The Creative Life Show

The Creative Life Show

By Joanna PietersSociety & CultureArtsMusic
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The Creative Life Show episodes

  • How to get your creative work finished, with Mike Monday
    How would your life be different if you could get your creative work finished? Mike Monday, international DJ and producer, had a lousy job, no money and a computer full of unfinished tracks when he decided he'd had enough, and set out to make music his life. He now works with musicians and producers to get their music finished and out of the door, with a practical, powerful system to release their creativity and get things done. We talk about how to break through the distractions and inner critic that stop us completing work, and how to put in place the rock-solid habits that make sure you'll make progress, no matter where you are now. Find all the show notes and extra resources on focus and more at www.creativelifeshow.com. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/010-get-creative-work-finished-mike-monday
    39 min
  • How to succeed as a writer in tough times, with Jessica Duchen
    Novelist, playwright, journalist, librettist and blogger, Jessica Duchen has been writing professionally for nearly 30 years, during which time the world for writers has changed beyond recognition.
    While many writers have given up, defeated by decreasing rates, increased competition and the impact of new technology, Jessica has found ways to take her writing into new directions.
    Core to her success has been finding new ways of presenting her work. She’s turned her novels into plays and concert versions, and often creates expanded versions of her journalism for her own community.
    Jessica’s fifth novel, Ghost Variations, is set in 1930s Germany, based on a true story and full of spirit messages and real-life characters. After publishing four with a traditional company, she's now working with the innovative publisher Unbound, which uses a crowd-funding model while keeping conventional editorial standards. She shares what an extraordinarily uplifting experience it has been, and how she got her novel fully funded in just 12 days.
    Despite this, Jessica describes herself as being very uncomfortable with the unknown. We talk about how relationships have been core to expanding her work, and allowing her to go in new directions. She also shares her frustration about the publishing world, and how she has refused to compromise on her core values to be more commercially successful. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/009-succeed-as-a-writer-tough-times-unbound-jessica-duchen
    34 min
  • What to do when no one believes in you, with Laura Kriefman
    Laura Kriefman's Mass Crane Dance was an extraordinary creative spectacle, attracting 10 thousand people and 4 million online to watch three cranes perform a synchronised dance over Bristol docks. And yet not long before, Laura had given up her work as a choreographer and dancer, frustrated by no one being willing to fund her or believe in her vision.
    We talk about the transformation that brought her back to creating work, and that has taken her to a new, internationally acclaimed level as as creator and speaker. We also discuss how to take a team with you into innovative, risk-taking chaos, and finding the comfort there, and how to get other people to understand your vision. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/008-what-to-do-no-one-believes-laura-kriefman ok
    43 min
  • How's *your* creative life? Get your worksheet at www.creativelifeshow.com
    Let's talk about getting stuck, lighting your creative fire and what this is all about. Head over to www.creativelifeshow.com/intro for your Unstuckness Audit worksheet - an awesome tool for working out exactly what's blocking your creativity, and your next steps to becoming more creative, connected and successful | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/intro
    21 min
  • How to handle creative resistance, with Nick Williams
    'Wherever there is great inspiration and there is our soul’s purpose, not far away there will be tremendous resistance.' That's the core of today's conversation with Nick Williams, author of 13 books and 'coach, spiritual advisor and encourager' to individuals and companies including McKinsey and the NHS
    There's a myth that when you're following your passion, everything becomes easy. Not so, says Nick. We talk about the ever-present doubt and resistance that accompanies all creative work. Rather than trying to get rid of it, Nick talks about how he focuses on knowing his purpose and habits that allow him to get his work done.
    At the heart of Nick's work is a very clear, consistent message about finding purpose in what you do. We talk about how focusing on that one message has opened up endless scope for creativity and inspiration - completely the opposite from the common fear of having a niche becoming limiting.
    I also ask Nick about the challenge that leaders face in trying to develop self-expression and creativity, particularly in cultures that only value success, and where vulnerability is unlikely to be considered a virtue.
    I love Nick’s honesty in this interview. Even before we started the recording he was keen to point out that he doesn't see creative block something he’s overcome, but instead as resistance that he has to overcome all the time. You’ll hear his take on resistance as a natural part of creativity, and some of the ways he uses to overcome it. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/007-handle-creative-resistance-nick-williams
    34 min
  • The power of taking on big issues, with Maggie Semple
    If you tried to pin a label on Maggie Semple, OBE, she’d be leaping away to the next big thing before you could get anywhere near. Dancer, choreographer, high-level public servant, blue-chip leadership and diversity consultant, justice advisor, fashion label founder. Alternatively, epic badass who takes on big, bold issues, because, as she says, ‘why wouldn’t you?’
