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This is the first week of 2019, so it’s very likely that you are thinking about changes you want to make in your life. If your goal is get healthier, more fit, or lose weight in 2019, this episode is for you. Today’s guest shares lots of great information and inspiration to help you become the best version of yourself. It’s time to get serious about your health!
To read the full show notes, visit http://kentsanders.net/health
For as long as I can remember, I have set aside time at the end of December, or early January, to reflect on the previous year. However, it’s usually been somewhat of a haphazard process with no real direction. Over the last couple of years, I have started to do a more intentional annual review. Here are my thoughts on 2018 and what’s in store for 2019.
To read the full show notes, visit http://kentsanders.net/2018-annual-review
When you hear the term “classic literature,” what comes to mind? Most people think of books that were written by a bunch of dead white guys and wonder how they are relevant to us today. Today’s guest will help you understand that the classics are much broader than that narrow definition, and why they are essential to your creative life today.
I’m excited to bring you my conversation with Anne Sheridan, who is a professor and pianist. She holds degrees in piano, Biblical Studies, and English, and she also taught English and Literature for several years at St. Louis Christian College, where I teach. Anne recently moved back to Iowa with her husband, Brent, a pastor, and their daughter, Louise. She enjoys British television and chocolate.
Our conversation covers a wide range of topics, including what makes a classic a “classic,” why Gothic literature is popular, and Anne’s thoughts on The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and The Lord of the Rings. You’ll learn the best way to read Shakespeare, how to make time to read, and why it’s OK to watch mindless TV sometimes. I came away from this conversation feeling smarter and more motivated to dive into some of the classics, and I hope you do, as well.
To read the full show notes, visit http://kentsanders.net/literature.
“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a heartwarming story of redemption that keeps our interest with a lot of twists and turns. But what if we add a twist of our own? What if George Bailey had dared to dream bigger dreams and left Bedford Falls?
To read the full show notes, visit http://kentsanders.net/george.
A dream is like a knife. It’s very powerful when you use it the right way. But if you’re careless with it, you can do a lot of harm to yourself and others. Today’s guest helps us view our dreams in the correct light so we can chase them in a God-honoring way that blesses our families and brings more value into the world.
I’m excited today to be speaking with Zech Newman. He is a husband, father of three children, entrepreneur, author of Chasing Dreams in a Minivan, and a serial dreamer. Zech teaches others to chase their goals dreams in a healthy way.
On this episode, we focus on how to chase your dream in the correct way. Let’s face it—a lot of people who are “successful” end up losing their families. You’ll learn how to develop good habits, how to make your family a priority, and how to use your writing skills to expand your platform. Zech shares a massive amount of practical wisdom in this episode, and you’ll benefit from it no matter what type of creative work you do.
Episode Highlights
In this episode, you’ll discover:
Key Takeaways
1. Getting up early can change your life.
I love Zach’s idea of setting an alarm in the evening to signal that it’s time to start getting ready for bed. He has made a list of all the positive things that will happen because he gets up early, as well as the negative things that will happen if he doesn’t. I’m also intrigued by the fact that he spend 90 days developing a flossing habit to help him build an evening routine. I confess that I’m a recovering night owl and need to be more intentional about getting up early.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others.
Zech warned agains playing the comparison game with others. This is difficult for creative people (including me!). We see other people’s gifts, talents, and results, and we wonder why we don’t have the same thing. Instead of looking at others’ success and being jealous, or even actively trying to discredit them, we should learn from them.
3. My favorite quote from the interview: "Action is a spiritual thing, just like prayer is.”
The more action we take, the more doors will open for us. It’s also easier to gain more momentum we we already have a little bit of it. Don’t discredit the value of small actions. What action can you take today to help you achieve your creative dreams? Maybe it’s writing a blog post, creating a video, or sending an email.
Resources
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google Play
For more great resources to help unleash your creative powers, visit my site at KentSanders.net.
Connect with me on social media:
I started listening to podcasts around 2006, when podcasting was still in its infancy. Now, well over ten years later, podcasting has exploded in popularity, with literally tens of thousands of podcasts to choose from. Maybe you have considered adding your voice to the mix and starting your own show. If so, this episode is for you!
I’m thrilled today to bring you this conversation with my good friend Steve Stewart. He started a podcast in 2010 to help market his financial wellness coaching business. In 2016, he had to give the business up, and his podcast, when others began asking for help with the editing and production of their shows. He currently produces 25 shows, mostly for podcasters in the personal finance and investing space.
On this episode, you’ll learn what makes podcasting different from other mediums, and how to answer the question, “Should I start a podcast?” Steve also shares how to avoid common podcasting mistakes, how to measure success as a podcaster, and why knowing your purpose is so critical to your podcasting success. Steve also goes into detail about a vital but often-neglected topic, which is how to write and format your episode titles correctly.
Show Highlights
In this episode, you’ll discover:
Key Takeaways
1. Knowing your purpose and goals for the podcast is critical.
It’s not enough just to want to start a show. If you don’t have an over-arching purpose or message to share, you will quickly burn out because podcasting is time-consuming and often exhausting. Know up front why you want to do a show and what you want to get out of it.
2. Decide in advance how you will measure your podcasting success.
This is critical because unless you are a celebrity, you will probably not have a lot of downloads immediately. Steve was absolutely right when he said that you measure success by audience engagement. You must play the long game with podcasting and work to grow your audience through providing consistently great content and building relationships.
