Small things done well lead to big results. Small things done poorly eventually lead to failure. As a creative professional, you have three responsibilities to fulfill. In this episode, we address each of them and a few small practices to help you succeed in 2015.
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I’m giving away three copies of Seth Godin’s new book What To Do When It’s Your Turn. Leave a comment below (as instructed in this episode). I’ll choose three people to win. (Winners will be announced on Dec. 22.) Congratulations to Justin Dunnavant, Lori Lukasewich, and Brooke Snow. You are each winners of a copy of Seth’s new book. Just send your best mailing address through the contact page in order to receive your book.
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Hey Todd, thanks for this episode. It is so hard to put disciplines in place to create time for non-productive creating. That is a discipline I am going to work on, is spending one night a week in non-required productive play. :)
Enjoyed this episode very much. I find it difficult especially in a professional setting to allow myself to spend time to see what the work itself wants to be, independent of what i think my boss or superiors want. I’m going to try to work this into my daily routine in 2015.
Hi Todd! Thanks for putting this out there to challenge us to work on some disciplines. I was walking my dog while listening today, and thought to myself that I would challenge myself to a few things in the Stakeholder department: soliciting feedback, saying thank you for that feedback and writing a note of gratitude each week – I’m aiming for the old fashioned, handwritten kind. I also plan to incorporate more silent time into my day. This has some meditative qualities to it without the label, and I think it’ll be good for my brain.
Thanks for your work! Be well*
~C
One discipline I am going to build is to close my email and social media tabs while I’m doing creative work. It’s pretty obvious, but removing distractions makes me more productive! Funny how that works. :)
Hi Todd. I’ve been listening for a while, but this particular episode resonated with me the most, specifically regarding the stakeholders. Your advice for communicating with at least one stakeholder per day is a simple, but effective way to get a “second opinion” about the direction of a project. My creative cadence involves building the foundation of potential projects based on disparate ideas from myself and those around me using appropriate or slightly deviant technologies (due to my own curiosity) for the implementation. My general opinion/experience is that most stakeholders don’t actually know what they want and can only describe the outcome (which is ultimately what matters). However, iterating quickly and probing for more understanding of that outcome is certainly something I am going to start doing.
The discipline I will be implementing is to plan and prioritize each night for the following day.
Once again, some great things to think about. I definitely need to spend time without distraction, thinking about my priorities, rather than just jumping in and trying to plow through my work. I know it needs to be done, but still need to build this into my mornings (and later in the day) a little bit at a time.
Timely challenge for the New Year. I’ve been telling myself that I’m going to wake up an hour earlier (at 6am) and devote an hour to a side project. Write now I’m trying to publish an academic article for graduate school. We’ll see how it goes!
Hi Justin – congrats! You’ve won a copy of What To Do When It’s Your Turn. Just e-mail your best mailing address to support [at] accidentalcreative.com and we’ll get it in the mail to you.
Many thanks for hosting the contest! I look forward to reading the book and, in the spirit of Seth Godin, I’ll be sure to pass it along (horizontal distribution) before I head off to Ethiopia in February.
Thanks for the information and points to ponder. Creating space around the three areas is much needed and I personally need continual reminders to look out for, implement the seemingly small things that add up to large results.
I am committing to meditating every day when I rise. When I do this, it makes such a difference in my outlook for the day and I am making a choice to have a positive mindset first thing in the morning. Also, showing gratitude to the stakeholders in my life is something I can commit to. Especially when it comes to my closest relationships.
Thank you so much for the podcast! I will be taking on a new creative role in my job at the beginning of the year. This is the perfect time to set a new goal to make sure I’m addressing each of the three areas requiring my attention. I believe the area that needs the most attention is letting my work take on its own course. I have so many external sources trying to mold it in certain directions (clients, manager, myself). Starting now (why wait??) I will add time to projects to play with different techniques or styles that might be just a little bit unfamiliar to me. This could definitely add a new flair to my work so that it doesn’t become old and tired (and so I don’t become old and tired doing the work myself!)
Funnily enough I just listened to this podcast after reading “Writing Down The Bones” as I decided to start a writing practice today (why wait until 2015). The goal is to spend 15 mins every morning free writing my thoughts, ideas and concerns to gain clarity and lightness.
Hi Todd
My new discipline is to step outside my own box of tools and seek new perspectives and resources to draw from and share with my team.
Thanks for all of your great ideas!
Todd – Good stuff as usual. Loved when you said “stop and listen to that inner voice.” I think too often we hear the voice but we don’t listen to the voice.
