A Phil Svitek Podcast - A Series From Your 360 Creative Coach

There's a quote from counselor Craig D. Lounsbrough that goes: "Whatever stands in front of you was only allowed to be put there because inherent within you there lays the ability to climb it. Therefore, the real difficulty of an ascent such as this is not the nature of the mountain that stands in front of us, but the nature of the attitude that lays within us.” In this podcast, I dissect what that means to me and how you can apply it to your life. Hit me up on social @philsvitek with your thoughts or questions. For more lessons, visit my website: http://philsvitek.com.

Many people, including myself at times, feel behind in their careers. We feel like we’ve wasted time and energy doing jobs that didn’t serve us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The age old story is that you need to be a specialist—like Tiger Woods or Mozart—to find success. That’s actually not the case as ESPN Senior Writer David Epstein proves in his book Range: Why Generalist Triumph in a Specialized World. We can take the lessons learned from any experience and utilize it in our new one. Often times, the job we want may not even exist. Certainly podcasting as a career didn’t exist when I was in college. It does now. We need to be in search of our match fit. But too many people are having quarter life crisis because they haven’t discovered their purpose. Stop! Follow your passions and let that guide you. Purpose will reveal itself in due time. And if your passions change, that’s okay. Gary Vaynerchuck thinks so and I agree with him. So dive into this lesson with me and stop worrying that you’re behind. I’ll go over all these ideas and hopefully create stillness in your life so you can go after your dreams. After listening, try it out and please be sure to leave a comment with any thoughts or questions. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/how-meandering-helps-you-succeed-in-your-career-so-dont-sweat-your-quarter-life-crisis

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Range by David Epstein (Book): https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484

Summarization of David Epstein’s Range: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4rP8CGaVDY

Quarter Life Podcast from Goop: https://goop.com/the-goop-podcast/the-quarter-life-crisis/

David Epstein and Malcolm Gladwell Talk: https://youtu.be/5RqIa09AvDU

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

Many creatives don’t pursue their creative ambitions because they don’t believe they have the right resources. The philosophy of essentialism, when practiced, can help to free the artistic soul by helping you realize that you might have everything you need. Rather than see your limitations as a negative, use them to your advantage. No one exemplified this better than filmmaker Robert Rodriguez when he made his first feature film, “El Mariachi.” But he’s not the only one who’s used a lack of money and resources to force himself to get more creative. So join me in this lesson and find out how you can apply essentialist thinking to your life and find yourself accomplishing your dreams. After listening, try it out and please be sure to leave a comment with any thoughts or questions. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/how-essentialism-forces-better-creativity

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Essentialism Book by Greg McKeown: https://gregmckeown.com/book/

10 Minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez (The El Mariachi Making Of): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQE9eEmu1b4

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

FOLLOW THE PODCAST TEAM:

Phil’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/philsvitek

Juliet’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/bonjourjuliet

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

The word relativism is the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute. Looking at the world in relative terms will not only help you as a person, but also as an artist. This lesson teaches you how to apply relativism in order to strengthen your creative work. After listening, try it out and please be sure to leave a comment with any thoughts or questions. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/how-relativism-strengthens-creative-work

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

FOLLOW THE PODCAST TEAM:

Phil’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/philsvitek

Juliet’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/bonjourjuliet

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

Fern Ronay is a dear friend of a number of years and in this episode, I get to sit down with her and interview her about her book writing journey. We discuss her original career path of being a lawyer and how that shaped her. She talks about her creative desire and the practical ways she went about scratching that itch. Through her journey, we uncover the process of what it takes to become a published author, but really, the core of the lessons apply to any creative who dreams of putting out a work of art into the world. It’s a wide ranging and deep conversation which I thoroughly enjoy and I’m sure you will too. Please be sure to comment with any thoughts or questions, and pick up a copy of Fern’s books via http://fernronay.com. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/how-to-dive-into-fiction-writing-fern-ronay-interview

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Better in the Morning Book: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Morning-Fern-Ronay-ebook/dp/B01E5U8TRG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=better+in+the+morning&qid=1574873779&sr=8-1

Better Believe It Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08158SFP1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

An artist’s life can be extremely volatile, with many highs and lows — it takes more than just industry skills and knowledge to make it. To be successful, you need to have the right mental fortitude to reach your dreams. That’s why in 2018, I launched a podcast series where I share the lessons I learned from my own experiences as well as the ones I’ve been blessed enough to learn from other successful people within the entertainment industry. You can check out all those lessons at http://philsvitek.com. But, I’m so adamant about this notion of “mastering mental fortitude” that I wanted to go even further and offer more to any creative out there. This has lead me to create a coursebook called Master Mental Fortitude: A Guide to Achieving Your Creative Ambitions, which not only jam packs in 35 valuable lessons, but it also provides practical takeaways and exercises to put each lesson to use in your own life. It is geared towards any creative — it doesn’t matter whether you are a: Writer, Actor, Director, Artist, Musician, Producer, Host or Podcaster — each lesson has something for you!

