0:02

Hey, you're listening to the Creative

0:04

Pep Talk podcast. We help you build

0:06

a thriving creative career. I'm your host,

0:08

Andy J. Pizza. You can stay up

0:11

to date with all things Creative Pep

0:13

Talk by following me on Instagram at

0:15

AndyJPizza. Let's jump into

0:17

today's episode. So

0:26

I'm excited to tell you about this. It's

0:28

called Factor Meals. Factor makes ready-to-eat

0:30

meals that make eating better every

0:32

day easy. They send pre-prepared, chef-crafted

0:34

and dietician-approved meals right to your

0:36

door. Now, as I'm recording this,

0:38

I am waiting. We are waiting.

0:41

My family's waiting for the first

0:43

meals to arrive. I

0:45

haven't had them yet, but all

0:47

the information sounds like they're our

0:49

jam. We're foodies. I call

0:52

myself Pizza, for goodness sakes. We have

0:54

some really busy seasons with work sometimes,

0:56

and it can make eating well hard

0:59

to do. So Factor Meals

1:01

has 35 different options a week to

1:03

choose from, keto, calorie smart, vegan, veggie,

1:05

all that. And

1:08

they have 55 nutrition-packed add-ons that

1:10

help customize it to however

1:12

you like to eat. They're two-minute

1:14

meals. They're restaurant-quality, ready-to-heat-and-eat

1:16

whenever you are ready to heat

1:19

and eat. They have snacks, smoothies,

1:21

and more. Discover a wide variety

1:23

of easy options for the

1:26

entire day, like breakfast, midday, all that. You

1:29

can sign up and save. I

1:31

didn't do the math, which you're going

1:33

to be sure the calculations are good

1:35

because it wasn't me who did it.

1:37

But Factor did the math. They say

1:39

it's less expensive than takeout, and every

1:42

meal is dietician-approved to be nutritious and

1:44

delicious. Factor

1:46

is a perfect solution if you're looking for fast,

1:48

upscale options that are easy. They have a flexible

1:50

schedule, so you can get as much or as

1:52

little as you want, six to

1:55

eight, six to 18 meals per week.

1:57

Plus, you can pause or reschedule your

1:59

deliveries anytime. time. No prep, no

2:01

mess. Factor meals are 100%

2:03

ready to eat and eat, so there's

2:05

no prepping or cooking or cleanup. Head

2:09

to factormeals.com/peptalk50

2:11

and use code peptalk50,

2:13

all one word, to get

2:15

50% off. They're

2:18

hooking us up. That's

2:20

code peptalk50. factor.com/peptalk50 to

2:22

get 50% off. I'm

2:25

excited. Once I have them, I'm going to eat them, and

2:27

then I'm going to tell you about them too. Stay tuned

2:29

for that. Let's

2:40

get into today's episode. If

2:45

it is creative career success

2:47

that you seek, the

2:50

three creative career journeys

2:52

you must complete, the

2:55

journey of the gift,

2:57

the journey of the

2:59

craft, and the journey

3:01

of innovation. If

3:04

ye has yet to find the

3:06

success that you seek, it

3:09

is one of these

3:11

journeys you've yet to

3:13

complete. I'm

3:18

stroking my beard, twisting

3:22

my mustache. You

3:25

get it. Back

3:33

in the summer, we did

3:35

a Kickstarter for this thing

3:37

I called the Creative Career

3:39

Path. It was a seven-step

3:41

process to creative career success,

3:43

striking the balance between business

3:46

and art. You

3:49

could call it the balance between authenticity

3:53

and resonance with an audience. I

3:55

have the seven-step process that I

3:57

developed over the past couple of

3:59

years. We did a Kickstarter, raised

4:01

about $30,000 to print this little

4:03

handbook that goes along with the podcast series we did

4:05

at the beginning of last year. I think it's episode

4:07

171 to 176. I

4:12

also offered some personal pep talk, coaching

4:16

calls, some portfolio reviews and

4:18

strategy sessions. I've just

4:20

finished up all of those. I believe maybe

4:22

one or two is lingering. They're

4:24

kind of hard to get into the schedule. We

4:29

scheduled those out. It just

4:31

occurred to me as I'm working through

4:33

this process with these various people that

4:36

I deeply believe

4:39

in this process. It's

4:41

not because I think I'm so

4:43

smart or clever, but it's because

4:45

I forever see this process

4:50

lived out by

4:52

those creatives that have hit

4:54

their purpose or their inflection

4:56

point, their tipping point, that

4:59

moment where everything starts working.

5:02

I listen to these podcasts

5:04

with artists, comedians, writers, actors,

5:06

and they all tell the

5:09

same story. It's the story

5:11

that I cataloged

5:13

in this creative career path. Then

5:16

as I'm explaining it to these people over

5:18

the calls, I'm realizing that it's

5:21

probably necessary to explain some of this in

5:23

a totally different way and hit it from

5:25

a few different angles. Actually, I

5:27

have some in the future that I'd like to explore, but

5:29

I have one now that I want to share with you.

5:32

Basically, it is the first three steps

5:35

of the creative career path, but I

5:37

want to explain it in a different

5:39

way and actually focus in on it

5:41

and help you identify which

5:44

of these three parts, which of these

5:46

three journeys are you stuck on? It's

5:49

my belief and it's my experience, and it's what I've

5:51

seen and witnessed that if

5:53

you go through these three

5:55

journeys, You will hit

5:57

your inflection point. You will hit that moment.