You idea of taking 15 mintes now and then to stop, pause, listen and think will be what I try to do in 2015. I know it will be amazing the ideas that either are born, crystalized or dismissed in that short window.
Happy holiday.
Sean
Perfect timing to discuss disciplines! I too struggle with proper time for myself. My 2015 discipline I’d love to get back to is daily journaling, or “morning pages” as Julia Cameron refers to it. It always inspires me and I enjoy the process so much…having small children, I too often let that simple small practice slide when they wake up earlier than normal or have pressing needs during the time that I try to set aside for myself. Perhaps therein lies my core problem…finding a time that can truly be uninterrupted and stable :) I’ll work on that! Thanks so much for the great episode and reminder!
Hi Brooke – congrats! You’ve won a copy of What To Do When It’s Your Turn. Just e-mail your best mailing address to support [at] accidentalcreative.com and we’ll get it in the mail to you.
Hi Todd – thanks for another great episode! One discipline I really need to work on is an end of the day evaluation of my productivity throughout the day. Did I really tackle the day’s priorities well enough to leave time for myself? How can I improve the next day?
Hi Todd, thank you for the great & practical advice. I always gain much more than expected when I take time to think what I can/should be grateful for. Good reminder. In 2015, I want to grow in slowing down and doing more effective work, not more efficient work. I find that the times I stop to reflect often feel fickle. I plan to improve this by actually writing answers to 3 short questions every day. My hopes are that writing answers and addressing the same questions will allow me to consistently focus & maintain direction.
One discipline I am putting into effect for 2015 is writing within the first hour of my day. I’ve found I’m most creative when I do this and I need to do more of it.
I am a marine scientist academic who does all kinds of creative work from writing/delivering lectures, designing/implementing assessments, developing approaches for interacting with students and, occasionally, trying to develop new understanding of something (scientific research).
My intended discipline for 2015 relates to all three dimensions – being true to my stakeholders, to myself and to the work. I am going to spend a little time at the start of each ‘creating project’ to envisage what the outcome would look like if it was done by the me I would like to be rather than the me I find I am constrained to be by time, resources and lack of courage!
Thanks for the episode! One discipline I’m going to implement is journaling every day as a reflection process of what’s happened throughout the day and what I’ve actually accomplished.
Hi Todd. In 2015 I am going to focus on talking about my work each night with my wife. She always gives me great perspectives on situations and problems I wouldn’t think of myself. I have found this also makes her more understanding when I need to prioritise a major work issue or project over family time!
Thank you for this installment of the AC which is especially relevant at this time of the year.
I believe in the cumulative power of small steps and have harnessed it to build a small business while caring for family and living with a chronic illness. Understanding this concept has been key for me.
I’ve noticed that my stakeholders are usually well taken care of, to the detriment of creative ideas that I’ve set aside for “later”. It’s time. It’s my turn (apparently, it’s always been!).
This year, I will sit at my writing/drawing table every morning and will start to work on one or a few of my creative projects.
Most difficult thing I struggle with is my responsibility to creative work.
One discipline I plan to implement on a daily basis is to look at the creative work I am doing in light of my end goal.
I have started a content calendar that I am going to use in 2015. I plan to review it daily too so that I can continue to generate ideas for blog posts, lessons I that develop, and a few other creative ideas I have rolling around.
Thanks for the challenging thoughts. Let’s get creative.
Chris
Hi Chris … will you say more about your content calendar? I’m intrigued. Sounds like something I could benefit from.
Thanks, Jan
Jan – The content calendar I am using I got from Natalie Sisson. I saw a YouTube video of hers which directed me to her website. Here’s the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_Uro_WeLsY
From there I downloaded her several page Excel document and changed it for my needs. For instance, she has some items for product launches and podcast episodes. I didn’t fill out every page because not all pertained to me. I strictly stuck to the Editorial Calendar worksheet.
I took the Excel file she did and changed it to fit my target audience. For me, I’m not planning to launch a product, so I took out that part of the calendar. Nor do I have a podcast that I am doing. So I took it out too.
I have planned out through April 2015 what I want to blog about. It may change, but I still have ideas that I’m working towards.
Another person I would recommend checking out is Jenna Dalton. She did a post earlier this month on a content calendar. Here’s her link: http://jennadalton.com/calendar/ it’s different than Natalie’s, but is still good.
