Are You Giving Yourself Permission To Evolve?

For a few weeks now I've had this creative itch, this feeling that I’m ready for the next step…whatever that is!

(Have you ever felt like that? Like you were on the cusp of something you just didn’t know what?)

So how the heck do I know what “the next step” is?! That’s all I kept thinking.

After getting curious about what this eagerness was trying to tell me, I finally realized that a lot of it has to do with my word for the year, CURATE.

I don’t know where you are in your business or life journey, but let me give you the quick rundown on how the past few years have shaken out for me:

Year 1 (2014) of my business was all about exploration and experimentation. I needed to try many, many different things to get an understanding for what I was good at, what people wanted, and what I clearly did and did NOT want to do. (If you are in this phase by the way, don’t let the uncertainty freak you out! It’s such an incredible time of discovery!)

Year 2 (2015) was the year of cultivation. I had spent my first year planting all these seeds of potential -- building an audience, learning new skills, finding my writing voice -- and the next logical phase was to cultivate those crops. This is when I finally started to feel the momentum pick up. I learned how much I love to teach and I was able to launch three revenue-generating projects in that time. I was starting to find confidence in myself to come up with a creative idea and make it happen.

Year 3 (2016!) is quickly becoming the year of concentration. (And no, I don’t mean just thinking really hard!) I mean concentration as in the convergence of all these various lessons I’ve learned. I mean bringing together all the things I’ve tried and tested and cultivated, and aggregating them in a more clear and potent way.

Just as my goal at the beginning of this year was to curate (to engage in the Essentialism-inspired pursuit of “less, but better” in all aspects of my life), I’m seeing that this new itch stems from my desire to better consolidate and synthesize all the various projects I’ve tried out into something more powerful.

As I was talking with my friend Steph from Art To Self about this the other week, we discussed the fact that as creatives (and especially as creative business owners), we often find ourselves in a never-ending cycle of expansion and contraction.

There are times when we need to cast our nets wide, to venture out and discover, to try and fail and learn. And then there are times when we need to reduce, to hone, to synthesize, consolidate and refine.

Like the expansion and contraction of a single breath in our lungs, our creative practice contains an equal life-giving respiratory rhythm.

It rises and falls in a never-ending cycle, and it’s the driving force that catapults our creativity forward.

And now, for me at least, it’s time to exhale.

It’s time to take all the life-giving force that I’ve accumulated the past two years and evolve it forward into a more refined vision.

Which is really my standard-issue long-winded (pun intended) way of saying… there are SO many fun things on the horizon, you guys!

While I don’t want to spill ALL the beans quite yet, I can tell you this much: Made Vibrant will still most definitely aim to be your go-to place for inspiring and informative content on becoming your brightest self in life, business and your creative spirit.

In fact, the plan is to have a lot MORE of that good stuff to go around so that you can continue to have an online space and community to fill your creative buckets each day, week and month. My goal will just be to deliver this content in a more tailored and impactful way.

SUMMER SABBATICAL

In order to bring this vision I see fully into reality, I’ve decided I need to make plenty of space for myself. This has led me to the decision to take a summer sabbatical away from the Self-Made Society newsletter.

I KNOW! 😱 <-- That's pretty much how I feel even typing that! This was probably the hardest part of the planning process for me to swallow because while I know taking a break from writing each Monday will only serve to refuel and rejuvenate my creativity, it’s also impossible for me to imagine my Mondays without that letter to you guys!

Not only is it my favorite thing to feel connected through conversation to you, but I’ll admit it’s also become a point of pride for me over the years. I’ve now sent 118 of those weekly newsletters nearly every single week since the inception of Made Vibrant, and I know I wear that number like a badge of honor.

But the truth is, the number doesn’t define the work, and nor does the streak. 

The most important thing is that I’m still writing content that resonates with all of you -- content that helps you stay mindful, that encourages your authenticity, that sparks your creativity, and that shares a real picture of what it means to build a creative business from the ground up.

The only way that I can continue to do that effectively and with quality is to give myself some... breathing room.  Space for me to transition into this deep exhale.

So, here’s the rundown:

Next Monday’s Self-Made Society letter will be the last one before my summer break. Starting on Monday May 30th, I’ll be taking five weeks off from writing my weekly newsletter. (Ahhh! 5 weeks, I know!)

But don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging! In next week’s letter I’ll have a download link for your free copy of A Year Made Vibrant: Volume II, which will include every newsletter from February 9, 2015 to May 23, 2016 in an easy to read e-book.

Whether you missed a few weeks or you’re new to Self-Made Society, you can spend those five weeks catching up on over 65 past newsletters to fill your Monday inbox blues.

Then, I’ll be back on July 11th with lots of new and fun content to share and some exciting announcements about what you can expect to see from Made Vibrant starting in August (and moving forward!)

