Conversations build confidence.
At least, that’s been my experience recently. In my journey to personal growth and continual learning, I’m figuring out that I can only get so far with one-way learning mediums. Sure. I can listen to hours and hours of podcasts (seriously, my addiction is bad…my PocketCasts app tells me I’ve listened to 135 days(!!!) worth of content), or read books and books and books, or subscribe to every blog and email list imaginable, but that will only get me so far.
It gives me knowledge, but not confidence.
I’m learning that I need someone to sit across the table from me, tell me what they do and why, and that I can do it too. Do you know why I need that?
Because podcasts, books, and blogs give me knowledge, but not vision and direction.
This morning I met with Mike Spakowski, founder and creative director of Atomicdust Marketing in St. Louis. He graciously let me pepper him with questions about his past and his vision for Atomicdust as well as trigger a few rants about creativity, motivation, and just getting stuff done.
Here are three big ideas from my conversation with Mike.
Big Idea 1: Creating Content Creates Opportunities
We are all in the same boat.
Everyone who wants to be a writer, a designer, or a creative of some sort who has any inclination for the craft is on a level playing field…until they aren’t.
So, what’s the difference between the people that make it and those who sit around moping because they didn’t?
Action.
That’s it. Those who succeed as a creative act. They create something new regularly. It doesn’t matter if it is for a client, for a friend, for themselves, or just for funsies—they make stuff. Every. Single. Day.
And I get that. On a cerebral level, it makes perfect sense. Wake up. Sit down. Write. Repeat. But what happens when you sit down to a blank screen (or piece of paper if you’re that OG) and nothing happens? You just stare at white waiting for some emotional spark of ingenuity to flow from your heart to your fingertips, magically manifesting a motivational masterpiece.
Good news: You aren’t alone when that happens. The key is to just flutter your fingers over your keys (in a word-forming pattern, preferably) until something starts flowing…making sense…creating.
Here’s an idea: write about how frustrated you are that you can’t come up with anything to write about. Just spew your frustration on the page. At least, FINALLY, you’ll have some words to work with.
Maybe it won’t be something worth putting online. Maybe it will be too raw, too emotional, too frustrating, or just too dang boring to share with the world.
But it will be a SUCCESS. Writing is happening. You are accomplishing your goal.
Lesson 2: Keep Pushing Toward the Next Milestone
Whatever you do, don’t get complacent.
It’s way too easy to stay so comfortable with where you are, that you don’t strive for where you could be. It’s too hard. Too risky. Not worth it… at least those are the lies you tell yourself.
There’s a scientific principle called inertia (side note—that’s really hard to type for some reason. I keep spelling it “intertia”), which says that an object will resist any change to its velocity. It may be more familiar as Newton’s First Law—objects in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Objects at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. There’s resistance to change.
As people, we also experience life inertia.
We naturally run from change…by doing absolutely nothing. After all, it’s easier that way. No body just WANTS to learn a new skill, develop better habits, or change their future. Everyone needs a force motivating them to act, but it can’t just be any force. A force that is too weak can be ignored…resisted…overpowered. You need a strong force to push you out of your stationary position to move you toward the next stone on your path across the pond.
What’s that force going to be, though?
That’s the million-dollar question, right? Are you afraid of being stuck doing the same old boring work for the rest of your life? Do you have a burgeoning curiosity for the creative? Did you lose your job and now need to figure something out fast? Are your friends pushing you to finally take that creative leap you’ve talked about forever but never actually acted on?
Different forces will affect everyone differently. Some may be motivated to move by fear, while others become paralyzed by it. As you continue to grow as a writer (or whatever else you end up doing in life), you need to keep finding those forces that motivate you and keep you moving.
Your growth depends on it.
Lesson 3: Read Good Books
Mike recommended three books to help kickstart creativity and understand art, content, and branding.
The first is a short read called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. It’s written as motivational tidbits for creatives to better develop a healthy practice of content production. It’s okay to take inspiration and ideas from those you admire. You don’t have to be original because you can’t be original—at least, not entirely. Originality comes from synthesizing and recreating art and information that already exists. Make it again. Make it yours.
The second is Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller. How do you create a brand that sticks—one that people love and come back to over and over again? You have to tell a great story, and every story has a hero, a villain, and a guide. Who plays each roll in your brand? I’m only just jumping into this one, but I’m already learning more about what story brands tell.
The last is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. The title is a clever play on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, but it’s fitting. Creativity is a battle. The enemy—Resistance. Resistance is the greatest obstacle to consistently create awesome work. I’m looking forward to reading this one soon.
Wrapping Up
I know, I opened this whole spiel by talking about how one-way communication only takes you so far…. But don’t worry. I’m definitely not saying you should disregard it altogether.
Instead, Be more selective in what you read and listen to. I just unsubscribed from about 20 different podcasts. I filled my TBR pile with books about story, marketing, and personal growth. I only read blogs and emails that help me develop into the person I want to become.
I just needed to trim the fat, really. Doing that gives me time to focus on what really matters—building meaningful relationships.