I would recommend checking out these two resources. This is my first go at a content calendar, so I am still learning. However, if I can help you further, please reach out and let me know.
Blessings!
Todd! Thanks as always for the encouragement. I’m a songwriter and I LOVE the writing process. It has never been a struggle for me to write frequently. What has been hard for me, that I hopeyo change in 2015 is sharing my work. I hate it! Lol so what I plan to do is play at two open mics per month to start.
I am consuming all information right from the time I woke up but never think about it.I will take time on a daily basis to just sit and think.
I don’t think I’m nearly ritualistic enough about enough things. I’m hoping to focus on my daily routine. I feel like this year I was able to do a lot more unnecessary creative. Hopefully I can keep growing that as well.
Loved the episode Todd–the 3 responsibilities is a great framework. I struggle with fidelity to myself, and I’m going to start taking 1-2 minutes to be mindful before I jump into a task.
This was a great episode. I’m going to work on cutting back on my social media time because it zaps my creative energy and wastes a lot of time.
Daily reflection to help unlock my inner voice. Like you said, sometimes you have to get away and just listen to your gut. I know my voice is the loudest during my cardio. So this will be twofold to get in better shape during my reflection. Keep crushing it, love the show.
I’m with you—I struggle most with trusting intuition… or more accurately, paying any attention to it at all, let alone nurturing it.
In an effort to be a bit more self-aware in 2015, I bought Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map Day Planner. I’m still working through the full Desire Map workbook, but the practice of identify, daily, what I want to feel as a result of my work… that seems like it will help me tune in by coming at my intuition a little sideways (sneaking up on it!).
I have been enjoying your podcast, and I look forward to new ones. I definitely need more discipline. This year, I’ve been working on my body focusing on eating habits. It’s paid off, but I still have a ways to go. I think that I need to pay more attention to my mental state, too. I intent to work in a daily ritual of meditation, starting with the mornings. Depending on how it works, I could see myself adding an evening session, too. Overall, I hope that the meditation will have side effects in all aspects of my life. Getting more centered can only help.
I need to develop the discipline of following the work, playing with ideas, and to do this I must get out of the way to follow where the project is going. Thank you for this onsite!
Hi Todd: It’s funny how life can contradict itself. There is a series about, “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff,” but it’s sweating about the RIGHT small stuff that can make or break the difference.
For me, I am going to committ to quite focus for 10-15 minutes each day to have a game plan, as well as creating an To-Do list as a wrap-up at the end of the day. I know this will make me more productive. And thanks for the Dailies idea!
Little things making a snowball effect, soooo true! I really need to keep an eye on working for myself which is so easily neglected… Many thanks for those great insight and keep up the good work! :)
The one discipline I’m going to work on starting 2015 will be to the stakeholders. Mostly on actively seeking feedback and thanking them for their opinions. It’s so easy to go off in my own world when working on projects, but things often get a lot more interesting and rich when there’s an open conversation with other individuals who can bring different perspectives to the work. =)
Thanks for keeping up the AC podcasts Todd. I get lots of great insights from them.
Hi Todd! I love your podcast and think you have such great insights on how we can all use our gifts to leave a positive mark on the world. In general, I need to work on living with more intention. I’m going to start with the morning silent time to listen to my thoughts. Thank you!!
Great episode, Todd. As a business owner and foster mom (soon to be adoptive mom!) and the household runner, I tend to lose sight of my responsibility to myself. I’ve been working on my intention to evolve in 2015 and want to combine your suggestions with my intention to move more. So I’m going to do that 15 minutes of reflection a day while on the stupid elliptical machine. :)
It helps to separate the 3 sources for directing work. I tend to follow my own intuition and what I feel the project needs to be. This year I will consult stakeholders more. It will take effort because I work at home and I don’t rub shoulders with the organization’s board members or the public much on a face-to-face basis, but I know I’m working in a silo. My New Year’s goal will be to call one person every day that I don’t have to call for business, but just to get ideas and feedback.
Thanks Todd, It is an inspiring episode, as usuall. First, We would love to hear and learn from you on how you plan your day, hour by hour, especially during pressure. Second, I never thought of my family as a stakeholder until I listened to this episode. Most often, we get to think of family as our support group against our jobs stakeholders, so maybe we need to work on this. Personally, I tend to think of the descipline towards myself and the work as a one thing. If I am satisfied with the results of my produced work, then I fulfilled a part of self actualization, which means I also led the work where it wanted to be, isn’t it?, can you clarify on this a little more please?
