Whether you know it or not, there are a whole host of things that either stimulate or obstruct our productivity and creativity. Where we work, the people we see, the equipment we use, the sounds we hear, even the information we consume. The good news is that we can develop systems that can help us harness and fuel our creativity instead of diminish it. Today on the show, I'm sharing a few of my favorite lessons from a recent class by Srinivas Rao that helps us to look at how our environments are...
Jan 18, 2021•43 min
You all know my mission for this show is to help you live your dreams through career, hobby and life and that’s why I’m excited to have John Mackey on the show. He is the cofounder and CEO of Whole Foods Market and cofounder of the nonprofit Conscious Capitalism. He is the coauthor of the Conscious Capitalism book, and most recently Conscious Leadership, Elevating Humanity through Business . You may recall in the past, that Whole Foods was acquired by Amazon for 13.7 billion dollars. But this ep...
Jan 13, 2021•1 hr 19 min
A lot of my breakthrough creative thoughts come to me when least expected. I've also learned from an entire life in the trenches as an artist what DOESN'T contribute to them (abusing myself, bad head space, partying too much), but more importantly, what does. I've learned that creative inspiration is something that can be directly CULTIVATED by putting yourself in a fertile environment. In today's episode, I share my personal recipe to tapping into the creative plutonium that fuels our most crea...
Jan 11, 2021•42 min
Rich Roll has been named on of the “25 Fittest Men in the World” by Men’s Fitness and “The Guru of Reinvention” by Outside. While he’s renowned as an ultra-athlete, wellness advocate and bestselling author, he’s also the podcast host of one of the top 100 podcasts in the world, the Rich Roll Podcast . Rich and I have sat down for a few conversations either on this podcast or his, and it’s some of my favorite conversations. Of course it’s always fun to jive with someone you have a lot in common w...
Jan 06, 2021•1 hr 26 min
One of my favorite things about the community we have around this show is the ongoing conversation not just between my guests, but with you, the listener. Whether it’s through my email newsletter, social media, or texting, the community we’ve built over 10+ years is real. This year, many of you asked for guests who are on their way up. Folks who have put what they've learned into action. Well, I could not think of a better show to bring in the New Year with one such guest, Paul Ninson. Paul is a...
Dec 30, 2020•1 hr 10 min
One of the most popular questions I get is how to overcome the creative obstacles that are in the world. Whether they are out there, or within us, we've told ourselves a bunch of stories of why we can't create. I thought it would be very helpful, based on listener requests, to do an episode on creative obstacles. When you're feeling stuck, recognize you're not waiting to be able to create, you're waiting to FEEL LIKE creating. That's a very different thing. The trap is that we often don't feel l...
Dec 28, 2020•30 min
My guest today is the one and only, the inimitable, Christoph Niemann. If you're not familiar with his work, he's an amazing illustrator, artist, author and animator. I became familiar with his work from the covers of The New Yorker, National Geographic, and New York Times Magazine. Christoph's art has been subject to numerous museum retrospectives. And you might have seen him on the Netflix show Abstract where they did a 45 minute documentary on him that is just spectacular. Christoph has drawn...
Dec 23, 2020•1 hr 15 min
As we come into the New Year, it's often a time of reflection and looking forward. Thinking about the things we want to change and recommit to goals. Whether you have big audacious goals or just want to do something seemingly small, these things take a huge amount of courage and creativity. Which leads us to today's episode with Beth Comstock. Beth Comstock's mission is to understand what's next, navigate change and help others do the same. By cultivating a habit of seeking out new ideas, people...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Today's conversation is with a rock star, my friend, and super ultra-stellar human Justin Boreta. Many music fans know Justin Boreta as a member of The Glitch Mob, a beat-driven electronic group that has been touring for more than a decade. Since their establishment in 2006, the electronic live act has now performed around the world at festivals including: Coachella, Burning Man, Lollapolooza, Reading & Leeds and Bonnaroo. The Glitch Mob have released three albums together as well as officia...
Dec 16, 2020•1 hr 30 min
Here's your new hit list: 5 things that every creative person should get (and give). Whether to yourself or to a fellow artist in need. Every photographer, director, painter, writer, creative, entrepreneur, whatever mold into which you fit (or don’t) has basic needs that fuels our creativity. And thankfully, these needs are mostly free of charge... Enjoy! Today's episode is brought to you by CreativeLive. CreativeLive is the world's largest hub for online creative education in photo/video, art/d...