    From running public consultations on nuclear power stations to championing the impact of clothes, Maggie is driven by a huge desire to connect with big ideas and their impact on people. Blue-chip and public sector consultancy isn’t often seen as a creative role, but Maggie disagrees. We talk about how she calls on her background in choreography for a language and imagery that helps to disrupt boardroom thinking, and the creative buzz she gets from being in the moment.
    We also talk about how she set up a fashion label, and how she answers her critics who see it as ‘frivolous’.
    But that doesn’t stop her from experiencing creative frustration or blocks. We talk through how she uses her inner drive and values to overcome it.
    If your creative life is about values and purpose rather than job titles, and variety rather than a single focus, this is an essential listen.
    You'll also learn:
    - How Maggie deals with fear in a situation that’s new to her
    - How principles of respect, confidentiality and progress drive her work
    - The importance of relationships in building her business and her team
    - The need for self-awareness as a confident, straight-talking woman, and how that can sometimes be a barrier that has to be overcome
    - How Maggie defied her critics to set up a fashion label after a background in blue-chip consultancy | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/006-power-engaging-big-ideas-maggie-semple
    38 min
  • How to change your life by changing your reactions, with Jez Rose
    Jez Rose, The Behaviour Expert, is internationally in-demand speaker and coach who spends his time getting inside our heads and showing us to rewire them for the better.
    Jez’s third book, Flip the Switch, is all about how we can expand the gap between the thing that threatens to make us angry, or confused, or distracted, and our own response to it. It’s about how we can deliberately make small changes in our behaviour that dramatically changes the result we get: the choice between allowing ourselves to be derailed, or staying on the path we want.
    What I love about Jez is that he just leaks creativity. You can feel the energy coming out him - our conversation is full of stories and tips, where he just takes an idea and runs with it.
    And yet it wasn’t always this way. We also talk about his experience of depression as a teenager and young man, and how he made some very conscious choices to move away from that. We also talk a lot about the importance of purpose in your life, and its connection to creativity.
    If you’re someone who is forever coming up with ideas but can’t always turn them into action, or someone who gets easily derailed by other people or events, you’re going to love this episode. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/004-change-reactions-change-life-jez-rose/
    42 min
  • How to stop people-pleasing and be really productive instead, with Grace Marshall
    This episode is essential listening if you ever feel that there’s just too much stuff getting in the way of you achieving what you want to, and particularly if you find yourself prioritising what other people want from you.
    Grace describes herself as a ‘naturally disorganised productivity coach’, becoming an expert by learning because she needed to. She’s the author of two wonderful books on productivity, including her most recent one How To Be Really Productive, published by Pearson, and she’s a much in-demand trainer on how to get things done in a way that’s practical and real.
    We talk about the crucial difference between people-pleasing and collaboration. It's essential to achieving any kind of success, and can be a huge barrier to achieving the things that are important to you.
    | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/003-grace-marshall-people-pleasing-really-productive/
    29 min
  • How to find unlimited creativity when you're totally stuck, with Noah Scalin
    In a rut? That's where artist, author and activist Noah Scalin was, at that time a frustrated, bored graphic designer. Desperate to get himself out of a rut, he committed to creating and posting a new piece of art each day. What started as a personal record became A Skull A Day, a viral hit. It led to a series of books on practical creativity, including 365: A Creative Journal, which has just been republished and expanded. We talk about the power of small beginnings and tight boundaries to free up unlimited creative ideas, no matter how stuck you're feeling right now. | Show notes: http://creativelifeshow.com/002-unlimited-creativity-noah-scalin
    35 min
  • The courage to crowdfund a bestseller, with photographer Laura Dodsworth

    Photographer and storyteller Laura Dodsworth was a successful wedding photographer when she felt pulled to create a far more terrifying project: photographing 100 women and talking to them about their bodies. It became the hugely successful Bare Reality, and an entirely new creative journey. Find all the links at creativelifeshow.com.

    Laura and I talk about the stream of rejections that followed. Agents, galleries, publishers and even friends all turned down her idea, with plenty of them questioning why anyone would buy it. We talk about how she kept going despite all the setbacks, her doubts and fears.

    We also talk about how she overcame her professional fears to go in a direction that was so different to her normal commercial work.

    But she also shares what it takes, and what she did to achieve:

    - A crowd-funding campaign that reached its target in just one day

    - A bestselling book

    - Media interest from around the world

    - Workshops, talks and even a play

    We also talk about Laura's new project, Manhood, where she talks to 100 men about their bodies and their stories, and the whole new set of fears that came with it.

    If you're feeling called to create work that's different to your normal direction, or if you have no idea how you can ever make it work, Laura's story is an essential listen.

    Click to view: show page on Awesound

    31 min

About The Creative Life Show

From the publisher's feed

Joanna Pieters asks highly successful creatives: why *do* we create? We talk about the real stories behind the public success, how to get your work noticed, how to get people on side, how to build a…