Finally, I wish you happy holidays and thanks again for providing us the needed arms of creativity. Nice doing business with you!
Best,
Haifa & Loaei
I have a discipline I would like to step up this year. 3 years ago I started a discipline of sending 60 ‘Bucket Filling’ notes to people a year. I got the idea from the awesome book ‘How Full is Your Bucket. These are basically short encouraging, challenging notes to my friends, family and people on my team. Years past it was always an email which can be pretty impersonal. This year I want to make it 60 face to face or phone conversations.
Great cast! Thanks very much. I learned I am an epic premature optimizer! I will be more focused in 2015 on my commitment to the work (Follow the Work). I intend to adopt the “play” idea that was given and hope for new awareness of projects. Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for this podcast! Inspirational, yet real. This particular episode struck a chard with me.
I probably have issues with all three aspects. I believe I cater to my stakeholders most. And when I take care of the other two, that’ll be taken care of as well.
The responsibility to myself: I know I don’t take care of myself (i.e. sleep, diet, etc). For my body, I need to move daily (some kind of exercise even for a few mins), remove yummy, nasty, sleep-inducing sugar from my diet, and go to bed the first time my head droops.
On My Daily Page: take care of my body (x3), so I can create responsibly. : )
I have most difficulty with the responsibility to my work. Sometimes get stuck with a prep image in my head and don’t let the work go anyplace else. Can get hung up on not wanting to “waste” the materials. Stop that!!!
On My Daily Page (or at least 2-3x week): practice “play painting”. Sometimes you find a gem even when you’re just playing in the sandbox. : )
Thank you Todd for all you do!
Todd: you are the best! Thanks for another great podcast. I am a strong believer in the power of incremental steps towards big goals. I also love the idea of letting the work lead you, and will dedicate time in 2015 to experiment with the discipline of letting go.
One new discipline that I plan on installing is waking up early and having more time to read and find inspiration for my daily work. I believe reading is one of the best things we can do to get our mind ready for the work ahead.
In 2015, I am going to instill the discipline of silence into my life. Taking an hour a minimum of 3 times a week to be silent in my home, using that time to think and focus on creative works that have stalled in my life. I feel that in silence, often I find my best conclusions, but it is so easy to incorporate noise into daily life and rarely is there opportunity to just be quiet with your own thoughts and your own projects. Silence is a powerful tool, but one that we don’t often use as a modern society.
Hi Lori – congrats! You’ve won a copy of What To Do When It’s Your Turn. Just e-mail your best mailing address to support [at] accidentalcreative.com and we’ll get it in the mail to you.
Something I have said I will do for the last 5 years is to create art at home. I do demonstrations and create part way while I teach but am lacking in the area of creating to wash away the dust of everyday life from my soul (as Picasso would say). So my small thing this year is to intentionally sit down once a week and create (draw, paint, build) at home either with my family or by myself
Loved the episode, I want to create an exercise discipline next year in order to get into shape
Todd, this one was a winner. Your insight and honesty is really convicting for so many! It’s a good thing. One of the biggest things I want to do in 2015 (and really beginning now in the last 11 days of 2014) is to intentionally build in time in my day to spontaneously serve others. Sounds like a contradiction, I know – building in time to spontaneously serve others. Hear me out – sometimes it’s easy to serve or help when we feel like it, but what if we actually and purposefully set aside time to do so? Knowing me, what I feel like doing isn’t always what I need to do. I think this new discipline would be even more powerful because it’s more likely to become a habit. So even spending 15-30 minutes a day to stop and look around wherever I am (grocery store, on my computer, on a hike, working) and think about how I can help someone or encourage someone in that very moment would be a great addition to the times I just “feel” like doing it.
Thank you! For 2015, I want to commit 15min of creative drawing.
As a photographer, I am often blocked by what I call “image overload.” There are so many glorious pictures everywhere, it can be hard to find my voice. I find myself stuck in “copy” mode. As a discipline, this year I plan to take at least one picture every day for play, not perfectly composed or exposed, but one that leads the way, a thoughtful photograph that becomes my mediation – daily.
Thanks for breakdown into the three areas of stakeholders, self and work- that was very insightful. I intend to journal first thing in the morning while I still have a close connection to my inner world. I’ve done this sporadically for a few years and find it offers me an uncluttered view of what wants to arise and often creative insights or solutions to problems spontaneously occur. Committing to this practice in a more disciplined way will allow me greater access to my intuition.
Thx for the reminder of small things! My daily discipline is to journal 5 things I’m thankful for every day.