PERMISSION TO EVOLVE

But… that’s enough talk about me and Made Vibrant; now, let’s talk about YOU.

I always like to share the thought processes behind these decisions because if there’s one thing I’ve learned from communicating with creatives of all shapes and sizes it’s this: we could all stand to give ourselves more permission to evolve.

As creatives, let’s face it, we are changing our minds all the time. Whether it’s because we get excited about a new idea, or we want the challenge of trying something new, or something inspires us so we want to give it a go, or we just get bored… we’re shifting and learning and changing all the time.

Somewhere along the line though we got it in our heads that this wasn't a good thing. We started to feel like we were "quitters" for this ever-evolving vision -- that we couldn't stick with something long enough to see it through.

Now, you guys know I’m a BIG believer in consistency (I’ve got daily and weekly and monthly projects coming out my ears!) but there’s a point where consistency stops pushing you forward and it starts holding you back.

We have to stay on the lookout for approaching that point, the point where we get so wrapped up in seeing something through that we ignore the signs telling us to change it up.

I've shifted the focus of Made Vibrant so many times over the course of the past three years I’m starting to lose count. First a design studio, then a brand design studio, then art and design courses, plus a blog, then a resource shop, then an art shop, and the list goes on and on.

All of that shifting doesn't mean that I don't have a vision; it means that I have an evolving vision.

That I give myself (first) permission and (second) space to mold my business to meet my ever-evolving sense of self.

That’s the beauty of running an authentic business -- a business that changes to support your unfolding life and spirit rather than one where you’re forced to change your life to fit some static version of IT.

The truth is, if you're a business that’s NOT evolving, then it’s likely you’re no longer meeting the needs of your customers who I can guarantee you ARE evolving and changing before your very eyes.

So whether you are in that first phase of exploration and experimentation and you’re not sure what road leads to where, or whether you’re like me and you’re still finding ways to concentrate and consolidate all that wisdom you’ve racked up over the years, the lesson remains the same:

Give yourself permission and space to evolve your creative business as you evolve. 

“Give yourself permission and space to evolve your creative business as you evolve. ”

There is no destination; only the journey. Keep getting curious about what that underlying creative itch is telling you. And if you find that it is indeed saying you're ready for the next step, dig deeper until you find out what that is.

Listen to the yearning in your spirit -- when it asks you to inhale and expand, invite inspiration in. And when it begs you to exhale and contract, let go of what’s no longer serving you.

This is the respiration of creativity. It goes on and on and on.

Keep an eye out for next week’s email with that newsletter e-book download before my summer sabbatical!

I’m literally squirming in my chair thinking about how much fun stuff is on the horizon this fall. I hope you’ll continue to stay tuned to this journey of mine as we keep pushing our creativity forward TOGETHER!

Here’s to our ever-evolving selves!

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Why Are We Driven By The Pursuit of More?

The amount of times that I have found myself in a state of complete burnout is greater than I’d like to admit. 

For the past few years, I’d find myself in these stretches of “hustle mode” only to suddenly look up and find everything around me beyond my work was being grossly neglected -- my health, my friendships, my self-care. 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if you have a creative business, this is not a foreign concept to you. 

Let’s face it, sometimes we creatives have a tendency to overdo it while in pursuit of our dreams.

And today it’s that PURSUIT part of the equation that I want to focus on. More specifically, why we feel constantly driven by the pursuit of MORE everything.

More money. More readers. More email subscribers. More fame. More mentions. More followers. (Mo' problems?)

This is a question I’ve had just below the surface for over a year now, ever since I reached the point that I would call “financial sustainability” with Made Vibrant.

In my first year of business (2014), the answer to this question (“Why MORE?”) was pretty obvious:

“Ummmm… because I want to earn a living doing this thing that I love and currently I’m living on peanuts and optimism.”

But, as things started to gain momentum, as I honed my vision and my voice, and as the business started taking in monthly revenue that covered my living expenses, I expected this crazy burning desire for growth to subside.

But it didn’t.

I found myself wanting more revenue, more readers, a bigger presence beyond that which I "needed."

Which again begged the ever-curious, ever-present question:

Why are we driven by the pursuit of MORE?

I come across blog posts and Facebook ads and sales pages and — my LEAST favorite — income reports on a daily basis that promise to show me how I can have a “$50,000 Launch Without A Single Email Subscriber” and “Grow A Six-Figure Blog From Scratch” and “Earn $100,000 A Month In Passive Income” and if I’m being totally honest, it makes me sick.

Not like sick out of judgment and disgust (I get it -- people know those headlines work and they’re just taking advantage of an opportunity they see.)

No, I mean sick with GUILT that I’m not working more hours, creatingmore courses, promoting more places, doing more webinars, writing more blog posts, earning more money. More, more, more.

And you know what the inevitable fallout of feeling like you should be doing more is?

