Slow and Fast

As Creatives Steven and John started out as musicians only wanting to have fun with their passion. Eventually, this led to spending time in studios and realizing they could probably do a better job than the person recording was a segue into their audio and video careers. Neither of them thought about their creative callings being something they could one day turn into a profitable business. In this episode, Steven and John discuss a book they wish they would have had a decade ago when they began their creative full-time journeys.

This is Part 1 of a 2 Part Series.  

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Here's a glance at the episode...

[00:00] Opening

[00:31] Intro

[01:41] Atomic Habits Overview

[05:27] Worry about Current Trajectory than Current Results

[08:05] Discussing Strategies Learned from the Book

[12:59] Building Daily Habits Contributes Towards the Identity You Want to Inhabit

[14:27] Creating Strategies to Differentiate Yourself In Reaching Your Goal

[18:53] The Merits of Learning Through Quantity Over Quality

[25:05] What Were John and Steven's Takeaway Techniques from the Book?

[28:14] Steven's Habit Stacking Example

[30:05] Steven's Incremental Habit Building Example

[31:52] John's Habit Stacking Example

[33:58] John's Takeaway: Designing Your Environment

[36:03] Using Momentum to Maintain Habits

[39:59] Using Tools In Your Phone to Limit Usage

[49:49] Prioritize Your Most Valuable Resource; Time and Attention

[51:30] Wrap up

There is one book just about every entrepreneur and creative person Steven and John know to recommend as a much-read. This book really helps lay out a framework that anyone can use to create habits that don't overwhelm and will stick in the long run. On this episode, Steven and John talk about their takeaways from James Clear's "Atomic Habits" how this book changed their lives and continues to do so, and what you can take away from this masterpiece and apply yourself.

This is Part 2 of a 2 Part Series.  

Listen to Episode One Here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/slowandfast/episodes/9-Creatives-HATE-Routine-Even-Though-It-Creates-Success-Pt-1-e1onnlv

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Here's a glance at the episode...

[00:00] Opening

[00:22] Intro

[04:01] Book Rec: When - Daniel Pink

[04:16] Creative Calling Pt. 2 Overview - Building Systems

[04:45] How to Create Positive Headspace

[06:16] Be Protective of your Social Circles and Who You Bring Into It

[09:30] Creating a System for Constant Content Creation

[13:51] Organizing Your Workload around Your Circadian Cycles

[26:48] Consequences of "Pushing Through It"

[28:58] As a Creative, You Have to be Willing to Decide What You Actually Can and Want to Take On

[31:19] Don't Take Every Job That Comes Your Way When You Start

[32:30] The Audio World Is Always Behind the Trend

[36:57] Here's How You Get Into Your Niche

[40:10] Learn to Use Modern Social Tools to Your Advantage

[42:11] The Importance of Learning How to Deconstruct

[45:05] Wrap up

There is one book just about every entrepreneur and creative person Steven and John know to recommend as a much-read. This book really helps lay out a framework that anyone can use to create habits that don't overwhelm and will stick in the long run. On this episode, Steven and John talk about their takeaways from James Clear's "Atomic Habits" how this book changed their lives and continues to do so, and what you can take away from this masterpiece and apply yourself.

This is Part 1 of a 2 Part Series.

Stay Updated With Our Weekly Ramp-Up Newsletter

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Want To Keep The Conversation Going? Join Our Discord Server!

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Have A Question You'd Like Steven and John To Answer In A Future Newsletter or Podcast?

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Here's a glance at the episode...

[00:00] Opening

[00:42] Intro

[01:12] Catching up

[07:20] Creative Calling Overview

[08:49] "Anyone Can Do It" Is a Myth

[10:55] Shore up your strengths and find people to shore up your weaknesses

[13:05] The DEAR Approach to Learning

[17:26] Steven's Experience with DEAR

[21:42] Deadlines will force you to trust your gut more

[23:00] Getting that win as a creative is impossible, and that's ok.