Nice show reminding us how much small things matter. My goal is to be disciplined to have daily devotion time with my wife.
Hey Todd, I plan on setting aside at least 30 minutes a day to read!
So good as always!
Todd, you’re awesome! I’m going to put an emphasis on following my work wherever she might take me in 2015. Had I listened to your podcast earlier today, I would’ve saved myself hours of unnecessary tinkering and experimentation with this identity design im working on. Too often I will allow deadlines to pressure me into decisions that ought not to have been made. No longer!!! :)
One discipline I am challenging myself with in 2015 is being more selective. Selective of the people I have in my life, selective of the projects I take on, selective of how I spend my time, selective of the emails I am subscribed to, etc. If I had one word to sum it all up, it would be “Unsubscribe”. I think about all the emails that I’ve subscribed to over the years and realize that it is comparable to people and projects also. I need to subscribe to a selected few and unsubscribe from the others. Less is more. I’m clearing the clutter in 2015.
Thanks for these areas of focus Todd! My small action is going to be to begin and end my days consciously. Here’s the plan. When I wake up, insights from the night’s dream quickly evaporate in my inbox. I get pulled into the demands of the “Shareholders” and can’t hear the elusive voice of “The work.” My small action will be to do at least 1 hour of my creative work before checking e-mail. Then often at night, I don’t know when to stop and I work until I collapse feeling exhausted and defeated. I am going to make a nightly effort to make a clear and strong stopping point that I can end the day instead of having the day end me.
Great thought provoking ideas. I will spend 15 minutes daily, for each project I am currently involved in: “suspending attachment ” to the idea/outcome/direction, that we are headed in.
This has already been fruitful in moving my team in a better direction in 3 of my 10 current initiatives.
Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Todd, I can’t thank you enough…closing out this year and planning for next makes this very timely. The challenge I face is the “tension” you describe between each of these responsibilities. On their own, I can find times that I focus on each of these, but never seem to find a consistent “balance”…one always seems to take center stage and render the other two as problem areas.
So discipline for me going into the new year…take 15 min each morning to reflect on all three areas. From this reflection…two outputs on the daily card. First- the things I am doing in each of the three areas and identify where I am “lite” or out of balance. The second item written down is a single idea to bring this area back in balance. The goal is to get these three responsibilities operating together!
Thanks again and have a great holiday.
Loved this episode! Im going to be stepping outside of my comfort zone daily! I signed up for toastmasters and I will be attending weekly events to do what scares me most, public speaking! I am a health coach and I would eventually like to do group coaching but am scared to public speak. I believe in dong so I will strengthen my weak points. Thank you for the constant inspiration and guidance
Loved this episode! Im going to be stepping outside of my comfort zone daily! I signed up for toastmasters and I will be attending weekly events to do what scares me most, public speaking! I am a health coach and I would eventually like to do group coaching but am scared to public speak. I believe in dong so I will strengthen my weak points. Thank you for the constant inspiration and guidance.
One discipline I will build into my life would be to start out asking for feedback. Im going to start this weekly to not overwhelm myself.
Great episode, and for me it was valuable to realize that we need to let ideas breath! I am stubborn person and have never thought of this! Thank you!
Great episode! I’ve recently started a new morning routine (inspired by the book Miracle Morning) and would love to incorporate your “Dailies” practice. Thanks for being such an inspiration!
Todd, great episode and perfect lead-in to 2015. My daily for next year is setting and communication intention. Each day I want to position myself and those around me to succeed. To do this, we all need to clearly know where we stand and what needs to be done. Taking a few minutes to create a daily to do list and share with coworkers will ensure we’re moving the needle in the right direction.
Thank you for the podcast, Todd! I am going to focus on discipline #2 in 2015: ME! Not to be selfish but to learn to listen to, and even more – infuse, my “unique value” [as you so aptly stated] into my writing – which I have only danced around but not yet started because of my inner critic. Specifically, I will invest time before launching this writing project, as well as throughout my ‘day job’, to learn how I can express my unique voice. I am hoping that work on this area of responsibility will yield “productivity in my passion” [paraphrased from your podcast]. Many thanks!
Great podcast Todd. I read about 5 days a week, but I need a scheduled time set aside every day. The discipline I am putting into place for 2015 is read every day for an hour beginning at 5 am. As time permits to read more during the day, but this hour will begin my day. Thanks Todd, have a great Holiday.