Dec 14, 2020•17 min
You likely know my guest today from his roles in films such as Dazed and Confused, Dallas Buyer's Club, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Lincoln Lawyer, and so many great films. What you might not know about Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey over the last 35 years, he's been journaling his life experience, the wild stories and situations he found himself in. Recently he worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries and what he found was a tome of life lessons on successes and f...
Dec 09, 2020•1 hr 25 min
Creative talent has always been a wispy thing. If you have more than a lion's share, it doesn't guarantee success. And conversely, if you have only a little talent, you still have a chance to stand out. What's the common equalizer? Hard work. In this quick little episode, we explore where the rubber meets the road. And spoiler alert: Talent alone isn't enough. Enjoy! Today's episode is brought to you by CreativeLive. CreativeLive is the world's largest hub for online creative education in photo/...
Dec 07, 2020•11 min
Habits are the key to actually transforming your life. You've probably read about this philosophy in my book, Creative Calling, but today, #1 NYT Bestselling Author, Jen Sincero is on the show with the goal to help you implement habits that will shift your identity, set meaningful boundaries and ultimately push you towards success you are destined for. In this podcast we talk about her new book, "Badass Habits: Cultivate the Awareness, Boundaries and Daily Upgrades You Need to Help Make Them Sti...
Dec 02, 2020•1 hr 10 min
Fact: creativity is a team sport. Yes, the actual act of making the work is sometimes a solo activity (drawing, writing, editing a film, etc) but the real driving force behind every creative pro is their community: their clients, collaborators, peers and the rest of the humans in the complex web of symbiotic relationships that give us inspiration, support and (ultimately) an income. Creativity cannot live in a vacuum. We depend on each other, like the members of any other ecosystem. If you want ...
Nov 30, 2020•43 min
Dr. Benjamin Hardy is an organizational psychologist and bestselling author of Willpower Doesn't Work. His blog has been read by over 100 million people and has been featured on Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Cheddar, Big Think and many others. When I first tuned in to his work he was the #1 writer on medium.com, where he developed a significant audience around his interests. His new book, Personality Isn't Permanent, which we talk about today opens up a discussion around the popular misconception that ...
Nov 25, 2020•1 hr 14 min
As you probably know, I’m a huge believer that so much of ‘THE GAME’ is mental. Stress, fear, anxiety, and our natural negativity bias is always ready beat us down. One of the most powerful tools in my toolbox to harness positivity in a seemingly tough situation is a daily gratitude practice. As we head into Thanksgiving here in the states, in the middle of a pandemic and everything else, I wanted to dig into the archives and re-share my personal practice. In this episode I share the exact pract...
Nov 23, 2020•22 min
James Clear is a writer, speaker and the bestselling author of one of my absolute favorite books, Atomic Habits. His work on decision-making, continuous improvement and personal development has been instrumental in my life, but it's his focus on habits that fires me up the most. If you've read Creative Calling or listened to this show in the past, you've probably heard me describe the creative pyramid. On the bottom of that pyramid is mindset, and at the top are your goals. The thing that connec...
Nov 18, 2020•1 hr 23 min
We all know that this world is fast paced. If you're like me, there's never enough time to do all the things you want. Naturally, the feeling of overwhelm creeps in, hindering our ability to operate as creatives and entrepreneurs. But, when it comes to pursuing the things that we love in life, we have to create time for those things. My guest today, Ari Meisel, is a creator, speaker, coach, and the author of Less Doing More Living, a resource designed to help those of us who feel overwhelmed, be...
Nov 16, 2020•1 hr 14 min
Who Are You? You Are You. Learning to trust yourself is core to any artist on the way to actualizing their true self. For more than a decade Shantell Martin has captured the hearts and minds of audiences around the world. Her intuitive energy, skill, and passion unfolds in real time, as she often works with live audiences who take part in her creative process. A combination of characters, lines, and words, Shantell's art is language of its own. Her personalized style and unique voice stands out ...
Nov 11, 2020•1 hr 14 min
One of the most powerful understandings I've internalized over the past decade hosting this show is this: the world's top performers, entrepreneurs and creators often feel like they are imposters to their own lives. Operating at the edge of their ability and constantly failing forward comes with the challenge of overcoming self-doubt and imposter syndrome. The good news? It's normal to doubt yourself. Even in areas where I consider myself highly proficient there are still moments in the unknown ...
