A couple months ago I came across some work by a forgotten Polish doctor, psychologist, and poet named Kazimierz Dąbrowski (Ka-ZHI-meerz Dom-BROF-ski) that upended my understanding of my experience with burnout. Dąbrowski believed that HSPs (highly sensitive people) may inevitably experience burnout at some point during their lives, and that it is actually a positive step in their personal development. HSPs experience burnout in an existential way that leads them to question the very foundations...
Apr 30, 2021•36 min
Ever wonder what it's like to be an undertaker? In this interview, songwriter and slow coach Andy Mort tells us all about how he survived in this emotionally taxing career and working through the early part of the pandemic as an HSP. But that's not all! Andy and I do a deep dive into the experimental creative process, as Andy takes us on a journey through how he designed his newly launched goal-setting course for people who struggle with conceptual goal setting, Return to Serenity Island. It is ...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Boredom and neuroscience in one episode? You may be thinking, "I'll give this one a pass," but I promise it's not as meh as it sounds! Boredom can actually be used as a creativity tool - and I have the neuroscience to back it up. You'll hear about what studies have shown in terms of how boredom stimulates creativity, and how to cultivate intentional boredom using several different methods. Then I delve into what the latest neuroscience on creativity shows about why boredom and related brain acti...
Apr 16, 2021•34 min
Do you have something about yourself that you've always felt you need to grow out of? For me, it's my gentleness. I've always been too soft for this world, too sensitive. Or to put it another way, I've always believed that I need to toughen up - and that this would/should happen as I matured. Except it didn't. I just got better at repressing and hiding my gentle soul. Then one day I decided I'm not going to do that anymore! As you listen to my story of "coming out" about this "undesirable" perso...
Apr 09, 2021•34 min
Hold onto your hats, guys, today I'm talking about the connection between theoretical physics and creativity! This is an oddball episode with one overarching theme: we need to stop bullying ourselves (or letting other people bully us) out of trusting our emotional, creative selves. I touch on tapping into the flow state, why creativity is actually easy (it's breaking through the stranglehold of rational thought that's the hard part), and why we need to practice listening, not telling, if we want...
Apr 02, 2021•31 min
Welcome to the inaugural interview of my interview series! In this series I invite people onto my podcast to talk about living the unconventional life, being a late bloomer, being a generalist, the creative process, and how to balance a personal creative practice with the necessity of making a living. Manuel Cordero is a senior set designer at Universal Studios Orlando, where he works on their yearly Halloween Horror Nights event and other live immersive entertainment experiences. He is also an ...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min
So it turns out reasoning isn't a good way to make decisions. Wait, what? In this episode I delve into a fascinating theory that reasoning didn't evolve to help us increase our understanding and make better decisions, but to help us win arguments. You'll hear more about my painful PhD journey, my resulting decision paralysis, and how I regained my faith in myself to make smart decisions. I discuss how flaws of reasoning, like confirmation bias and the sunk cost fallacy, are actually features of ...
Mar 19, 2021•37 min
The more I learn about late blooming, the more I think we're all late bloomers. Our society pushes us to achieve early, to all of our detriments. I can remember feeling like a late bloomer in my 20s, and I certainly feel like one now, in the midst of a career change in midlife! Really we should be embracing late blooming, or as I like to call it, repeat blooming. Life just feels so much better when you believe that it has more than one act. In this episode I talk about false beliefs we have abou...
Mar 12, 2021•34 min
This last year has been the most productive of my life in terms of my creative output, despite the turmoil of the Pandemic and the political and cultural upheavals unfolding in my country (the US). How did I do it? I used what I now see as my secret superpower: my curiosity muscles. Curiosity is an essential skill for creatives, not only because it points us toward what we should be pursuing creatively, but it fosters the kind of openness and energy we need to maintain a consistent creative prac...
Mar 05, 2021•35 min
Have you ever felt like a failure because you haven't become an expert in one area, or at anything? Our society expects us to specialize, especially in terms of career. Those of us who can't seem to settle on one path and stick with it are considered dilettantes or worse. I'm here to tell you that being a generalist is a benefit! Our world may seem like it's made for specialists, but generalists are already thriving and they will rule the future. The good news? Most of us are natural generalists...