6:00

Where everything starts working in any my

6:02

mind what it looks like to me

6:04

as if you go through these three

6:07

journeys as a creative person, it's where

6:09

it is. That moment in the hero's

6:11

journey were all of a sudden. It

6:14

hits them and their it's what we've

6:16

been talking about in past episodes with

6:19

their eyes change and they believe in

6:21

themselves and their feeling in the flow

6:23

state and they're like you know It's

6:25

when Neos one step ahead of the

6:28

agents from the Matrix and he can

6:30

actually have his arm behind his back

6:32

and is just all the moves are

6:34

just coming to. i'm Santa Me hi

6:37

Chipset Me Hi says in his book

6:39

slow. He says that it's like the

6:41

songs right themselves because you're so in

6:43

that inflection. Point. So in that

6:45

sweet spot that it's just your

6:48

subconscious is doing the work for

6:50

you and it's been my experience

6:52

in it's been what I've witnessed

6:54

That getting to that state requires

6:56

three journeys and that's what we're

6:58

gonna talk about. This episode. I'm

7:00

gonna describe all three journeys and

7:02

you're going to do a self

7:05

diagnose as a self audit to

7:07

say which of these journeys have

7:09

you yet to complete. So

7:11

the free journeys are the journey of

7:14

get the guest. The. Journey of

7:16

the Craft and the Journey of

7:18

Innovation. And if you are not

7:20

feeling in that flow, if you

7:22

feel like things are out of

7:24

whack, if you feel like you

7:27

haven't quite hit it yet, it

7:29

is my assumption that on some

7:31

level you haven't gone on all

7:33

three of these journeys. So that's

7:35

what this episode is about. and

7:37

I. One. Of the things I

7:39

want to articulate was that. The

7:43

eye of the you know this A This

7:45

came to me and this all clicked for

7:47

me when I was at the blackboard teaching

7:49

a class at at an art school. And

7:52

I was showing them. We

7:54

were reviewing all these artists

7:56

that had clearly found their

7:58

sweet spot Bound. transcendence

8:03

as a creative where it was just working

8:05

and they were in their sweetpot and

8:07

they and they started you know people got

8:09

what they were doing don't you want people

8:12

to get what you're doing don't you want

8:14

that oh man that's the good stuff that

8:16

resonance with an audience and I was

8:18

just showing them videos and we were looking

8:20

at these web pages and we were studying

8:23

everybody that seemed to have this X factor

8:26

and at some point I was going over one

8:28

of the videos and it just clicked and

8:31

all three parts of this

8:33

process to get the craft and the innovation

8:35

I saw it clearly for

8:37

what it was and

8:39

that was one of the first

8:41

real seeds to unearthing this process

8:43

and since then I see

8:46

people living out this process I was

8:48

listening to the WTF podcast with Mark

8:50

Marin him interviewing Billy Eichner and actually

8:52

this happens all the time but it

8:55

was so apparent in this interview and

8:57

Billy Eichner tells his story if you

8:59

don't know it's Billy on the street

9:01

he's also I think his name's Craig in Parks

9:04

and Rec and he's really loud and

9:07

I regret it every day of

9:10

my life that's the tear not

9:12

even considered an impression that's I

9:14

don't know what that's like anyway

9:16

Billy Eichner hilarious angry guy on

9:19

the street interviewing people I love this guy

9:21

he's gonna be Timone in the new Lion

9:23

King anyway I digress

9:25

he's in this interview with Mark Marin

9:27

and he literally goes through step

9:30

one to step seven of the

9:32

creative career path he talks about

9:34

finding his gift finding

9:36

where it fits finding how it's

9:38

different creating a goal

9:41

creating a project finding

9:43

a weak spot an entry point

9:45

into the market and then slowly

9:47

but surely working it into his

9:50

ultimate goal and I hear this

9:52

process from people who have found

9:54

that creative transcendence over and over

9:56

and over again and actually I

9:58

think there's a simple simpler way to

10:00

explain it, which is what we're going to

10:02

do today. We're going to talk about the three journeys you must

10:04

go on. All three of these journeys

10:07

require you working it out in the work.

10:10

Not just going on these journeys in

10:13

your heart or in your mind, not just navel

10:15

gazing and trying to figure it out with

10:17

a career aptitude test in an afternoon or

10:19

by looking yourself deeply into the mirror, which

10:22

every once in a while I catch myself in the mirror and do that. So

10:25

I can go months and months and months without really... Have

10:28

you ever just looked at yourself for

10:30

real? I mean the person behind your

10:32

eyes. I

10:35

don't know where this is going. But

10:40

we're going to go deep into not just thinking

10:42

about it, but working it

10:44

out in the work because each one of these journeys,

10:46

you have to do it through a process of making

10:48

stuff. It's an

10:50

active process. It's an active journey.

10:53

Boots on the ground, eyes

10:55

on the stuff, doing it. We're going

10:57

to talk about working it out in the work at the

10:59

end of this episode, but let's

11:02

go to journey one. Now

11:05

remember, you're supposed

11:07

to identify which of these

11:09

journeys have you really yet

11:11

to complete and

11:13

identify which one it is and

11:15

then develop a project or

11:18

a body of work that will help

11:20

you bridge

11:22

this gap and break through and

11:24

complete this journey so that you can move

11:26

on to the next one and find your

11:28

creative transcendence. Let's

11:32

do it.

11:36

The first journey that a

11:38

creative has to complete to

11:40

find their creative transcendence is

11:43

to find their gift. Now

11:45

what is your gift as a creative person? What

11:48

do I mean by that? I

11:50

mean your innate specialness.

11:53

What makes you special As

11:56

a person in terms of your DNA and

11:58

your experience or all the. The up

12:00

on a molecular level. The saying that's on

12:02

this planet right now. Why is it real?

12:04

Why is it different? What's. Special

12:06

about it now. I'm a

12:09

good. Good Good Good. Burger

12:13

Believer. And an Ass. The

12:15

growth mindset. Cell growth mindset comes

12:17

from a person named Dr. Carol

12:19

Dweck. She has a book called

12:21

Mindset and it's virtually growth mindset

12:23

versus the fixed mindset you've probably

12:25

heard me talk about I'm Show

12:28

before. Just a quick summary. Growth

12:30

mindset means that you believe that

12:32

your abilities and who you are

12:34

has the potential for dramatic growth.

12:36

And so when you had a

12:38

challenge you think ooh, good he

12:40

a challenge, A chance for me

12:42

to get better even if I

12:44

fail. Now be of the fixed

12:46

mindset. You think your basic abilities,

12:49

your talents, your skills, your intelligence,

12:51

whatever is fixed young. it's like

12:53

and every test. Every challenge is

12:55

a pass or fail and if

12:57

you fail, it means you don't.it.

13:00

right? So when it comes to creativity, it might

13:02

be like. It. You

13:04

know, when I was doing public

13:06

speaking for the first couple times,

13:08

I failed big time and my

13:10

fixed mindset said, don't do public

13:12

speaking because you clearly suck this

13:14

on a molecular level. No chance

13:16

to change. Don't do it anymore.

13:18

It hurts because it makes you

13:20

feel terrible because you don't have

13:22

any ability to grow. Now.

13:25

I'm glad that I didn't same effects

13:28

mindset because public speaking ended up being

13:30

one of my main bangs and that

13:32

only came from having a growth mindset

13:34

saying if I. Keep. Working

13:37

at this thing. Than.

13:40

I. Can get better at

13:42

it and sell. One of the things

13:44

I don't like about this discussion about

13:46

the gift. Finding your gift is that

13:48

it can gets you into. That

13:52

it can get you too far

13:54

into the fixed mindset too focused

13:56

on talent in a neat strengths

13:58

and not enough on your ability

14:00

the to grow. But actually I

14:02

think it's unavoidable and it is

14:05

important to think about what a

14:07

neat. Feals. To an

14:09

advantages do you have as a person

14:11

because building on that as a foundation

14:14

is the smartest thing. Abuse socket math

14:16

if you are just you know all

14:18

through school you sucked at mass if

14:20

not the growth mindset to go into

14:23

the field of accounting or finance right?

14:25

That's just stupid and so. I

14:28

I spend my experience that

14:30

your Dna, your experience your

14:33

molecule later own man molecular

14:35

bonds substance that pulsing through

14:37

your atoms in this bag

14:40

of molecules the to call

14:42

a person. using.

