When you try to reach a creative goal, what gets in the way? Is it your inner critic? A dip in confidence? A feeling of overwhelm or lack of a plan? In this episode, I will use the 5-stages of the creative process to identify 5 goal-setting pitfalls: obligation, focus, moving the "goal post," setting too many goals, and emphasizing motion vs. action. Tune in for some structure and next steps to help you move out of stuckness.

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Check out our FREE WORKSHOP: Your Creative Ambition: How to Set and Reach Your Creative Goals on January 4th, 2024.

In this first episode of our goal-setting series, we'll talk about how to set goals you actually want vs. goals you think you should want. We have a lot of competing priorities as artists - making work, showing work, selling work, paying bills etc. It can be hard to sort through what deserves our attention and what we actually want for our creative lives. In this episode, I'll give you a framework for thinking about fulfillment, and an exercise to get you started in setting meaningful goals.

Join our Reach Your Goals: 6-month group coaching program, starting in January 2024!

Come to our Free workshop: Your Creative Ambition, on January 4th, 2024.

Why do you make creative work? What motivates you? When I ask artists this question, I get a range of answers: "It feels good to get a sale" or "I love the feedback" or "I like being invited to participate in shows." In this episode I talk about the difference between results and motivation. It's super easy to confuse them, but results and motivation are different. I'll talk about how they're different, why we need to separate them, and an exercise that can help you reflect on what motivates you to make your work.

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Book a Creative Breakthrough Hour from now until Dec 20th, 2023!

Self-doubt is something all artists struggle with. In this episode, we'll talk about a helpful framework for thinking about self-doubt courtesy of Rick Rubin's book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Rubin notes there's a distinction between doubting yourself and doubting your work. One doubt is helpful, the other is not. I'll share an exercise to help you understand how this shows up in your practice and what you can do about it.

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Here's Rick Rubin's book: The Creative Act: A Way of Being

When we're working on a large, ambitious project, it's easy to get overwhelmed with challenges. We have a million questions around HOW we're going to make the project happen. Seeing all our questions at once can make the project feel impossible. The secret is having a STRUCTURE for addressing our questions. We need to know what questions to address and WHEN. This is where the idea funnel comes in. In this episode I'll explain the 4-stages of what I call, the idea funnel: 1. Idea Chaos > 2. Focus > 3. Mechanics > 4. Execution. I'll explain how to use it to make your big scary project feel more manageable.

Our fall coaching program for artists in now enrolling! Early bird rate ends Sept 1.

Got questions? Come grab a free mini coaching call with me until September 1st.

What's your relationship to collaboration? What makes collaborating with other creative individuals exciting? What makes it hard? In this episode I talk about some do's and dont's around collaboration. I'll share my own experiences with collaboration and common challenges artists face when it comes to collaborating with others on their creative visions.

In today's episode we hear from two artists in the AMP Community. We'll talk about the roadblocks they shared with us through IG. The topics include: the challenges of new motherhood, finding the right balance, and getting help when you're juggling a lot. We'll also talk about being at a crossroads in your creative life, choosing a direction, and putting your energy into something new. Listen in if you want to hear challenges (and advice!) from artists like you.

Here are the things we mentioned in today's episode:

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Interlude Artist Residency for parents.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs⁠ pyramid.

Come to our ⁠free workshop⁠ on June 29th to learn more about our ⁠Fall Coaching program!⁠

This week I talk to artist, entrepreneur, and business coach Natalie Davis. In this episode, we talk about the multi-faceted creative life Natalie's built for herself - from her creative practice in leather, to being a creative director and co-owner of several restaurants in Austin, to coaching creatives through the ups-and-downs of their businesses. We talk about how to trust your gut, the importance of creating a vision, and how it's OK to have a lot of creative interests! Natalie talks about how to identify your creative strengths and how that's helped her carve her own path. Hear more about Natalie's work and journey below:

Natalie Davis is a creative director, entrepreneur, and business coach that finds poetry in the small moments. She has collaborated with diverse clients, from museums and architecture firms to hotels and non-profits, along with being a co-owner of several restaurants in Austin. Natalie coaches on maximizing emotional intelligence to create greater impact and bring joy to managing teams. She guides clients through career transitions, starting with the initial spark of change, through interviews, negotiating, and being successful in their new role. From strategic planning to building brand narratives, Natalie helps others expand and clarify their vision and connect their story to the broader world. Natalie is a certified Co-Active Professional Coach and Associate Certified Coach, along with holding a BA from UCLA and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.

For more info: www.nataliedaviscoaching.com of on IG: @canoegoods

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Interested in getting some coaching? Sign up for our fall coaching program here.

In today's episode we'll talk about the feeling "time is running out." Many artists feel this way - like they're running out of time to do the work they want to do, or accomplish the things they set out to do earlier in their lives. In this episode, we'll look at the emotions behind this statement (the fear + the urgency) and understand how to process them and move forward. We'll look at a past experience in your life where urgency was a positive force vs. a crippling force and how to channel that to take action.

Want help with these challenges in your practice? Join our membership! And sign up for our next school-wide coaching call.

In this episode, we talk about the creative archetype of the STRIVER. Strivers are artists that over-invest in the generate stage of the creative process, and as a result, get stuck. They experience a feeling of scarcity - the idea that there will "never be enough" - around their creative production or output. This mindset can lead to burnout. In this episode, we'll talk about the strengths and challenges of this creative archetype, what motivates them, where they experience stuckness, and how they can move past it.