[26:50] Deadlines will Help You Maintain Focus and Finish Projects

[29:55] What was something Steven learned through the process of DEAR

[31:32] When you finish a project, you no longer get to judge whether it's good or not.  That's up to the viewer

[39:33] You need to have a thick skin to be a creative

[42:26] A lot of negative attention you get from being a creative is directed from people who are not and will never be your actual audience

[43:38] If you're feeling upset or triggered, wait 5 minutes before even thinking of responding

[47:31] When you're getting feedback, take the time to understand exactly what is being said

[53:23] Outro

The best part about making your hobby and passion a career is the amount of fun you get to have every single day! While everyone else is working a 9-5 and hating it, as a creative you are excited to wake up and create something new for the world to enjoy. And if you're not there yet you will be soon. In this episode Steven and John talk about how much fun being creative is but the importance and changing the way you think about your passion if it's becoming your business to avoid Burn Out and resentment towards clients.

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Here's a glance at this episode...

[00:06:59] How to Have Fun When Your Hobby is Your Business Overview

[00:10:55] Music is No Longer Fun Because It's My Job

[00:18:11] We didn't create boundaries to protect our passion

[00:19:01] Finding Ways to Bring Fun and Challenge Back into the Picture

[00:24:52] Stick to Your Boundaries

[00:26:32] Enjoy Your Hobby for the Sake of Enjoyment

[00:32:21] Either find something that's tangentially related to your passion or go completely outside of it to find something new.

[00:36:15] Taking on a New and Different Challenge, John wants to make a short film

[00:37:51] Find People who can critique you in order to get better and better

[00:41:53] Maintain Your Balance Through Journaling

[00:46:49] Being a Creative, you have to have fun so you have energy for the boring stuff

[00:53:43] Learn to Discern Which Projects are Going to be Detrimental to Your Energy and Motivation

[00:56:00] Saying "No" to Clients by Upping Your Rates

[00:59:02] Book Rec: Green Lights - Matthew McConaughey 

[01:02:05] Wrap Up

As creatives, we are not the most organized of people. How can we think of being organized when inspiration might hit us at a moment's notice and we need to be ready! In this episode Steven and John talk about some of the necessities they have needed in their businesses and some may not be what a creative might think they need but without these tools life as a creative becomes harder when it doesn't need to be. 

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Here's a glance at this episode...

[00:00:36] Thor: Love and Thunder + MCU vs DCEU talk

[00:15:06] What you need to get started - Overview

[00:16:14] Investing in yourself  [00:19:46] Create a Consistent Sleep Schedule

[00:25:26] Exercise, Healthy Eating, and Boundaries with your devices and work time

[00:30:42] Book Rec: Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport

[00:31:15] Techniques: Minimizing Phone Time

[00:33:40] Work Boundaries

[00:37:32] Defining Goals - Make a Dream Board

[00:39:01] Make a Dream List  [00:39:32] Creating Milestones

[00:39:49] Celebrate Small Wins  [00:47:06] Making Time for Fun

[00:55:49] Business Basics  [00:55:59] Create Systems and Standard Operating Procedures

[01:00:03] Data Storage Systems and Archival Methods

[01:03:55] CRM: Customer Relations Manager Software

[01:06:30] Banking and Invoicing

[01:08:54] Create a System that Allows You to Wake on 10x the Workload

[01:09:33] Poor Man's Contract - E-Mail

[01:10:11] Onboarding/Offboarding Processes and Contracts

[01:14:28] Networking

[01:15:27] Build Your Network: Offload Tasks that Aren't to Your Strength

[01:16:39] Planning for Taxes and Retirement

[01:19:14] Wrap Up

By nature, each of us wants to have our own community or tribe. People we relate with and can find a sense of belonging with. As great as a community can be communities can turn toxic and become a bubble where everyone suffers from groupthink. In this episode, Steven and John talk about the warning signs of a toxic community and how to keep yourself grounded as a creative, and the signs of a great community with free thinking is celebrated.

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Here's a glance at this episode...