14:45

It's a neat. Disposition

14:48

to your advantage, Understanding what your

14:50

strengths are, understanding what your gift

14:52

is is the truest best way

14:54

to start your journey. And if

14:57

you don't have a sense of

14:59

what makes you special versus other

15:01

people other creative people if you

15:03

don't know what your towel and

15:05

to that's what you have a

15:07

special taste for. If you don't

15:09

understand that you need to go

15:12

on this journey. If.

15:14

You're not sure that you at you know

15:16

out of one hundred and fifty people you'd

15:18

be the best at this thing. Like.

15:20

Maybe not in the world could will get

15:23

the house. You don't have to be the

15:25

Michael Jordan and me does Rodman car thing

15:27

where you need to be the best basketball

15:29

or basketball Bad blood blood last best basketball

15:31

player of all Pounds to go into the

15:33

Mbs. right? But.

15:35

You do have to be good. You. Do have to have

15:37

an innate. You. Know it, A lot

15:39

of people say anybody can be creative

15:42

will everybody has the potential to participate

15:44

in creativity, but not everybody is especially

15:46

creative. Now. Don't let that

15:48

get your fix mindset move and right I

15:50

am I created luck you can learn it

15:52

you can find a place for you can

15:54

thrive but it saying everybody be can be

15:57

a creative as the same way as same

15:59

thing as saying. The body can be an

16:01

athlete, not true. Not. Everybody's an

16:03

athlete. Everybody can do some

16:05

athletics but not everybody is an

16:07

athlete and so we gotta figure

16:10

out where are you? Where's your

16:12

strength As a creative athlete, Does.

16:15

That make sense. That's the first journey. You've

16:17

gotta figure out what are some of your

16:19

real to base talents and Franks and a

16:21

half? Some questions that can help you on

16:24

this path. as you

16:26

go to do the to work it out in the

16:28

work. Obviously. Talent.

16:30

What have you have talent for? What have

16:32

you noticed that you just naturally better than

16:35

others? What should taste? Would. Have

16:37

good taste and what if people

16:39

ask you for recommendations and knowing

16:41

what's good? In. Any given

16:43

medium music like I feel I

16:45

got. A lot of

16:47

you know music or. You. You

16:49

can make hit music. Without.

16:52

Knowing how to play an instrument if you know what's good.

16:54

For. It and that's taste. You know Gordon

16:57

Ramsay when he's asked what are you look

16:59

for in a chef that you know could

17:01

be a great chef? What starts with the

17:03

foundation of taste they have to have a

17:06

pallet not everybody's palate is since it up

17:08

sensitive enough to pick out different ingredients and

17:10

know what's good. And if you don't know

17:13

what's good you can't make good food. You've

17:15

gotta have that innate talent. Have a tape

17:17

of case than a. Pallet.

17:21

Palette tastes as

17:23

the taste talent

17:25

tolerance. What? Do you

17:28

find yourself just being able to tolerate

17:30

an enormous amount of my buddy cow?

17:32

Seeley? Does it. Talk about. Finding

17:35

your creative Gift and he

17:37

talks about how he noticed

17:39

that he could watch this

17:41

Wayne White documentary. Over.

17:43

And over and over about this

17:45

guy who makes cardboard staff and

17:47

ah p we play how Sad

17:49

and does these paintings and whatever

17:51

and he could watch the documentary

17:53

a million zillion times. Way.

17:56

More than his wife. and probably way more than anyone in the

17:58

world. And that was just a towel. The just ridiculous

18:01

tolerance to go deep on something.

18:04

What? About temper. What? Makes

18:06

you mad sometimes. Whoop Eat You

18:08

know your taste in your tempers.

18:10

panic connected were. What

18:13

makes you mad is like really

18:15

really bad stuff. like are there

18:17

it? Maybe if your talent. And

18:20

your gift. His music. Bad music

18:22

just drives you completely mad. So

18:24

for me, one of my. Talents.

18:27

Is not being boring? You know? I have

18:29

a lot of weird. Kind. Of

18:31

almost borderline tips and terms of my

18:33

weird behavior and that can be hellish

18:36

talk and as the same inflection point

18:38

for very long it's I'm always just

18:40

mix of enough and be and we're

18:42

why? Because I have a D H

18:44

D and it's one of my my

18:46

temper is anything that's boring, I hate

18:49

boredom and if you hate boredom you

18:51

can be entertaining. Snow. I might not

18:53

be funny, I might not need a man,

18:55

I'll be hilarious. I might not be profound,

18:57

but I but I can be entertaining. It's

19:00

just and so far. As I'm not

19:02

boring. And. I definitely not born

19:04

uma hate me but I will boreal. And

19:07

that what my temper goes up my

19:09

says boredom. Now know, boredom. So.

19:12

Could be what makes you mad. That could be a

19:14

clue. About where to explore

19:16

your gift. And

19:19

so the first turn you gotta go

19:21

on his to find your guest. It's

19:23

the journey of of the gift is

19:25

the journey of finding a strength. It's

19:28

the journey of knowing what do you

19:30

have a base foundation of talent and

19:32

now it's Doesn't mean that you. A.

19:34

Doesn't mean that you're already amazing at this thing and

19:37

ready to be a pro When it, when you're ready

19:39

to compete with the big dogs is just the foundation.

19:42

In the if you're stuck there and you

19:44

don't we haven't really worked that out. You

19:46

don't have a clear sense of the value

19:49

you can provide Humanity by your specialness years

19:51

into your dna, the rarity of your dna.

19:54

The new need to work it out in the work. You

19:57

need to do a project, you need to come up with

19:59

a hypothesis. And you need work it out.

20:01

The work. We're going to get to that at the end. But

20:03

if you don't have a clear sense of what is actually special

20:05

about you, and here's the thing about that. Let me just go

20:07

into this rock like. Something

20:10

I see a lot of times where

20:12

people haven't really found their guest As

20:14

it goes back to this quote each

20:17

hear me say a billion times Joseph

20:19

Campbell quote and ads the that. The

20:23

cave we fear to enter holds the

20:25

treasure we seek. And

20:27

one of the reasons why people avoid

20:29

going on the first journey, why they

20:32

avoid going into that cave than the

20:34

cave is the question. What's my gift?

20:36

As they believe that the cave is

20:38

empty, They're afraid that there is no

20:40

gift that they don't have any pill.

20:42

And so they survived this far by

20:44

Bs ing their way. And they're afraid

20:46

if they actually ask themselves what am

20:49

I actually good out, what the hell

20:51

you can actually provide that the question

20:53

is nothing. There's. Nothing

20:55

in that case. But

20:57

I can guarantee you your

20:59

dna is completely and utterly

21:01

unique on this planet, and

21:03

therefore even just by sheer

21:06

rarity. You are valuable.

