Re-defining Success and Failure
Don't allow confusion about these terms to cause creative spinout.
Re-defining Success and Failure
Articles about The Accidental Creative
Using Time Chunks To Master Your Days
Using Time Chunks To Master Your Days
The best way to ensure that your most important work gets done is to dedicate time to doing it.
Getting To The Best Idea (with Niki Papadopoulos)
Getting To The Best Idea (with Niki Papadopoulos)
Every idea - even a great one - needs an editor. Someone to help sift through the fluff and get to the heart of it all. For a band, it's the producer. For an agency, a creative director. And for an author, it's the editor. On this episode, renowned book editor Niki...
You Are A Badass Every Day (with Jen Sincero)
You Are A Badass Every Day (with Jen Sincero)
Your everday practices are what set you up for success. It's not the "every so often" mustering of your will, it's the things you choose to implement regularly that prepare you for those moments when you need to be brilliant. Today's guest is Jen Sincero, and she's...
Four Ways To Stoke Curiosity
Four Ways To Stoke Curiosity
I (strongly) agree that the future belongs to the curious, but would add that so does the present. Curious people are able to parse experience and recognize Reality behind reality; what’s truly going on in patterns and systems. They are able to ask great questions, and are willing to trade them in for better ones when they’re not satisfied with the answers. So with that in mind, how can we stay poised, leaning forward, and in a state of productive curiosity? On this episode, we explore four ways.
Chasing Dreams (and When To Quit)
Chasing Dreams (and When To Quit)
People love to encourage you to chase your dreams. They mostly mean well. What they don’t tell you is that you are probably going to fail a lot. And, the problem with pursuing a dream is that it’s hard to know when to quit. On this episode, we discuss the difficulties of giving up a dream, and how to move on when it's no longer a part of who you are.
The Power of Magic and Story (with Harris III)
The Power of Magic and Story (with Harris III)
Why does story have such a powerful hold on us? How do the stories we believe influence the way we behave each day? Perhaps more importantly, how do we leverage the power of story to get our work into the world in a more meaningful way? These are the questions I discuss with Harris III. He's a performing magician, and also the driving force behind STORY, an organization that helps people tell better stories and change the world.
Three Weekend Rituals That Will Refresh Your Creativity
Three Weekend Rituals That Will Refresh Your Creativity
Weekends are not only a great time to rest, but also to recreate (as in “re-create” yourself, and to regain your focus and enthusiasm for your life and work.) By instilling a few simple checkpoints, or rituals, in your weekend, you can spark your creative juices and ensure that you’re clear-headed and focused heading into your next week.
Back To Human (with Dan Schawbel)
Back To Human (with Dan Schawbel)
Even though we are deeply connected by technology, it's hard to argue that we are in some sense "alone, together." This is especially true in many workplaces, where expectatations are rising, and familiarity is high but empathy and deep connection can be scarce. On today's show, Dan Schawbel shares insights into how to create deeper connection in an age of isolation with principles from his book Back To Human.
Disrupting Yourself Before You’re Disrupted (with Mike McDerment)
Disrupting Yourself Before You’re Disrupted (with Mike McDerment)
In 2015, a strange new competitor appeared to challenge cloud accounting software company Freshbooks' dominance in their space. The new company, called Billspring, had a fresh look and feel, and seemed poised to pose a serious threat to Freshbooks. However, all was not quite as it seemed. On this episode, CEO and Founder Mike McDerment shares the story of how an unlikely competitor completely re-invented the face of the company.
Scratching Your Own Itch (with Wade Foster of Zapier)
Scratching Your Own Itch (with Wade Foster of Zapier)
On this episode, Wade Foster of Zapier shares the story of the founding of his company, how he knew it was time to make the leap from side hustle to full-time, and how his entire company has managed to work remotely while maintaining its strong culture.
My Talk From The STORY Conference
My Talk From The STORY Conference
A few months ago, I had the chance to speak at the STORY Conference in Nashville, TN. It's a gathering of 1,200 creative pros across multiple disciplines designed to talk about the power of story in our work and lives. My talk centered on the unique pressures of creating for a living, and a few opposing forces that are especially difficult to identify and surmount. I also shared the importance of identifying Productive Passion as a method for working through those forces and putting your best work into the world.
Rock The Problem
Rock The Problem
Rocking back and forth on a problem can also jog previously overlooked connections and solutions as you shift from is to is not thinking.
Overcoming The Fear Of Launching Work
Overcoming The Fear Of Launching Work
On this episode, I re-visit a conversation with Julien Smith about the launch of his company Breather, and share three core principles to help you put your valuable work into the world every day.
Making Echoes
Making Echoes
Leadership and legacy are not just what you do, but also how you do it. It will be determined by a series of choices you make over your life about how to spend this moment – here, and now. The challenging thing is that each moment feels like a throwaway, because another one follows closely on its heels. How you choose to engage here and now speaks more to your character than whatever residual stuff you leave in your trail.
The Big Idea: Herding Tigers
The Big Idea: Herding Tigers
What do highly creative people really need from their leader? Two things, primarily: stability and challenge. On this episode, I dive into the big idea from my latest book Herding Tigers, and explain why these two forces are the key to unlocking performance and brilliance in the team you lead, in your relationships with your clients, and in any complex collaborative relationship.
The Bullet Journal Method (with Ryder Carroll)
The Bullet Journal Method (with Ryder Carroll)
The creator of the Bullet Journal Method is Ryder Carroll, and he’s on this episode of the show to help us understand a bit about how to use journaling to organize our lives and accomplish our goals. He’s just released a book called The Bullet Journal Method, and we’ll be discussing how to better organize your days, and how to know when to launch a passion project into the world.
The Big Idea: Louder Than Words
The Big Idea: Louder Than Words
On this episode, I share the big idea of my third book Louder Than Words, and a few ideas for how to develop a voice that resonates with the people you lead and serve.
Atomic Habits (with James Clear)
Atomic Habits (with James Clear)
On today’s show we have a guest who can help us better understand the habits that form the foundation of our success or failure. His name is James Clear, and he’s just released a book called Atomic Habits, which is about the small changes we can make in our daily life to create big change on the other side. It’s a guidebook to healthier habits in life and work, and our conversation with James is coming up in just a moment.
The Big Idea: Die Empty
The Big Idea: Die Empty
This is part two in a series of episodes in which I share the "big idea" from each of my books. This episode covers the big idea from my 2013 book Die Empty, which is about the common places people and teams get stuck and fail to do the work they are capable of doing.