The Power of a Selfish Season Focused on Creating For Yourself
Clarity & Confidence in Your Creative Work
This Fall, I’m dishing out a 6-week Instagram Live Training + Blog Post series around the topic of “Finding Clarity & Confidence in Your Creative Work.”
Consider this Marketing 101, but with a focus on connecting with who you are in your work.
This theme will scale each week setting you up to take the next step and thrive going into the upcoming Q4 3-Week Boot Camp. (Saturday, Oct. 29th - Friday, Nov. 18th) 🗓
In this 21-day group coaching workshop, you’ll learn how to Confidently Promote You, Your Work, + Your Value!
Note: Click the image to watch the replay. Continue below to read the blog.
Click to watch the Instagram Live Training Replay
Question of the Day…
When was the last time you created something you wanted to make?
(NOT something catering toward an algorithm or trend.)
Are you creating what YOU want to see this season?
Or are you creating what you think:
A potential future client craves?
An algorithm demands?
Will get the most reach by riding a trend?
I’d say the majority of the people I see or chat with rarely create for themselves…
They’re creating what they think they need to do based on:
External expectations from society.
Suggestions by family and friends.
Opinions from strangers on the internet.
Yet the same people I chat with also share how unhappy and how creatively unfulfilled they are.
This creative game can be such a twisted mind fuck, right?
My goal as a coach is to get people on track and tap back into their creative roots as this artsy fartsy game should be fun—not a burden.
“Creative Vibe Check” QuestionS
One super duper quick way for me to really figure out what’s going on is with this string of “Creative Vibe Check” questions…
This is the main question I ask on 99.9% of my coaching calls with students:
What are you making when you’re at your creative best—when you’re most fulfilled, time stands still, you can wait to work, and you’re geeked to share it?
Typically, I get a safe, boring answer so I gotta go a bit deeper with the question and pry:
When you were a kid, what would you spend your time doing the most in terms of creating…
Where you’d escape and make the weirdest things that you found cool and interesting…
And were you so geeked to hang this on the fridge when finished?
Then I go deeper one more time as I feel there’s another level of an answer to tap into:
What would you be creating if:
Money wasn’t an issue and you had no financial burdens?
Social media didn’t exist killing the need for the validation of algorithms + vanity metrics?
You were locked up in prison and the only thing you could do to kill time was to create?
You were on your deathbed and had one more shot to create what you wanted?
Note: These questions stack perfectly with the questions in the previous post in this series: “My Top Secret for Getting People to Care About You & Your Work.”
Filling the Creative Hole in Your Soul
It’s funny, once I peel back the layers with these scenarios…
Each student’s answer is radically different from their first surface-level, safe answer.
Once I get a real response, then we can start making real progress.
What this exercise reveals is how far away from the spectrum of play this person has gotten.
I’ve learned from firsthand experience that when we lose sight of play…
We crush the imagination and creative spirit of why we loved creating cool shit in the first place.
We were created to create…
But creating shouldn’t be an act of suffering where you can’t wait to escape the process.
It shouldn’t be something you have to force yourself to do.
To me, it just screams you’re lacking something you’re excited about and there’s a creative hole in your soul that needs to be filled.
It's time to be selfish...let me explain why.
A Selfish Season
I want to convince you to be selfish this season focusing on doing your thing.
What would it hurt to carve out a little time each day to make the weird shit you think is dope?
—-
Here’s a defined “season” scenario you could leverage NOW:
What would it look like if you spent 15 minutes a day…
Starting today until the end of the year…
Selfishly playing in your work creating what you want to see?
—-
How would that radically change how you show up?
How would that impact your approach to your creativity?
How would that benefit every other aspect of your life?
Let me quickly stop you before you attempt to say “You’re too busy!”
I refuse to hear it as this was my default response back in 2020-2021 when I wasn’t creating for me.
But now carving out time to selfishly play is a non-negotiable despite:
Being self-employed and working super weird hours this season.
Being a rad dad of 2, going on 3, with a Wife who makes it known she wants quality time with me.
Going to the gym 3-4 days a week and getting ~10k steps in a day (self-care is also a priority).
Pretty much every day I carve out at least 15 minutes each night to draw.
Making time each day to selfishly draw for me is:
A reward for busting my ass that day and checking all the boxes that move my biz and life forward.
A tasty treat after a day of serving others and creating content and resources for students.
An escape from the stresses of life as I get lost in a piece where my mind takes control of the wheel.
It’s a perspective shift when you realize how important creating for yourself actually is!
Selfishly creating for me fills the hole in my soul…
It makes everything in my life better and helps me be the best version of myself when it comes to being a coach, dad, husband, son, friend, etc.
Being selfish allows me to tap into my potential and selflessly unleash my gift into the world.
I’m able to make a bigger impact because I make myself and my inner child’s imagination a non-negotiable.
I wasn’t able to answer the Question of the Day or the list of Creative Vibe Questions for the past two years…
But I can answer them now!
If you struggle with answering them, maybe it’s time you carved out a selfish season of creating for yourself too!
Keep showing, keep putting in the work, and keep creating—YOU GOT THIS! ✌🏻🍕
Want to work together? 🤝
Consider learning more below about how to join an upcoming 3-Week Boot Camp. 👇🏻
JOIN THE BOOT CAMP WAITLIST
The Side Hustler's Boot Camps are quarterly 3-Week Group Coaching Workshops that provide you a year’s worth of measurable growth, support, and accountability…
Or they’re available as one-off sessions to tackle the biggest struggles in your creative pursuits.
This is for any creator, freelancer, or aspiring entrepreneur who wants to build their brand/biz creating work they love.
Expect challenging exercises, a private community, up to 3 weekly live calls, and more.
Learn More and Join the Waitlist for updates + 1st dibs at enrollment.