21:08

You are more valuable than

21:10

a diamond. You're more valuable

21:12

than ah. It's

21:14

know anything on the planet because

21:17

you are completely and utterly unique.

21:20

In it's about figuring out what that

21:22

code is good for. Useful for what

21:24

kind of value does that code provide?

21:27

Do not be afraid to enter that

21:29

at their if you can not tell

21:31

me. When. I asked

21:34

you, what are you good at Really? what

21:36

are you better at than most people If

21:38

you T V. P

21:41

Three sustain this gift. You

21:43

need to go on the journey of the guest. Journey

21:49

numbers. The

21:52

Journey of the craft. I don't remember if

21:54

that was the voice that I was doing

21:56

earlier, so I apologize for any of you.

21:58

see it or geek. that are like,

22:00

hey, that's out of character. That wasn't

22:04

consistent. The

22:08

second one is Journey of the Craft. And

22:10

the journey of the craft is, okay, you know your gift,

22:13

and you go in and your gift

22:15

determines your industry. That it goes along

22:17

with that step in the creative career

22:19

path. That's the first journey, figuring out

22:21

what your gift is. If you know

22:23

what that is, then you say, who

22:25

have a gift like me in this

22:27

industry? Let's say your gift is illustration,

22:30

and or your gift is music, or your

22:32

gift is design, or your gift is

22:35

screenwriting. Well, what type

22:37

of screenwriter? What genre are you going to

22:39

write movies in? What, what, where's

22:41

it fit? Who are your people?

22:44

That's the journey of the craft. The

22:46

craft is getting up to snuff. No

22:50

learning your craft as good

22:52

as your people, the people that have

22:54

a gift like yours.

22:58

It's the 10,000 hours from

23:00

Malcolm Gladwell. It's

23:03

the 10,000 hours getting good bridging

23:05

the gap. You

23:07

know, Jack Antonoff, he wrote

23:09

the song, Brave by

23:12

Sarah Berry Ellis, Barry

23:14

Ellis, Aurora

23:17

Borealis, something like that.

23:19

You know that song? I don't

23:28

remember if that's exactly how it goes. And

23:31

I do think I maybe missed a few

23:33

notes there. However, that song

23:35

was I believe co written by Jack

23:37

Antonoff. He was the guitarist of the

23:39

band Fun. Then he went on to

23:41

make his own band called Bleechers. I'm

23:45

a big fan of this man. He's

23:47

written a bunch of Taylor Swift songs,

23:49

some Lord songs. Anyway, super talented dude,

23:51

a bunch of hits under his belt.

23:54

He really knows his stuff. He's hit

23:57

his creative transcendence. And So he's

23:59

someone I've studied. The and I've tried

24:01

to pick up when I can

24:03

and one of the things he

24:05

talks about his finding his people

24:08

being part of this inflection point.

24:11

He said that when they had the band's fun.

24:14

He saw the lead singer make.

24:17

Room. As I think of name is

24:19

he the lead singer of Fun Witten

24:21

started recording with paying Ken a bunch

24:23

of other people and he could see

24:25

like he'd found his people and he

24:27

was heading this whole new level and

24:29

he didn't really know who his people

24:31

were any thought to any define my

24:33

people and then the following years he

24:35

found his people. People like Taylor Swift

24:37

and Lord These and I Carly Rae

24:39

Jepsen these are has people these were

24:41

There are his writing partners as the

24:43

person that helped him become who he

24:45

wanted to be. And so

24:47

after you find your guest, you

24:49

have to find your people. And

24:52

once you found your people, you

24:54

have to work on your craft.

24:57

To be as good as

24:59

the people. In. Your

25:01

market. And so what

25:04

you need a deal is once you

25:06

go out that we need to work

25:08

out in the work you need to

25:10

go find out. Who do you think

25:12

you're people are what market or they

25:14

and you find for those people Five

25:16

of those people sex Or those people.

25:18

Seven of those people. eight as. One

25:22

of us gonna reach out, slap me in

25:24

the face you knew as going to just

25:26

keep going. That's kind of weird absurdist non

25:28

comedy that I enjoy app. But. You

25:31

find the say fine for those

25:33

people your people in the area

25:35

of your gifting and you go

25:37

study them and you say what

25:39

did they haven't com and if

25:41

that stuff that they have in

25:43

common it is not original or

25:45

you need to their style it

25:47

is what makes them your people.

25:50

It's. What know? it makes the movement that they're

25:52

a part of, that makes the market that their

25:55

own. Of you

25:57

final four people and they have five!

25:59

Thanks! all in common with each other.

26:02

Those are things that you need to bridge

26:04

the gap on. That's the craft.

26:06

That's how you have to get up to

26:08

snuff. That's the journey that you need to

26:10

go on. If you're a rebel, this step

26:13

might be the hardest step for you. If

26:15

you're a rule follower, you're gonna love this

26:17

step. And guess what? Both rebels and rule

26:19

followers make great creative people, but they have

26:21

to go on all three journeys regardless. I'm

26:25

getting really passionate about it, man. I'm

26:29

serious. So you

26:31

find your people, you see what they have in

26:33

common. You see what the difference between you and

26:36

the work you make and them, the work that

26:38

they make, and it's time to go on a

26:40

journey. This is journey number two to bridge that

26:42

gap. It's the journey of the

26:44

craft. Ira Glass calls it

26:46

the gap. He says that Ira

26:49

Glass says, it's all of good

26:51

creativity, good creatives start with good

26:53

taste. They know what's good and

26:55

they see their people. These people

26:57

are good. And then they

26:59

say, how do I bridge the gap between

27:01

what I know is good and my work,

27:03

the fact that my work is bad? How

27:06

do I make my work as good as my taste?

27:09

This is Ira Glass's, I've talked about it

27:11

before. It's the gap. He has a little

27:13

video I'll put it in the show notes

27:16

if you wanna look into that more. But

27:18

this is how, he talks about the gap.

27:22

I wanna tell you how to bridge it. You bridge it, bridge

27:24

it by finding

27:27

your people defining who's

27:30

good, seeing what

27:32

they have in common. Let's say if

27:34

your people are hand letterers, well,

27:36

you take your four favorite hand letterers and you say,

27:39

what do these people have in common?

27:41

They should have a bunch of differences.

27:43

If they've really hit their transcendent creative

27:45

work, then they have gone on the

27:47

third journey, the journey of innovation. So

27:50

they should have major differences. But in

27:52

terms of the way they present themselves,

27:54

the posts that they make, the stuff

27:56

that they create, stuff in the work,

27:58

stuff in the work. About them

28:00

as a person stuff. About. The way

28:02

they present themselves. All that's a

28:05

look at everything. Their website, stub,

28:07

their videos or photos, their avatars,

28:09

their everything. Behind. What these

28:12

people have and com and make

28:14

a list and then label everything

28:16

on that list Gap or Innovation.