Feb 26, 2021•34 min
The origin story of this podcast is about burnout. As I was struggling to finish my PhD a few years ago, I suffered from burnout that was so severe I was largely nonfunctional as a human being. In this episode, I talk about what that looked and felt like, and the realization I eventually had about my condition that enabled me to pick up all my pieces and recover. Don't worry, this isn't a depressing story! It's full of interesting thoughts about burnout and society, why I think we are all the bu...
Feb 19, 2021•35 min
Do you feel like you have to force creativity, or does it feel like it's harder than it should be? Are you struggling with blocks? It's possible the reason is that you have a habit of applying the rules of rational cognition to everything, and don't trust your intuitive/creative self. You're not alone! Most of us have this problem because we live in a society that prefers rational to intuitive cognition. We are taught to distrust and disregard knowledge and understanding that comes to us through...
Feb 12, 2021•37 min
This week I'm back on the topic of creativity and why it's so important for creative people to give themselves radical permission to do their creative work. So many of us struggle with guilt over taking the time and space for our work. In this episode I talk about how to channel Trickster energy to give us the confidence to do our creative work anyway - whether or not we have the support of people in our lives, it makes any money, or we're scared of the changes it might cause if we truly commit ...
Feb 05, 2021•36 min
Is it possible to have goals without goals? In this episode, I delve deeper into what I see as the incompatibility between the goal setting, achievement-oriented paradigm and living life experimentally. I discuss the origins of the goal setting paradigm, what it's actually useful for, and why it will never result in personal happiness for us creative, intuitive types (hint: it's just not the right tool for the job). You'll hear about the trick goal setting plays on us, how I differentiate betwee...
Jan 29, 2021•33 min
We're told that we should always seek excellence and achievement, and that it's important to be the best - or at least to try. But that kind of approach is antithetical to living life experimentally. This episode is a follow-on to last week's (Ep. 6), but you can listen to it as a stand-alone too. I discuss why playing to our strengths is the "easy way out," and how it keeps us from truly enjoying our lives. You'll hear about what made starting a podcast fun for me, even though I don't have what...
Jan 22, 2021•34 min
Have you spent your life watching people around you hit all the milestones, wondering when your turn will come? Do you feel like there's something you're just not getting about how to do life the right way, or have you found that you've had to reinvent yourself a number of times in your life? This episode is for all of you out there who don't have lives that follow that linear trajectory our culture tells us is the "right" way to live. I discuss the difference between being a conceptual creative...
Jan 15, 2021•32 min
In this episode I talk about an exercise I developed called Embracing the Ugly that helps me deal with critical, judgy voices (both the external and internal types), and how it's allowed me tap into my creative potential and made me braver about putting my creative products out there - like this podcast! I discuss the difference between your internal critic and internal judge, and how this exercise works to shift your perspective on what is or is not true about you and your creative work. Hint: ...
Jan 08, 2021•30 min
Have you ever been called too sensitive, or told you take things too seriously? Are you empathic, intuitive, and/or an HSP? If so, you may be a gentle soul like me. In this episode I talk about this special type of person and the struggles they face trying to survive in a society that sees them as having a less desirable personality type. You'll hear about how one of their "handicaps" is actually their greatest strength, and the important role gentle souls can play in our society. I let you in o...
Jan 01, 2021•34 min
Have you ever noticed that we don't really have a positive way of talking about not being productive? In this episode I discuss the insidious influence our society's ideological obsession with productivity has on our psychological and emotional health, and how I've learned to counteract my anxiety about using my time "wisely" with an intentional practice of wasting time. I talk about when and how I intentionally waste time as well as the benefits the practice has had in my life. You'll also hear...
Dec 25, 2020•30 min
In this episode I talk about the difference between productive and generative energy, and how you can use the latter to realize your creative potential. If you are struggling with completing projects, feel like the creative process is a chore, or are discouraged with your output, I offer some wisdom and tips that I learned along the way in my own journey. You'll hear about how I dealt as a writer with the submissions process inevitable rejections (spoiler: badly), and how I got to a place where ...
Dec 18, 2020•34 min
Welcome! In this inaugural episode I discuss the origin story of the Stepping Off Now Podcast, including how it got that name. You’ll hear about my experience with burnout, how I got a creative block so severe I couldn’t write anymore, what I did to move through the darkness, and why I’m actually grateful I had that experience. And of course I talk about what it means to follow your bliss and how to make that work for you in your life if you are a creative. You can find this episode’s accompanyi...
Dec 11, 2020•33 min