You can either purchase the coursebook digitally ($25) or in physical form ($79) at http://mastermentalfortitude.com.

PS: You might have noticed that in cover of the cover image, it says “volume 1” — and as you might have guessed, it’s because I plan to turn Master Mental Fortitude into a series. As of now, the goal is to release a new volume each year. (So expect volume 2 sometime in 2020). Until then though, feel free to browse through my website for tons of free lessons and resources. I’m constantly adding new ones so even if you’ve checked out most of them, chances are there’s new ones you haven’t yet looked at. And, if you’re ready to take your creative passions to the next level and have specific questions you need answered, we can always setup a coaching session.

Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl experience’s mankind’s worse. And yet he found meaning from that experience and developed a school of psychology called logotherapy, which he chronicles in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. In this episode, I explain what logotherapy is and more importantly the ways in which it can enhance your art because when you really stop and consider the core of logotherapy, it will give deeper meaning to your work and therefore connect more widely within the world. After you’re done with this lessons, comment down below with your thoughts or questions. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/whats-logotherapy-and-ways-it-can-help-you-creatively

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Man’s Search for Meaning Book: https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X

What Is Logotherapy: https://positivepsychology.com/viktor-frankl-logotherapy/

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

I’m not one for dichotomies, but recently I heard a great talk by Erwin McManus on the power of encouragement vs discouragement and it resonated with me because it echoed the sentiments of my 2019 New Year’s Resolution, which was to support my friends more. I dive deeper into the importance of uplifting those around you while still being honest in giving your opinion—just not doing so under the guise of “tough love”. After you’re done with this lessons, comment down below with your thoughts or questions. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/why-you-should-always-be-encouraging

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Erwin McManus Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAytMd7ZltI

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

As a culture, especially in America, we like to rank things. There’s top 10 lists of all sorts, competitions to determine who’s the best in a given category and even outside of these so-called competitions, people and companies claim to be “the best” or “number one.” Here’s a question for you? How can there be millions of “the world’s best pizza” pizzarias? There can’t. Deep down, I think we all understand that it’s a marketing ploy by all those restaurants. But then, how do you know if someone is number one? More importantly, does it even matter? I say not as I borrow ideas and principles laid out by Simon Sinek from The Infinite Game. After you’re done with this lessons, comment down below with activities you’d categories as finite games and then do the same with infinite games. Thanks for tuning in.

WEB LINK:

https://philsvitek.com/youll-never-be-1-nor-should-you-try-to-be

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Simon Sinek Interview with Tom Bilyeu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2K4VqkfRaM

Motivation Madness Interview with Simon Sinek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENIwAZZw8J0

Lewis Howes Interview with Simon Sinek: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG4EWUlXci0

Simon Sinek on the Millennial Generation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNgQOHwsIbg

How to Lead in the 21st Century: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vX2iVIJMFQ

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115

You might be familiar with the acronym A.B.C. which was popularized in the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, starring Alec Baldwin. It means “always be closing”. But since you and I are content creators, I want to repurpose the acronym into something different, which is “always be creating”. That’s right. “Always be creating.” In this episode I explore the deeper meaning of what I mean when I use that simple phrase using three levels. If you can apply all three in your life, you’ll be all the more happier and productive because of it. Once you’ve heard the episode, I’d love to know how you’ll apply A.B.C. into your life. So comment down below! Thanks for tuning in.

TRANSCRIPT:

https://philsvitek.com/always-be-creating

SELECTED LINKS FROM EPISODE:

Master Mental Fortitude Course Book: http://mastermentalfortitude.com

Not Twice T-Shirt Campaign: http://nottwice.org

A Very LA Birthday Short Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9SHJaepE0c

FOLLOW THE PODCAST TEAM:

Phil’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/philsvitek

Juliet’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/bonjourjuliet

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/philsvitek

Merchandise: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/phil-svitek---360-creative-coach/

Adorama Affiliate Link: https://www.adorama.com/?utm_source=rflaid914115