28:19

Gap is everything that you have to bridge.

28:21

It's a saying that you have to develop

28:23

the craft things that you haven't done. If

28:25

you have things on this list that you're

28:27

not up to snuff with, let's say it's

28:29

you know, some kind of technique that you

28:31

don't know that they now. It's

28:34

some kind of ah you know, theory you

28:36

don't understand. Classes you after takes the next

28:38

journey. you have to go on his bridging

28:40

the gap between what you know was good

28:43

and your work, bridging the gap between you

28:45

and them. How do you make them? Your

28:47

people. There

28:50

make sense to you. If.

28:53

You have If if you have a

28:55

big gap between you and your people,

28:57

you have to go on the journey

28:59

of the craft. it's it's putting working

29:01

it out in the work getting better.

29:04

At. This thing so that you

29:06

can be so they can really

29:08

be your people. That's. The

29:10

second journey. Through.

29:13

Not as good as your people.

29:15

That's the journey you're stuck on.

29:18

And if you're a rebel, And you

29:20

don't like the idea of having something in common

29:23

with another creative person? I wasn't until yet. Our

29:28

you're making me mad right now. I

29:31

have seen this process worked out in

29:33

so many people and the rebels avoid

29:35

this part of the process and in

29:37

a lot of it comes with impostor

29:39

syndrome you know say and ah I'm

29:41

totally original. I've never been anything like

29:43

anyone by at my my boys came

29:46

to me and a dream my creative

29:48

work. That's how I hit my inflection

29:50

point. know every great creative got to

29:52

where they are. Maybe. not every i'm

29:54

sure there's exceptions are or zero is our but

29:56

most got to where they are by learning from

29:58

other people first book Or they go

30:01

on the third and final journey,

30:03

the journey of innovation.

30:06

So maybe you're stuck on the journey of the craft. No,

30:10

you already done that? You're already as good as your

30:12

peers or almost as good or you fit in? Let's

30:14

talk about the next journey. Last

30:17

but not least, the third

30:20

possible journey that

30:23

you may need to go

30:25

on to reach your true creative inflection

30:27

or transcendence. Number

30:30

three, the journey of innovation. I

30:36

don't like that voice. It's supposed to be

30:39

more mysterious. Hmm, the

30:42

journey of innovation. I

30:44

don't know. Whatever,

30:46

you're not interested in my voices. What

30:48

you're interested in is my hot, fresh,

30:50

steaming hot, fresh content right in your

30:52

face. Raw content. Here

30:55

comes the content. Look out. I'm

30:58

not really recording this

31:00

part. You can just deal with it. The

31:02

journey of innovation. After

31:04

you have found your gift, you have developed

31:06

your craft, you have developed your creative, you

31:10

have developed your creative, you

31:12

have developed your creative, you

31:14

have developed your craft, you have developed your craft to fit in with your

31:16

people. It's time to create your

31:19

niche. You do this by

31:21

innovating. You have found your gift. You

31:23

fit in. Now

31:26

it's time to stand out. And

31:28

this is the order in which I believe it really

31:30

happens. I was watching a video,

31:32

an interview with George Carlin, famous

31:35

comedian. You know him only

31:38

because he completed the third

31:40

journey. In this video,

31:42

he talks about how he'd done something like

31:45

200 television appearances, but he still hadn't

31:47

really done it. He hadn't

31:49

really hit the creative transcendence as it

31:52

were. He doesn't use those words, but

31:54

I do. But he's saying he still

31:56

hadn't attained that thing. You know what?

31:58

Let me just say this right now. If you're great

32:01

a person's I know you know

32:03

what I'm talking about When I

32:05

say creative Transcendence That saying? That's

32:07

what we're looking for. that self

32:09

actualization and self transcendence. that thing

32:11

where it's hidden. that sweet spot

32:13

that blows statements. authentic, but it's

32:16

resonating. Voice:

32:18

Very intense, determined voice that I'm going

32:20

with right now. And

32:23

he said he hadn't hit it. whatever that thing

32:25

as. And I think

32:27

he said he wanted his whole career. He

32:29

wanted be like Danny Kaye Danny Kaye I

32:32

don't know that as but I'm assuming he's

32:34

a comedian and he said that this guy

32:36

had this mass market appeal, he was like

32:38

sitting in the system and like do you

32:41

know appealed everybody and to add this wide

32:43

success and he was trying to replicate his

32:45

hero and he was doing an okay job

32:48

at it. And there's this moment actually where

32:50

ah. When.

32:52

He realized that he was a hippie

32:54

and he was against the system and

32:56

it always been a rebel. So why

32:58

was he trying to be Danny Kaye?

33:00

And it was this moment and he

33:02

actually went on live T V and

33:04

he took a cardboard cut out of

33:06

his past self, his mass market Danny

33:08

Kaye impersonator South and he threw it

33:10

off stage and said that George Carlin

33:12

is dead. And

33:15

actually, you can't start there. You

33:17

have to go through the process

33:19

of becoming like your people before

33:21

you can go on the journey

33:23

of innovation and reach that transcendence.

33:25

But there comes a time where

33:27

you have to do what your

33:30

heroes would not do. I

33:32

say it's it's Yoda. It's when Yoda

33:34

tells Luke Skywalker that he has to

33:36

stay and finishes training and Luke says

33:38

no way. I'm going to say it's

33:40

a new loop, turns into a horse.

33:44

And stuff though I do that was

33:46

that Bucks A Luke says now I'm

33:48

going to save Layer and Han And

33:50

it's this moment where you disobeyed your

33:52

heroes. When you do what Danny

33:54

Kaye wouldn't have done, that

33:56

you become you as the path

33:58

of an array Maybe

34:01

you need to go on a journey, working it

34:03

out in your work. What does it look like

34:05

to do things that your heroes would never do?

34:07

You also hear the same thing with Eddie Murphy.

34:09

Eddie Murphy says, and by the way, you might

34:11

not know this now that he's mostly known for

34:13

Daddy Daycare, but Eddie Murphy was

34:15

a legend in the

34:17

comedy space, like beyond

34:19

belief. And

34:22

he said his first few years of

34:24

comedy were trying to be Richard Pryor.

34:26

And Richard Pryor says his first few

34:28

years of comedy were trying to be

34:30

Bill Cosby. And it didn't hit that

34:32

inflection point until they went on journey

34:34

three. Journey of

34:36

innovation, doing what their heroes wouldn't do,

34:38

being themselves, not just fitting in, but

34:41

standing out. And it happens in this

34:43

path. And the reason I'm so freaking

34:45

crazy passionate about this is because I've

34:47

seen it so many times, this

34:49

pattern. I believe this is the

34:51

secret sauce, these three journeys. And

34:55

so if you're in a place where you're as

34:57

good as your peers, you're up to snuff, you

34:59

can do the lettering techniques, you can do the

35:01

jokes, you can do, you can do, you've got

35:04

the craft, but you're still not seeing

35:06

it. It's time

35:08

to disobey your heroes. If

35:11

you say, well, I'm kind of

35:13

like this, or I'm kind of interested in that,

35:15

but nobody ever does that where I'm from, nobody,

35:17

my people don't do that. You

35:20

know, that's not an obstacle.