Feeling like you should BE more. i.e. feeling like you’re NOT ENOUGH.

Am I alone in this? OR have you felt it too?

I have trained myself now to pay attention when those feelings show up and to dive deeper to understand them because I don’t know about you, but I’m just not down for a life where I feel less than.

Which is why I went on a hunt to discover if there was any research on this subject of MORE. (I know you guys, RESEARCH. What can I say, I’m really stepping up my game here.)

What I discovered and actually what I determined (because this ain't no scientific journal; it’s my blog and I’ll form loosely supported opinions if I want to!) is this….

The constant desire to reach for more is reinforced to us both externally (culturally/societally) and internally (psychologically).

Externally speaking, we’re fed tons of cultural cues that indicate bigger is better.

We see it in business (this company has 300 employees and a billion in revenue!); in consumerism (buy this! buy that! a bigger house, a bigger TV!); and in the individualism of the U.S. in general (it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there! climb the ladder to the top!) With all of these messages it’s no wonder that it’s engrained in us to constantly have our eye on a bigger everything.

But, culture is ultimately just an illustration of individual values and desires, so what is present within us as individuals that feeds this obsession? 

Turns out, this never-ending growth mentality runs thousands of years deep.

While I won’t drone on to you about all the science of it, the simple answer is thatwe are programmed for dissatisfaction.

Research suggests our insatiable appetites served as an evolutionary survival mechanism. See, back in the day, precious life-giving resources like water and food were in limited supply. To survive, our brains developed hard-wiring that would help drive us to accumulate as much as possible and to stay ever-motivated to be on the lookout for said necessary resources.

In other words: our brains are still operating based on an owner’s manual written in the Stone Age.

And so we find ourselves in this endless loop of excess. Our brains tell us we want more, and our culture/media/corporations feed on that hunger, which only serves to further reinforce this psychology.

This might help explain WHY we’re programmed to constantly want more, but it doesn’t necessarily offer insight as to how we retrain our brains to find contentment in a world where we no longer have to wrestle resources from saber-toothed tigers (thank goodness.)

The truth is: bigger is NOT always better and more does not always mean merrier. 

“Bigger is NOT always better and more does not always mean merrier. ”

Here’s a radical thought: I don’t WANT a million dollar business. Honestly, I don’t.

I don’t want the expectations, the maintenance, the team size, the stress, ANY of it that comes with a business of that scale.

But, even more radical than that — I don’t want to WANT a million dollar business. (And the six-figure blog posts and webinars and Facebook ads aren’t necessarily helping in that regard.)

That’s why I desperately and passionately want to change the conversation throughout the creative entrepreneur/solopreneur/independent whatever-you-call-yourself world from talking about BIGGER to talking about TRUER.

I want to change the goal from more money, more followers, more page views to truer values, truer messages, truer expressions of the unique gifts we have to share.

And I want it to start with a mental shift in the way we frame this PURSUIT.

For this shift (brace yourselves) I have DIAGRAMS. (Research AND diagrams?! I’m laying it on thick!)

Heres’ the current model that prevails in terms of the way we think about progress and pursuit: an endless staircase, always ascending (or as Jason pointed out, it’s actually not even a staircase but a StairMaster because we never ever get to the top.)

We might hop from one staircase to another Harry Potter-style, but the goal remains: ever-upward.

Now I have a suggestion for a new model — a CYCLICAL model. In this illustration, the goal is not to progress upward. It’s to progress inward. To evolve and revolve around this invisible sweet spot where we finally connect what we do with who we are at our core, which is how I define authentic and VIBRANT living.

If we can shift our pursuit from the staircase model to this cyclical model with the intention of building our businesses in a way that lines up with our truest sense of self at any given point in our lives, then I think we have a shot at creating lasting satisfaction.  

So this week I challenge you with this simple but CRUCIAL question:

Are you in the pursuit of growing BIGGER or growing TRUER? 

“Are you in the pursuit of growing BIGGER or growing TRUER?”

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to grow your business so that you can be financially more stable and stress-free. But just remember the intention behind the hustle. 

Because I believe when the puzzle pieces click into the right place, when you are doing the work that lights you up, the work that makes you burn bright… that’s when you’ll find yourself with more than enough resources, serving the people you care deeply about and loving what you get to do each day.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading from the bottom of my heart.

Here’s to the pursuit of TRUER!

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Shifting Your Mindset To Avoid Burnout

I’m feeling PUMPED about this week, and I hope you are too!

It’s a new month (hello, May! how’d you sneak up on us?!), a new week, a new YOU if you want it to be.

However, if you’re reading this right now and you’re NOT feeling super pumped, keep reading because this post is likely geared specifically towards you!

We’re approaching that precarious season when the novelty of a new year has worn off and we find ourselves trying to stack up to all those initial hopes and aspirations we set forth on January 1.