[03:07] Clickup link for efficient time management

[04:29] Managing time will help you understand what to charge your clients

[07:41] The good and bad of tribalism and toxic hustle culture Intro

[09:43] Cult definition  [10:34] Tribalism Definition

[11:42] Tribalism gets taken too far into something toxic

[13:38] John's Experience with Hustle Culture

[15:43] Tribalism's Roots in our history

[19:22] Understanding when you're in a toxic tribe

[20:25] James Webb Telescope and the gaining perspective

[22:14] Toxic Fandoms

[22:51] Tribalism and hustle culture aren't inherently bad, they get twisted into something bad by the people who subscribe to bad ideas.

[24:26] Book Rec: When by Daniel Pink

[25:08] Be careful with the company you keep because what you believe or the boundaries you have may not be the same as the people you work with.

[27:51] Be careful who you work for. Do they have your best interest in mind or their own?

[28:57] What are the exceptions to the rules?

[31:12] Gary Vee and his change from pure Hustle Culture

[32:13] The people who are at the top of Hustle Culture have teams behind them so that they have the ability to do more than you.

[33:45] Are you climbing a ladder or just spinning on a hamster wheel?

[36:50] Grinding to fulfill someone else's vision

[38:01] Opportunistic behavior and competition within hustle culture

[43:50] John starts reading to figure out answers to questions he has

[45:15] Changing from Hustle Culture to Deep Work Culture

[48:55] Take the time to learn from those willing to teach and only take those lessons and techniques that work for you.

[51:21] Outro

Being organized isn't a default characteristic of many creatives. Multi-passionate wouldn't begin to describe what Steven and John call a creative scatterbrain. It's a syndrome that stops creatives from getting traction in their hobby/business and taking it to a scaleable level. In this episode both Steven and John go into detail about how The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber was a wake-up call to how and why their past businesses failed and structuring their new businesses with the principles from The E Myth Revisited is helping them plan for a better future and how it can help any creative. 

This is Part 2 of a 2-part Series.  

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Here's a glance at this episode... 

[00:00:54] Stranger Things catch up

[00:06:17] Pineapple on Pizza or No?

[00:08:47] E myth Revisited

[00:11:09] What does it take to actually achieve your goals?

[00:12:11] The reality of self-help gurus and how things REALLY get done in a professional workspace

[00:14:03] Be real with yourself about what you really want

[00:19:06] It's ok to have an idea of where to go, then pivot to other ideas if that's better for you.

[00:21:13] You can't do everything by yourself, enlist help for things you're not good at.

[00:23:16] The problems with doing everything yourself

[00:24:56] E-Myth reference to the story of sharing the load evenly between owners

[00:28:06] Know what Roles you play in your business

[00:35:08] How you should approach the conversation of splitting roles between a partnership

[00:40:36] How would you go about bringing on a new person to the team?

[00:44:29] When are last-minute deadlines are appropriate?

[00:48:25] Be respectful of the people giving you good opportunities

[00:50:38] Book Rec: Rejection Proo

[00:51:36] Being a Self-Starter is great, however, you shouldn't be expected to always work with sub-par systems and conditions

[00:53:12] Be a good communicator.  Show interest in what the other person is interested in.

[00:57:11] Take time to know what people dislike as well as what they like

[00:59:00] Book Rec: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

[01:00:16] What happens when life happens?

[01:03:19] Effortless Reference, Motivation follows action

[01:06:15] Outro

Being organized isn't a default characteristic of many creatives. Multi-passionate wouldn't begin to describe what Steven and John call a creative scatterbrain. It's a syndrome that stops creatives from getting traction in their hobby/business and taking it to a scaleable level. In this episode both Steven and John go into detail about how The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber was a wake-up call to how and why their past businesses failed and structuring their new businesses with the principles from The E Myth Revisited is helping them plan for a better future and how it can help any creative. 

This is Part 1 of a 2-part Series.   

Stay Updated With Our Weekly Ramp-Up Newsletter

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Want To Keep The Conversation Going? Join Our Discord Server!

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Have A Question You'd Like Steven and John To Answer In A Future Newsletter or Podcast?

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Here's a glance at this episode... 