35:23

That's an opportunity to be totally

35:25

different than everyone in your space

35:27

to break out into that next

35:30

stratosphere. For me, it was a

35:32

podcast. Illustrators don't make business

35:34

podcasts. For me, it was emotional

35:36

talks, like designers and illustrators, they get up and

35:38

they show their portfolio. They don't get up and

35:40

cry about their mom leaving

35:43

them and having a drug habit. And

35:46

I thought about it. I thought, I really want to do these

35:48

emotional. I'm crying on

35:50

stage, sharing my heart, trying

35:53

to say something profound about

35:55

the human experience on creative

35:57

professional stages and conferences like

35:59

that. And I felt like, yeah, but

36:01

nobody, none of my people do that. And when

36:03

I said that, I realized that wasn't a gap.

36:06

That wasn't one of the gaps that I had

36:08

to bridge. That was the key to my innovation.

36:11

And it's what, it's this is, you know,

36:14

it could be something you learn in a

36:16

different industry. You know, I learned

36:18

a lot from all kinds of different,

36:21

growing up in different places and going

36:23

through different industries and being privy to

36:25

different cultures and all that stuff and

36:27

finding things that are very human,

36:29

things that resonate on a human level that

36:31

people aren't doing, my people weren't doing, and

36:33

then doing it there. It's

36:35

like Dusty Crop Hopper from the movie

36:37

Planes. It's a

36:39

Disney movie. He uses

36:41

his crop dusting techniques to win his

36:44

race, to win race

36:46

planes, the planes are going on a race. I

36:48

don't know, I don't know if planes ever do

36:50

race, kind of seems like a stretch to me,

36:52

but he uses his background

36:55

in farming, the thing that

36:57

makes him different to find that transcendent moment.

37:00

And so if you have found your gift,

37:02

you've bridged the gap, you've developed that craft,

37:05

it might be time to disobey your

37:08

heroes. Call yourself Andy J.

37:10

Pizza. None of my heroes would. All my heroes

37:12

would be like, whoa, what? Come

37:14

on, get serious. But that's me,

37:16

that's my path, that's my journey. What's

37:19

yours? What are you gonna do that

37:21

no one's ever done? Instead of saying that as an

37:23

excuse to not be yourself, that'd

37:25

be the thing that propels you into creative

37:30

transcendence. Okay,

37:36

so those are the three journeys. And

37:39

the thing about these journeys is it sounds, you

37:41

know, what's my gift? You

37:45

know, what's my craft? What's my innovation? Sounds like

37:47

something you could do in an afternoon. Rog, you

37:50

can't do it in an afternoon. Sorry for shouting

37:52

at you. Let

37:55

me try that again. I don't think

37:57

that's correct. You're gonna have to

37:59

go on a journey. And then journey

38:01

is going to be. L

38:04

A journey of making are not

38:06

a journey of thinking you're going

38:08

to have to do what I

38:10

say again, just working it out

38:12

and the work. Seth Godin. Has

38:15

this idea and I caught the taste

38:17

test and society of that. You

38:20

created. You have a hypothesis. You create a

38:23

thing, You give it to ten friends and

38:25

you see if they give it to anybody

38:27

else. If they don't give it to anybody

38:29

else, your hypothesis was wrong. Is the test

38:32

a cunt as can be a taste test.

38:34

It's were you saying. I think this is

38:36

good that what I think is good writing

38:39

this is. I think this is a good

38:41

short story. I think this is a good

38:43

piece of illustration. I think this is a

38:45

good brand. The. Give it

38:47

to Ten friends, Athena, give it to

38:50

anybody else. You're wrong. Go back to

38:52

the drawing board. quite literally. if you

38:54

happen to be an illustrator. And

38:57

so. You. Take you say

39:00

if you're after if your journey

39:02

one you're gonna make a project

39:04

and you're going to say I

39:06

sank this is my guest. If

39:08

you're in Journey To and you're

39:10

trying to get better at the

39:12

craft of writing jokes, making illustration,

39:14

conceptual works, whatever it is you

39:16

say make a project. Give

39:19

it up your followers aka are your friends you put

39:21

put him out there. And

39:24

that they don't share. it's they don't.

39:27

Rave. About it because they don't remark

39:29

opponent it's not remarkable as Gordon would

39:31

say. That's.

39:33

The taste test. You. Think: I

39:35

think I know what innovation is. Make.

39:38

The project doesn't resonate.

39:41

Is. It authentic to people remark

39:43

on it. That's how

39:45

you work it out. Because the

39:47

first your first i first

39:49

hypotheses will not be right.

39:54

And so ah, If

39:58

you get, if you're. Hey let's say

40:01

you are n one of these

40:03

journeys and you've got a few

40:05

different ideas of projects you could

40:07

create. Here's what I suggested you.

40:09

I say you create. Two

40:12

pieces would say there's three albums you

40:15

could make. Let's say there's three lettering

40:17

projects you can make. Let's say there's

40:19

three four stories you can make. I

40:21

say. If it short stories

40:23

wanted to put out to blog posts that

40:25

are in the vein of the first idea

40:28

to blog post that are out in the

40:30

plane of the second idea to blog posts

40:32

are in this vein of the third idea.

40:34

See how they resonate, see how authentic they

40:37

feel to make you get the flow, stay

40:39

are you playing? Have been a good time,

40:41

test a few different paths, see which one

40:43

of them hit hardest and then go deep.

40:46

Go on that journey. Get.

40:48

Outta your head get on did

40:50

the page and baby minute ride.

40:54

You just thought yourself. what Is that

40:56

song? The anything? Not Solve Yet I

40:58

just invented it. Work it out

41:00

in the work. To the taste

41:02

test gone, the journey. If

41:05

you don't know, Have I tell my guest?

41:07

Have. I develop my craft. Have I

41:10

really innovated? If you're asking yourself that

41:12

questions, the answer is no you haven't because

41:14

it's a long journey and once you've gone

41:16

out at your sure of that you're like

41:18

man, that was a heck of a journey.

41:22

Know beyond all that. Maybe

41:24

you've done that all before? Maybe you

41:26

should. And inflection point? Maybe your past

41:28

and inflection point. I was just watching

41:30

a video with Will Smith Him talking

41:32

about what it was like to beat

41:34

make an Independence Day and and make

41:36

Hims Men in Black and saying that

41:38

he felt like every basketball he saw.

41:41

When in. Until. I

41:43

met Wild Wild West and he turned

41:46

down The Matrix and at that point.