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the pinch.

Which got me thinking a lot this weekend about the idea of that dreaded creative burnout.

Not necessarily because I’ve reached that point (thank goodness) but because I’ve been around the block enough times to know when I’m getting close to it and I desperately want to understand how to avoid hitting that point.

First though, you know what I mean when I say burnout, right?

That feeling of exhaustion and lack of inspiration that comes from pushing yourself too hard for too long in too many directions.

It’s that frazzled state when you feel simultaneously at a dead stand still and also like you’re a lost chicken running around with your head cut off. You know the feeling I’m describing, right?

The longer I’m in the game of running my own business, the more I’m starting to understand the patterns that emerge when it comes to burning out. In my personal experience, this feeling can come from a few different places:

• Overwhelm - Trying to do too many things at once without a clear plan of attack can leave us feeling completely paralyzed, and in turn, exhausted from trying to mentally sort and prioritize.
• Hyperfocus - Intense focus takes willpower and when you’re engaging your willpower muscles for too long without a break, it’s just like when you get a stress fracture injury from repetitive exercise — that willpower muscle needs rest.
• Boredom - As creative people, we need stimulation. When we find ourselves in the same routine loop for a while, the lack of new energy and spark can actually leave us feeling drained.
• Comparison - This is a big one and I've found it's my own silver bullet route to feeling burnt out. It starts innocently enough by going down the rabbit hole of similar websites to mine but before long I’m feeling completely uninspired by my own work because I'm comparing it to so many others.

Do any of these burnout sources apply to you right now?

The first step to battling burnout is knowing where it’s coming from, so if you’ve identified it, you’re already on the right track.

But, my question for today is…

Is it possible to actually prevent burnout? Can we create lives in which we never allow ourselves to get to the end of our ropes in the first place?

In the past I thought the secret was simple enough: Just take more breaks. Manage stress better. Be present. Rest.

However you want to say it, I thought this issue could be solved with a walk around the block or a Saturday spent in bed with my favorite book/Netflix binge session.

But after mulling it over this weekend, I’ve realized it takes a lot more than that.

Preventing burnout is not about taking more breaks.

Preventing burnout requires a complete mindset shift in the way we operate as creatives, and especially as business owners. 

“Preventing burnout requires a complete mindset shift in the way we operate as creatives, and especially as business owners. ”

Instead of framing work as a sport where we’re one player in an endless sea of other players trying to grab the same prize (success, money, visibility, legacy), we have to think of work as a game with only TWO players: ourselves and our craft.

What we do is not a highly competitive sport; it’s a highly personal craft.

The ultimate goal of this personal game then should be to make sure that the actions we’re taking are aligned with who we are at the core level and that we’re practicing our craft in whatever way that feels congruent with that core self.

To me, that's not a recipe for burning out, that's a recipe for burning bright.

This mindset shift creates a few very important distinctions that protect us from burnout:

• It renders comparison futile. If we picture everyone playing a different game with a different set of rules, what’s the point in comparing ourselves to them? The truth is, that person you’re comparing your work to has a different definition of success, a different ideal lifestyle, different values, motivations and goals.
• It keeps us in control of our pace. Part of what often traps me in the overwhelm/hyperfocus/comparison loop is this constant urgent feeling that I need to stay ahead of the curve, that I don’t want to fall behind. But again, this thinking is predicated on the idea that I’m in a race against other people. If I recalibrate and think of life and work as a highly individual journey where I’m the only player, it’s no longer a race and there’s no longer a need to feel rushed.
• We get to rewrite the rules at any time. Whether we’re bored or uninspired or feeling like a certain path isn’t working, if we’re playing our own game then we have the power to write and re-write our own rules. Mix it up, take a hiatus, change directions whenever you want and don’t listen to what anyone else tells you about whether it’s a good or bad idea. They’re not playing your game; you are.

If I’ve learned anything about avoiding burnout, it’s that while a morning ritual or vacation days or breaks from technology can help, these things can't solve the underlying problem.

We have to retrain ourselves and our minds to see our path as separate from those around us. 

“We have to retrain ourselves and our minds to see our path as separate from those around us. ”

But you can’t just flip the switch and start thinking this way. It requires a DAILY reminder that you are the master of your own game and you get to decide how that game gets played.

Focus on burning bright — on doing whatever feels best to you on your terms — and if you manage to stay in your own lane playing your own game, I truly believe you can avoid getting burnt out.

This week I challenge you to a week of burning bright.

Create a reminder for yourself to keep playing your own game — whether it’s a post-it on your computer or a Google Cal reminder, or today’s Abstract Affirmations print below — and pay attention to how it feels after one week. Did you feel more jazzed about your own path and your own craft? Did you come back from the edge of burnout? I truly hope so.

Wishing you a week filled with inspiration, energy and light!

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