In 2015, I plan to do the following things, for starters:
1. Start doing stand-up comedy again. Keep performing consistently for a year. See how it goes.
2. Deepen my involvement with my local Shambhala Buddhist community. Find an individual teacher. Take courses. Show up. See how it goes and write about it.
3. Start using the Android Opera app instead of Chrome, as part of a plan to change my web-surfing habits by changing my UX.
4. Keep up my winning streak of not indulging in alcohol or illicit drugs. Mark up a full year, 2015, without their interference.
Hi Todd,
This post was was an eye opener and i liked the way you split the 3 primary target audiences like stakeholder, myself and my body of work. To me, i feel that i have neglected myself and my body of work which seems to go in different directions at the moment. So as a practice, i am committing to the following in 2015.
For myself
1. Continue my meditation practice everyday morning and record thoughts which i never do.
2. Have 1 new experience every week which would invoke my 5 senses namely hear, see, touch, smell and taste .
3. End every day with one thought provoking question to myself and ask myself what does it mean to me.
For my body of work.
1. Bring clarity to my vision and define concrete action items for it.
Thanks for helping us in this journey,
Buyan
Todd, great podcast as usual! It’s so easy to forget the small things that got us to where we are, totally agree. As a result, I’m going to rekindle something I’ve dropped the ball on in 2014 and that is daily meditation. Lately I’ve realized not only how busy our days have gotten, but I’ve also realized how much time I spend in front of a screen and how easy it can be to lose perspective with the minutia of information being thrown at us daily. I’ll commit 3-15 minute sessions of quiet meditation everyday (morning, lunch and evening before bed) to take time to quiet the mind, raise my own awareness and mentally reset and prepare for the events ahead. Thanks again for your podcasts and literature…extremely helpful as always.
For myself I need to recreate the ritual of creating daily, something I was doing before and got sadly sidetracked. It served me well, so I need to once again follow that daily ritual.
This is the first episode of the show that I listened and I loved it! One discipline that I must implement is to create a ‘to do’ list in the evening for the next day. Too many things are slipping away in the morning rush! Thank you for a great episode and a challenge.
I love how concise and inspiring each episode is! I’m going to focus on focus on my stakeholders. I do the other two fairly well, even to a fault and I need to take more action in producing content and meeting needs. Thanks!
I’m going to commit to the middle-of-the-day buffer and create some reflection time. There’s always going to be noise to return to (especially in my case as an elementary teacher). Thanks for continuing to provide great insight with the podcast!
Hi, I stumbled onto your work through photographer David Duchemin. I’m a recently retired former IT guy who wants to really pursue his photography and art. I’m looking at the end of 2014 feeling like it completely got away from me. I’m going to go into 2015 acting like I have a job. I’m going to set a schedule and start allocating time to work on my craft, even putting in specific “play time” like you refer to. Thanks.
Fingernails on chalkboard! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeik! Yikes! It actually caused me pain to hear you say, “ask for feedback from your stakeholder”. As a “figure-it-out” creative professional in a stifling bureaucracy, getting early feedback from my manager is tantamount to having my kindergarten teacher telling me never to color outside the lines. Nevertheless, I see the value of bringing that leg of the tripod back into balance with the other two in this crazy balancing act. But the way, I’d really like to get a (free) copy of Seth Godin’s book. I have already bought The Accidental Creative, have asked for Die Empty for Christmas, and am prepared to pre-order your next tome as soon as it’s available. I’d rather have my money go to you than Seth… Just saying’…
Hi Todd! This was a great reminder especially during the holidays when we can get wrapped up in all the chaos. What I want to implement in 2015 is checking in with my stakeholders as well as other creatives. Working full time and freelancing can throw me off balance, but I now when I check in with others it can bring back to focus and realize that everyone has those moments. I hope that doing that regularly will help to keep me on track!
Thanks to everyone for your insightful comments and for sharing your 2015 disciplines/rituals. I’m excited for what the next year holds in store for all of us!
Happy Holidays! My discipline…
Background: I am a writer and have just had my book back from an editor with good feedback. It now needs a rewrite before going to the agent. Until an agent sells it to a publisher there is no advance…
Intention: For my writing to flourish, what I need more than anything is TIME & RESOURCING – I don’t write my books, they write themselves. I need to have a life where I am not taking on any paid work (and I have been out of work for 6 months!) until the rewrite is finished. Otherwise even if I have time at weekends to write, often the energy is not what it could be.
So my discipline is to brave and trust my intuition that I have a book on my hands that will do well.