41:48

He'd already gone through binding as

41:51

guest. He'd already gone through. Finding

41:53

his craft, he'd already gone through

41:56

innovating. I

41:58

might be the first person. They called Men in

42:01

Black Innovation, but I am. I'm sticking to

42:03

it. And

42:06

that times. Guess what? You

42:08

gotta go all through it again. You're different person.

42:11

After that much time your gift is gonna change

42:13

for you. Gone through new experience your different on

42:15

a molecular level. Every seven years

42:17

yourselves regenerate in the same.

42:20

Person you are Seven years ago and

42:22

Lorne Michaels said. About.

42:25

Chevy Chase. He said the promo Chevy Chase

42:27

was that he never reinvented himself. People like

42:29

Steve Martin, he had Astana career, he a

42:31

comedy movie career and then at a serious

42:33

movie career. Know the banjo player who knows

42:35

what's going on. There are no foul. The

42:37

Banjo world. But you've

42:39

got to if you've done all

42:42

three and now you're feeling like

42:44

inflection moment has passed. Might be

42:46

time for reinvention. You

42:59

might have noticed that I've. Got

43:02

a little bit excited from time

43:04

to time on on this episode.

43:06

Act to get a little bit

43:08

passionate when it comes to the

43:11

three journeys. Why? Why? Why do

43:13

I care if you find your

43:15

creative transcendence? Well, I'm gonna break

43:17

your heart real quick if now

43:19

because I love creative work that

43:21

much. Although I do, I do

43:24

of creativity and I do love

43:26

when people are making their creative

43:28

work. But the but not the

43:30

cause is because. i believe

43:32

that are really bring em really

43:34

mean this and i it's hard

43:37

for me to be this serious

43:39

on the podcast when i'm sat

43:41

here by myself not talk and

43:43

any body but i'm trying to

43:45

realize that i am in your

43:47

ear bad right now in your

43:49

head bone in your studio speaker

43:51

and we're having a moment right

43:53

now me a new and i'm

43:56

gonna try to get my most

43:58

sincere as hard because i know

44:00

that I believe that

44:02

these three journeys are

44:04

the reason why we're on this planet.

44:08

I developed this process several

44:10

years ago, over several years, and honestly

44:12

it wasn't so much developing it as

44:15

it felt like uncovering up this

44:17

pattern of finding your gifts, developing

44:19

your craft, innovating into an original voice. And

44:21

as soon as I uncovered it, I saw

44:23

it everywhere. It felt like seeing the matrix

44:25

for the first time. It felt like Emmet

44:28

on the Lego movie where he's seeing all

44:30

the numbers and he becomes the master builder.

44:32

I could see it in philosophy. I could

44:34

see it in religion. I could see it

44:36

in the lives of my creative heroes.

44:38

I could see it in mythology. I could see it in

44:41

the hero's journey. And

44:43

I discovered that quote from David Ascot.

44:46

I almost fell off my chair when I saw it for the

44:48

first time because the purpose of

44:50

life is to discover

44:52

your gift. The work of

44:54

life is to develop it. The

44:57

meaning of life is to

44:59

give your gift away. That's

45:01

it. It's

45:03

my worldview. I believe in this

45:05

thing. The purpose of life is

45:07

to discover your gift. This

45:10

journey taps into your desire.

45:13

We can't live without desire. They did an

45:16

experiment on rats where they took out the

45:18

dopamine, the desire in their brain and guess what? They

45:20

gave up. They quit eating. They

45:22

quit exercising. They quit doing anything. This died.

45:25

We have to have that desire and that

45:28

journey to find what our gift

45:30

is. It inflames that desire.

45:34

It gives us purpose. The

45:37

work of life is to develop that gift

45:39

once we find it. Developing

45:41

a craft that we get so good

45:43

at that we lose our sense of

45:45

time and space. The

45:48

songs write themselves. The pictures draw themselves.

45:50

We're in touch with that deep subconscious

45:53

craft where it knows how to do

45:55

the thing better than we know. and

45:57

it's called the flow State. Life's

46:01

truest sources of joy. That's

46:03

a scientific fact. The

46:07

meaning of life is to give your

46:09

gift away. Not somebody elses guess, not

46:11

your heroes. Guess not the people you

46:13

learn the craft from. It's your gift.

46:15

and nothing is more meaningful than knowing

46:17

that you have worked that. if you

46:19

don't show up and do it, no

46:21

one's gonna do it. Like.

46:25

It if if someone doesn't draw

46:27

invisible things. Make. Him things

46:29

visible through drawing them. Someone tackle

46:31

that. We're that. so traffic strained

46:34

work. nobody's gonna do that. If

46:37

somebody doesn't show up and make this

46:39

weird creative career podcast. Where you cry,

46:41

Where I cried and I laugh at

46:43

I'd act strange and I try to

46:45

get that perhaps president in your step

46:47

every single week if I don't show

46:49

up. Nobody. Will. In

46:53

it's that unique gift. Know.

46:55

But it could make a podcast like this.

46:57

Nobody could draw these invisible saying these weird

46:59

things that I'm drawing. It gets me out

47:01

of bed in the morning. Because

47:03

me meaning to do a project that

47:05

only I can do. So that's what

47:07

it's about. That's what I get. So

47:10

pretty stoked about this. So

47:14

what's stopping you? Because.

47:18

And you've got this stuff. when

47:20

you've got your gift to you,

47:22

developed and you've invaded and it's

47:25

yours. It's your creative voice that

47:27

fuel is the most concentrated, cleanest,

47:29

purest fuel known to man. It's

47:31

built the best things that humans

47:33

have ever built. And.

47:36

I personally love when I meet somebody

47:38

and they are drink been with the

47:40

guest in the craft and the innovation.

47:42

You can see their own store in

47:44

a transcendent state. And boy do I

47:46

love meeting people like that. A boy,

47:48

do I want to meet more people

47:50

like that. Want more people to become?

47:52

That's that's what I'm talking to you

47:54

right now. slightest. I'm selfish and I

47:56

freaking love meeting people like that. And

47:59

I need more. And I want

48:01

you to become one. Or. Become

48:03

one again. If you're reinventing

48:05

yourself, So. What's stopping you

48:07

from going on these three journeys? Their

48:10

threshold guardians the guardians blocking the gate,

48:12

blocking the pass on the identify some

48:14

of them for you that you might

48:17

be facing. If you're too afraid to

48:19

go on the path of finding your

48:21

gift, you might be facing a threshold

48:23

guardian known as the fear of not

48:25

having a guest. Is there someone stopping

48:27

your path and ogre a crawl under

48:30

the bridge that says you don't want

48:32

to go down that path, you don't

48:34

wanna go in that cave. Keep

48:36

be asking, keep pretending like you

48:39

already found the gift, you know

48:41

that. And Epicurious Aperture Epicurious at

48:43

the magazine about something or other

48:45

baby food Epicurious of says name's

48:48

i have no scholars are he

48:50

was lost for he said you

48:52

can't learn what you think you

48:54

already know and if you keep

48:57

going around Bs and like you've

48:59

found your gift when you know

49:01

you haven't. You

49:03

can only get so far and you'll never hit that.