[00:38] Stranger Things Discussion  

[04:01] Obi-Wan Discussion  

[10:48] The E-Myth Revisited  

[11:03] Three Archetypes Intro  

[13:27] The Entrepreneur  

[16:12] Entrepreneur Micro  

[19:35] Everyone's my customer Micro  

[22:16] An Entrepreneur Understands that you need to work ON your business and not just IN your business  

[23:02] The Manager Breakdown  

[23:59] Struggles with Motivation  

[27:21] When by Daniel Pick  

[29:00] One of the big problems with self-help  

[30:25] Eat That Frog Link  

[32:29] Dangers of social media and dopamine addiction  

[33:59] Being Bored is Useful  

[39:13] Technician Breakdown  

[46:19] 1st step is creating a Standard Operating Procedure  

[50:15] Management by Abdication VS Delegation  

[53:01] System Hacks: Client Dropbox Folder

Years ago Steven and John were two guitarists in and out of bands wanting to change the direction of their creative careers. This journey would lead them to become producers and then content curators. Through this journey, they've both had to find ways of preparing for the shifts in their careers. This episode goes over the lessons Steven and John learned on shifting careers and how the book Pivot by Jenny Blake takes 10 years of hard life lessons in pivoting and gives a blueprint on how any creative can make the jumpy from part-time to full-time without going poor and starving themselves.

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Here's a glance at the episode...

[00:00:13] - Intro

[00:00:37] - Multiverse of Madness

[00:02:03] - Obi-Wan and Star Wars

[00:07:48] - This Episode's Theme: How to Pivot

[00:11:00] - Steven's Experience with Pivoting

[00:15:24] - Pivoting to Video Work while maintaining Audio Work

[00:18:47] - John Rant: Lighting is HARD

[00:25:53] - Link to Demo song for Neural

[00:29:39] - Steven's Current Pivot in Leaving Neural DSP

[00:34:41] - Pivoting into a season of rest and self-care

[00:42:00] - You want to have a specific job?  Just Start

[00:49:18] - John's Story getting into audio (2017)

[00:58:52] - make a living doing what you need to do to survive

[01:15:39] - 3 Steps of Pivoting

[01:17:28] - Create opportunities within the industry you want to take part in.

[01:23:00] - Steven's Core Values

[01:25:29] - What do you want your legacy to be?

[01:37:15] - Identify your strengths

[01:40:21] - plan out the next 12, 6, 3, or 1 month.

Set goals and figure out what you want your daily life to look like

[01:44:15] - Setting and adhering to deadlines

Like many aspiring entrepreneurs/creativepreneurs Hustle Culture sunk its teeth into both John and Steven's lives. The everyday grind of trying to do it all yourself to prove something to a world of people who weren't watching or frankly cared. This episode goes into Steven and John's experience with Hustle Culture, how they contributed to the toxic mindset, and how they are taking the tough lessons they learned from burning out from the hustle culture grind.  

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Steven's Burnout Video https://youtu.be/YiMXkxku9Is

Here's the episode at a glance...

[00:02:50] Steven's YT Burnout Video Link

[00:03:24] Defining Burnout

[00:03:54]Feelings of energy depletion

[00:05:55] Increased feelings of distance from one's job negativism cynicism

[00:06:23] Reduced professional efficacy

[00:07:21] John's Backstory

[00:10:06] 6 Dimension/causes/factors of burnout

[00:10:42] Workload

[00:15:29] grind culture: 60 hours isn't a badge of honor

[00:17:34] Control/Autonomy

[00:22:21] Rewards

[00:23:53] don't undersell yourself

[00:24:53] You'll never make a $500 client a $500,000 client

[00:31:35] community

[00:39:05] Fairness

[00:42:36] Values/Ethics

[00:45:37] Push harder

[00:47:33] Possible recovery times for Burnout

[00:49:30] Never push through.. unless

[00:52:56] Cherish the Moment Because You Never Know When the Good Times are Done

[01:00:03] Book Rec: Effortless - Greg McKeown

[01:03:16] Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast

[01:05:24] Setting Your Upper and Lower Work Limit - Race to the Pole Story

[01:14:12] What If You Absolutely Need to Make a Concession?

[01:16:48] Wrap up