you

32:02

have been approaching sketches. Do that

32:04

version of the idea. Then

32:06

do a George Costanza. You ever seen

32:08

that episode of Seinfeld where George

32:10

is like, I'm just gonna do the

32:12

opposite of what comes natural. I'm

32:14

gonna do whatever I think I should

32:16

do. I'm gonna do the opposite

32:18

and then everything starts going his way.

32:21

And so instead of doing the usual, S

32:24

is the sketch where you're gonna

32:26

switch it up. Do the opposite. If

32:28

you're a musician, you're doing demos,

32:30

maybe you have been making these slow

32:32

ballady things. And then for the

32:34

next demo, you're gonna speed up the

32:36

tempo. crank up that

32:38

BPM and make it chaotic and

32:41

make it electronic. Whatever it is,

32:43

how can you just do the

32:45

opposite? How can you flip that

32:47

USB around and try it the

32:49

totally different way? And then after

32:51

you've tried both ends of the

32:53

spectrum, then you can just be

32:55

the one that feels right, that

32:57

feels like the right level of

32:59

resistance. That's just a little bit

33:02

of a push to slot in

33:04

and get into that flow. And

33:06

once you've done both ends of the spectrum, you

33:08

should have a sense of which one had the right

33:10

kind of the friction, which one had the wrong

33:12

kind of a friction. And for me,

33:14

when I go to plan a talk, often I

33:17

just want to pick something and I want to

33:19

roll, right? But when I...

33:21

myself to not just think about the

33:23

options and pick one, but to

33:25

do the option, just spend the time.

33:27

It's actually so much more efficient

33:29

because often, you know, when I want

33:31

to avoid the different options, I

33:33

will go all in on one and

33:35

I'll put so much time and

33:37

energy on finishing that demo to almost

33:39

time to release it and then

33:41

realize it's the wrong way and then

33:43

have to start all over again.

33:45

And so instead, if you will just

33:47

do like, what's the rough version

33:50

of one? What's the rough version? of

33:52

the switch, the opposite way, then

33:54

you will have a feeling of which

33:56

is friction in the bad way,

33:58

which is friction in the good way.

34:00

So that's the USB yourself creative

34:02

call to adventure. Hope it helps. Next

34:04

time you make something, try it

34:06

out. Let me know.

34:08

what you think, wherever you

34:10

comment on Substack, Instagram,

34:13

what have you. I'm

34:15

curious to hear how it helps.

34:17

It's helped me a ton, and

34:19

I hope it helps you to

34:21

acknowledge which are the kinds of

34:23

unpleasant feelings that are actually... Telling

34:25

you you're going the right way

34:27

and which are the unpleasant feelings

34:29

that are the wrong kind That

34:32

are that just as you going

34:34

against your own grain man Massive

34:36

thanks to Sophie Miller for being

34:38

a producer and editor on the

34:40

show Thanks to Connor Jones for

34:42

audio and video edits were on

34:44

YouTube if you like to watch

34:46

the background as well as listen

34:49

Or maybe you just want to

34:51

sit there and just you know

34:53

You know, Raw Dog, they call

34:55

it, you know, this idea of

34:57

someone going on a plane and

34:59

again, like Seinfeld Putty, just sitting

35:01

there doing nothing, looking at the

35:03

back of the seat. There's people

35:06

that are like flying to Japan

35:08

doing no music, no videos, nothing,

35:10

and just Raw Dog -ing the flights.

35:12

That's what they call it. Maybe

35:14

that's what you wanna do. Just

35:16

wanna watch it on YouTube and

35:18

just pay attention. fully

35:20

the whole time. I hope you

35:23

don't. That sounds like torture

35:25

to me. But we're doing video.

35:27

So thanks Connor for the

35:29

audio video edits and sound and

35:31

video design animations. Thanks to

35:33

Yoni Wolf and the band Y

35:35

for our theme music and

35:37

our soundtracks. And thank you all

35:39

for listening. I hope that

35:41

it has helped you have some

35:43

creative juice to continue creating,

35:46

continue in your creative practice with

35:48

more. pep and excitement and

35:50

until we speak again, stay pep

35:52

tap. Okay,

36:12

the podcast is over, so

36:14

I don't know why you're

36:16

still listening. But

36:19

I am glad that you enjoyed

36:21

it enough to stick to the

36:23

end. I have one more thing

36:25

for you. If you're in a

36:27

place where you're feeling a lack

36:29

of clarity and you want to

36:31

figure out your industry market in

36:33

niche and find the perfect strategic

36:35

side project to do next, go.

36:37

Sign up to our newsletter at

36:40

andyjpizza .substack.com and you will get

36:42

a confirmation email that will give

36:44

you the download of our creative

36:46

career path handbooklet and the whole

36:48

process is in there. And you

36:50

might also get a few bonuses

36:52

in there depending on when you

36:54

sign up. But again, thanks for

36:56

listening. Glad you enjoyed that episode

36:58

and stay pepped up, y 'all. That

37:01

finale of The Bachelor was ridiculous. Lest

37:04

we forget this past season of love

37:06

is blind. I know. At least there's always

37:08

sex in the city to keep us warm

37:10

and fuzzy at night. Always. Watching it back

37:12

25 years later has been the best. Mm

37:14

-hmm. Why are we so obsessed with watching

37:16

people fall in love on TV? Every week

37:19

on our podcast, Two Black Girls One Rose,

37:21

we break down your favorite TV shows, centering

37:23

modern dating, love, and relationships. Come ready to

37:25

unpack the mess and have a laugh with

37:27

us. I'm Justine. And I'm Natasha. See

37:29

you every week on all podcast platforms.