49:05

and slideshow never. Had that transcendence. and if you

49:07

listen to that troll this as you don't want

49:10

to look in that cave bat cave where you're

49:12

looking for gift you might buy nothing. Will

49:14

let me tie sudden. You

49:16

are on this planet. You have

49:18

a unique code, nobody has the code

49:20

or the experience of that you have,

49:23

and you are specially equipped with special

49:25

strength that nobody else has. There

49:27

is something in that cave push that

49:29

fear of not having a get

49:31

past. What?

49:35

About the lie of pride. Maybe you were brought

49:37

up in a. Situation. Where

49:39

believing that you are special or had some

49:42

kind of strength was looked down upon

49:44

looked as egotism or pride are. Oh Tall

49:46

Poppy Syndrome? Ever heard of that? You

49:48

know the poppy that grows the Tos

49:50

gets the most abuse gets cut down by

49:52

Go. You think you're so special with

49:54

your special guess what? Guess what? I do.

49:58

i'm gonna do at first i believe I'm

50:00

really cute. Now, I wasn't proud

50:02

of it for a long time because I'm a

50:04

32-year-old man and typically, 32-year-old men

50:07

don't pride themselves in being cute, but guess

50:09

what? That's what's special about me. When you

50:11

take a photo of me, I look like

50:13

a seven-year-old kid because of the

50:15

joy that's beaming for my face. And

50:18

that's special. I can make

50:20

really cute drawings of little cute cloud

50:22

characters cuddling each other and

50:24

it warms your heart. I've got cuteness.

50:27

I've got the gift of cuteness. I've

50:29

got the gift of weirdness. I can

50:31

be not boring for long periods of

50:33

time. It's

50:37

one of my gifts. I'm owning it. What are yours?

50:40

You've got some. Quit believing the

50:42

lie that having the confidence in

50:44

your special unique superpowers is some

50:46

kind of sin. It's not. It's

50:49

why you're here. Push past that troll.

50:51

You're going to say, look,

50:54

this is why I'm here. You

50:57

don't want to go on the journey of finding

51:00

your craft, developing your craft. Maybe

51:02

it's imposter syndrome that says, you're

51:05

not allowed to learn from anybody else. You

51:07

can't be like anybody else. Well, we wouldn't

51:09

have Eddie Murphy if there was no Richard

51:12

Pryor. We'd have

51:14

no George Carlin if there was no whoever else

51:16

he said. You've got

51:18

to learn from people. I don't care what anybody

51:20

says about creativity. You've got to learn from people.

51:22

And it starts with being a little bit of

51:25

an imposter, learning from somebody else before

51:27

you have your gift. You've got to get that

51:29

before you transcend to the next stage. Maybe it's

51:31

because you're a rebel. Maybe you say, I don't

51:33

even, you know, from Family Guy, there's a kid

51:35

in high school that says, I

51:37

don't play by anybody's rules. I don't even play by my own

51:39

rules. I

51:42

don't remember what the punch line is there, but maybe

51:45

that's you. Maybe

51:48

the punch line is me being such an idiot, thinking

51:50

I had a joke in my bag

51:52

of tricks and I didn't. Maybe

51:56

you don't play by anybody's rules and

51:58

it's time you become humble. enough to

52:00

be a student and

52:03

quit saying, I'm so original nobody

52:05

teaches me anything. Well, you're

52:07

not going to make it to the final journey. Journey

52:11

number three, what's stopping you? What are your

52:13

threshold guardians? Maybe

52:15

it's a, maybe

52:18

you think, maybe the troll is this thing

52:20

that says, what if I make a mistake

52:22

by breaking the rules? Well, you've done two,

52:24

right? You're going to make a mistake. That's called

52:26

breaking the rules. If you're not

52:29

making a quote unquote mistake, you're

52:31

not making creative work. The

52:33

only way to be creative is to break

52:35

the rules. You've got to

52:37

make mistakes, get dirty, mess it

52:40

up. Well,

52:42

maybe you won't go on that path

52:44

cause you think, maybe I'm not unique.

52:47

Well, below me, you're definitely unique. You

52:49

have DNA that no one

52:52

in existence will, has ever had

52:54

or will ever have. And

52:56

your experience is unique to you. And

52:59

maybe one individual trait here

53:01

or there isn't that unique, but the sum

53:03

of your parts, it's never been done. A

53:12

quote by Howard Thurman goes, don't ask

53:14

what the world needs, ask what makes

53:16

you come alive and go do it.

53:18

Because what the world needs is people

53:20

who have come alive. I

53:23

love that quote. And

53:25

it gets to the last thing I want to say to

53:27

you, which is, and I get a lot of, I

53:30

get some mail, some

53:33

actual mail, emails, messages, DMs, if

53:36

you will, that say, thank

53:38

you so much for this selfless thing

53:41

that you do with this podcast. That

53:43

you're giving out this advice and you're

53:45

showing up every week to help us

53:47

come alive. And I just think, man,

53:50

should I tell them the truth that this

53:52

is the most selfish endeavor I

53:55

could possibly be doing? And

53:57

what do I mean by that? I mean that. What

54:00

makes me come alive is

54:03

watching other people come alive. My

54:05

life, me coming alive,

54:07

my life depends on your life, it

54:09

depends on you coming alive. And

54:12

I gotta tell you something, that threshold

54:14

guardian that's stopping you from going on

54:17

your three journeys, it's

54:19

not a troll under the bridge. It's

54:22

in you, it's you. And

54:24

you have got to get out of your

54:26

way so you can get on your way.

54:28

And if you don't get out of your

54:31

way, I'm gonna push you out of your

54:33

way because you coming alive is what makes

54:35

me come alive and my life depends

54:37

on it because you know why? Because

54:40

I need more podcasts to listen to. That

54:45

might not make sense, but you know what I

54:47

like to listen to? I like to listen to

54:49

podcasts with creative people

54:52

who have gone on these three journeys

54:55

and they are alive. And let me

54:57

tell you, sometimes it's hard to find

54:59

a podcast with one of these

55:01

pulses, one of these people who are just

55:04

brimming with life, who have gone on the

55:06

journey, they are battle worn, they have got

55:08

blood, they have got guts, they have

55:10

done it, man. They pushed the

55:12

troll one, troll two, troll three

55:14

out of the way and baby,

55:17

they are transcending and I need

55:19

more podcasts to listen to and

55:21

that's why I'm here talking

55:23

to you, pushing you past

55:26

you and saying check it out.

55:30

We're gonna get you to transcendence

55:32

baby. We're gonna get you on

55:34

these podcasts because I need some

55:37

more people alive so that

55:40

I can live. Thank

55:54

you. you