Gifted Underachievers

During a recent hospital stay (painful and a big bummer, but okay in the end) James was told by a nurse, “You own your life.” This affected him deeply and generated a lot of thoughts about what it means to own your life.

In this brief segment, Pat and James unpack this idea.

Questions for Listeners

* What does it mean to own your life?

* Do you own your life?

For Further Exploration

Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Pat and James work very hard at their creative-adjacent businesses. Sometimes, too hard and to the point where their own creative work can suffer.

Part of that imbalance is the desire to grow their businesses because that’s how they earn a living. Growth, in this context, often equals money and the resources to support their creative work.

But is growth for the sake of growth a good thing? What would happen if the Gifted Underachievers focused on other forms of growth than money—growth that’s tied into a deeper, more personal set of metrics?

Questions for Listeners

What’s your policy around growth?

For Further Exploration

Company of One by Paul Jarvis:

https://a.co/d/00zLgQiW

Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

We can look at creativity as a lifelong habit of being in the world. The urge to create might be stronger in some people than others, but are we all born with it? Or does our creativity depend on environmental factors as well?

According to David Cox in The Guardian:

The brain is divided into two halves, or hemispheres, that are joined by a bundle of fibres called the corpus callosum. Writers, artists and musicians were found to have a smaller corpus callosum, which may augment their creativity by allowing each side of their brain to develop its own specialisation. The authors suggest that this “benefits the incubation of ideas that are critical for the divergent-thinking component of creativity”.

Talk about lateral thinking!

What do you think…were you born creative, or is it more of a habit you learned?

Questions for Listeners

* Were you born creative?

* Do you have creative relatives?

* What’s your perfect environment for fostering creativity in yourself (and others)?

For Further Exploration

“Are Some People Born Creative?” by David Cox, in The Guardian (2013):

https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/sep/19/born-creative-study-brain-hemingway

“Neuroscientific Studies of Creativity,” by Park, Kim, and Hahm, in Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders, 2016: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6428025/

Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

A recent road trip by Gifted Underachiever Pat led her to some thoughts on how far we can go in using other people in our art. Can we base characters or story events on people we know and things we’ve seen happen to them?

If yes, what are the limits? If we change everything just enough to make it impossible for our inspiration to recognize themselves, is that okay?

We say sure, why not?

Questions for Listeners:

* If you found details of your life in a novel by someone you knew, would you freak out or would you understand?

* Have you ever used someone else’s image or circumstances either to create your art or to make it better?

* If yes, was there any fallout?

For Further Exploration:

Author Accused of Using Classmate’s Story: https://www.thedailybeast.com/writer-amy-griffin-accused-of-using-classmates-sexual-abuse-story-as-her-own

Show your support and get a free book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Waaaayyyy back the Gifted Underachievers stated their delusional goals for the next three to five years. Let’s see how things are going.

Pat: Win the Booker Prize.

James: Receive a call from the Nobel committee for the literature prize.

So far so good. No phone calls yet, but we remain hopeful.

Questions for Listeners:

* What is your delusional goal?

* What are your goals?

For Further Exploration:

Show your support and get a free book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Halloween can be the black licorice of holidays: Not everybody loves it but those who do, really, really love it. And for many of them, it’s all the creativity that can go into Halloween, the costumes, decorations, haunted barns, and on and on.

This then leads to the question: Is Halloween the most creative holiday?

Questions for Listeners:

* Does your creative adjacent work get in the way of your creative goals?

* How do you feel about that?

* What are your goals?

For Further Exploration:

Show your support and get a free book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Originally aired in August 2024 and back by popular demand…

Pat and James begin using low-cost merch to drive high-value social media marketing (Hint: “Can you find our coaster or sticker in your city?” as an Instagram meme), but things go a little awry on Pat’s first couple of merch drops.

Questions for You:

* How do you market yourself as a creative?

* Have your promotional efforts every backfired?

* What’s the best marketing you have ever done?

Segment Links:

The amazing Theremin Man:

More Fun Links:

Worst Guerrilla Marketing Fails

What is Guerilla Marketing? Examples?

Guerrilla Marketing for Music

Jaw Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Ideas (check out #4!)

Proof of Concept: GU drink coasters on the Drive!

Support the Underachievers AND get a free book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Many creatives engage in creative-adjacent work—editing, teaching, commissions, etc.—to make a living utilizing their respective creative skillset. Often, too, we do this work to gain entrance into not just the creative economy but also the creative world we want to be part of.

However, these creative-adjacent careers can take on a life of their own as the paid work crowds out the capacity to do the work we really want to do.

In this segment, we float out the premise that to succeed at any of these supposed “side hustles” requires an incredible amount of dedication, skills-building, and time.

Is this true? Or is finding time, bandwidth, and capacity simply what creatives must navigate no matter how we earn a living? What other options exist for us to earn a living from our skills in the absence of wild creative success that brings money and time?

Perhaps the bottom line is we are fortunate to be able to do what we do and make a living at it. Nevertheless, we consider what we can do differently to create more creative capacity without giving up income.

Questions for Listeners

* Does your creative adjacent work get in the way of your creative goals?

* How do you feel about that?

* What are your goals?

For Further Exploration:

Show your support and get a free book!

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

This wee segment shares our consternation about election marketing by text and the need for fundraising in our so-called modern democracies.

Questions for Listeners:

* Do you vote?

* Where you live, do politicians ask for money to get themselves elected?

* If not, why not?

We don’t need donations! But if you buy us a coffee, you could win a book

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’ll be on the list!

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

The concept of discipline is a frequent topic of conversation among creatives. And as often, people bring a lot of baggage and prescriptions around how disciplined creatives should be.

But what if we had a more generous and open concept of discipline? Maybe we all enter and exist within our creative lives with a range of practices that equate to our idiosyncratic view of being a disciplined creative?

Waiting for the goddess to speak to us could be one end while the person grinding it out every single day could be the other. All are good. . .if they work. Right?

And maybe it’s even simpler: discipline will look different every time you do it.

Questions for Listeners:

* Do you ever feel like you are undisciplined, and yet the work gets done?

* Have others made you feel that you lack discipline?

For Further Exploration:

Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book

Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide!

If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com