Nov 09, 2020•17 min
For the last 30 years, Seth Godin has been turning on the lights for millions of people (myself included) through his blog, online courses, lectures, and 19 best-selling books. Yes- 19! If you’ve been following his work, you’ll know he’s one most brilliant marketing minds of our time. Now he’s out with his 20th book, The Practice: Shipping Creative Work . If you’ve been listening to this podcast for awhile, you’ll know I’m a huge believer in nurturing a creative practice. So often we sit around ...
Nov 04, 2020•1 hr 17 min
When you feel like you're running in place, not making progress, feeling overwhelmed becomes the norm. Often we gloss over smaller accomplishments, focusing on grand milestones out in the distance. We are biologically wired to focus on the negative, but that doesn't mean you can't take control and flip the script. By celebrating small wins we begin to rewire our brains to recognize the progress we are making. In this episode, I share my experience learning how to celebrate daily, weekly, and mon...
Nov 02, 2020•19 min
If you're in or approaching mid-life and feeling a bit invisible, you might be under valuing one of the most important things you bring to the table: experience. Enter my guest, Chip Conley, who reminds us: Digital skills are will fade or evolve over time. Human skills such as good judgement, specialized knowledge, ability to collaborate and coach never expire. Chip is the hospitality maverick and NYT bestselling author who disrupted his favorite industry... twice. At age 26 he founded Joie de V...
Oct 28, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Your conscious mind is a critic. If you rely on it too much while you’re working, you’ll struggle to make progress. In this episode, I share a simple, repeatable process to finishing work you start without self-judgement weighing you down. The idea here isn’t to win the next high praise for your best work, it’s about taking whatever action you can, and repeat. Having your work recognized will come in due time. For now, the task is to continue honing the craft. Finish what you start. Choose actio...
Oct 26, 2020•16 min
Kindness is a super power and a breath of fresh air in a world where negativity and hardship aren't hard to find. Yet what my guest Adrienne Bankert found, is kindness isn't merely about being nice. A mindset of kindness ripples into a staggering amount of personal fulfillment, growth, and empowerment. Adrienne Bankert is an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning correspondent for ABC News, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and Nightline. She reported live from Chiang Rai, Thailand, dur...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 11 min
I have been a long-time proponent of pursuing personal work. There's no better place to create a playground of ideas, explore curiosities, and give yourself permission to fail. In this episode, we take a little dive into the power of personal projects for growth and opportunities, including: Building a portfolio that reflects the work you want to be hired to do Growth, learning, and creative breakthroughs Growing a community Using your commercial work to enable more personal projects Enjoy! Toda...
Oct 19, 2020•15 min
One of the most essential functions for health and wellbeing of a human is just breathing. Breathing air. In and out. In fact, we do this 25,000 times a day. Yet, as today's guest James Nestor will share, a wide majority of us have lost the ability to breathe correctly wreaking havoc on our health. But all is not lost. Modern science agrees, that even the smallest adjustments in the way we inhale and exhale can have dramatic downstream positive effects. James Nestor is a journalist who has trave...
Oct 14, 2020•1 hr 7 min
Too many of us start our days consuming instead of creating: browsing the web, watching TV, whatever. We become audience members and critics. Our thoughts get sucked into what other people are doing, how well we're doing it, and the response they're getting from thew world. This is super toxic and a surefire way to undermine your creative mindset. Creating before consuming is a seemingly minor shift that will have a profound effect on your daily outlook and creative capacity. So the consider thi...
Oct 12, 2020•17 min
This episode is a full circle moment. I met Stephan Moccio on the internet some years ago when I would often see him name in my social feeds. It was not long before I started paying attention to him and his work too. Come to find out he's a Grammy Award winning and Academy Award-nominated composer. He's written global hits for Céline Dion, The Weekend, Miley Cyrus and Seal. Now he's recently released his debut piano solo album, Tales of Solace . Born in Canada, as a three year old, Moccio began ...
Oct 07, 2020•1 hr 32 min
Just a few days ago, my book Creative Calling hit it’s one year anniversary. And what a year it’s been. One of my favorite things about the last year, has been the growing community pursuing their own calling and rallying behind creativity. Community is critical for support, feedback, opportunities, and of course, celebrating those wins. Yet, it’s one of the most overlooked areas for creating success in any field. So it seemed fitting to share this conversation I had last fall with my good frien...
Oct 05, 2020•26 min