3. You must make the commitment to stick with it.
The “Born to Create” podcast is actually my third podcast. What you’re hearing now is the second iteration of the show. It’s easy to give up when the excitement of creating a new podcast has worn off, and all you have in front of you is the actual work. But if you stick with it, you will outlast many other people and build an audience over time.
Resources
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google Play
For more great resources to help unleash your creative powers, visit my site at KentSanders.net.
It seems like we spend the first part of our lives learning to give all the correct answers. But what if the creative journey was less about giving the right answers and more about asking better questions? Today’s guest helps us navigate this tension between questions and answers, and also encourages us to explore our curiosity.
Dan Drake is the co-host of the Better Questions Podcast, a show that aims to help people of faith find better questions that are more helpful to our faith and that bring unity to the church.
Dan is also a worship pastor and the Media Minister at Cornerstone Christian Church in Shiloh, Illinois. In addition, Dan is a gifted musician and songwriter, a filmmaker, a blogger, and most importantly, a husband and father. He’s a busy guy!
Dan’s thoughts on art, faith, and life will challenge your thinking, help you find the divine in the mundane, and to ask better questions that lead to a more fulfilling life.
Show Highlights
In this episode, you’ll discover:
Key Takeaways
1. Curiosity is an indispensable part of your creative life. Dan talked about his need to follow his curiosity, and how it has led him to explore many different creative pursuits, including film, music, storytelling, podcasting, and other areas. If we want to create new things we must constantly explore our curiosity. What have you been reading, watching, listening to, or exploring lately?
2. Movies are the language of modern culture. That may sound like an extreme statement, but I believe it’s true. You can go almost anywhere in the world and people will be familiar with Star Wars, the Avengers, Lord of the Rings, and many other movie worlds and franchises. Why? Because stories draw us in, and movies combine many art forms into one compelling format.
I strongly encourage everyone to take a deeper dive and learn more about various aspects of storytelling, screenwriting, cinematography, film scoring, and any other areas of interest related to movies. You will not only be equipped with a greater knowledge of how to interpret movies, but also with the capacity to enjoy them more.
And if you REALLY want to get serious about studying film, I recommend that you take a deep dive into the great film of all time: Citizen Kane.
3. “The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.” Dan referenced this quote from Dead Poets Society, a fantastic film that has inspired artists of all kinds. But what does it mean? It means that you are not meant to compromise or settle—you are meant to do everything you can to be your authentic self and give the world the gift only you can give. Don’t let your time on earth end without contributing a verse to the eternal epic of human history.
Resources
Podcast Partners:
Looking for Christmas gift ideas? My book The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey is the perfect gift for the artist or creative person in your life (or even yourself!
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google Play
For more great resources to help unleash your creative powers, visit my site at KentSanders.net.
Connect with me on social media:
I don’t know about you, but I often overthink the creative process. Sometimes we need a guide who can help us simplify things so we can get some traction and make forward progress.
In this post, Michael S. Rogers shares the lessons on creativity he learned while writing the novel Passing Lincoln. The book features a unique story about a 5-dollar bill that travels through the hands of various citizens in Beulah, Indiana.
When I wrote Passing Lincoln, I wasn’t creating a different way to write a book. The format of the book was less a momentous epiphany and more a struggle to make something of my befuddled mind. I’d like to share what I learned along the way about the creative process.
Between careers and between projects, a character spoke to me so clearly I knew her name, where she was, what she looked like, and how she acted. I know better than to fight that. I wrote her story.
Here’s the problem: by the time I finished the scene, I had developed it into an epic tale of redemption and faith.
I do it every time. I am inspired to write a short story, then turn it into an idea for a novel. It drives me crazy because I don’t write as well when I stretch the length of a story.
It’s not for lack of trying. I’ve devoured books on plot and character. I’ve explored script-writing to incorporate things like the turning point in the first fifteen minutes of a movie. I’m practically a walking encyclopedia on The Process of All the Great Writers.
So I attacked my new novel idea with all my knowledge and dumped it into the same washing machine with my newly written scene, punched in the settings I’ve been taught will work, and let the machine do its thing.
It never, ever works for me. Somehow, the machine always gets unbalanced and stops. I’ll back up and go through the rinse again with the manic hope it will go through the whole cycle.
The machine stops every time. I just can’t make it work, and the first chapter of Passing Lincoln was no exception. Dejectedly, I threw that neat little scene of Dolores putting a five-dollar bill in the offering plate in my growing file of unused stories. What else could I do? I’m a short story writer with epic ideas!
Unless ...
What if I took advantage of how my mind worked and wrote each chapter as a short story?
Imagining the possibilities, I asked myself how could work if it was the length of a novel. How could I give myself permission to use different points of view and tenses—really test my writing skills—and yet keep a story together?
What if the main character was the five-dollar bill?
Passing Lincoln was born. I wrote in first, second, and third person. I wrote in the present and past tense. I used different formats—prayer journal, online chat, text message, diary entry, email exchange.
In other words, I used the strength of my short story writing to create a novel about redemption and faith. Along the way, I learned some valuable lessons about creativity that I can’t keep to myself.
1. Learn all you can. Finding your own voice is less like discovering your inner self and more like your inner self unfolding in the presence of those who know better than you. Never, never, never stop learning. All that knowledge will make you a better creator.
2. Play to your strengths. When you find out you can’t use the same structure as the latest successful artist, that’s a good thing. Now you know how it doesn’t work, which is just as informative as finding what does work. Your job isn’t to succeed doing it like Ernest Hemingway or Ansel Adams or the Beatles. Your job is to find ways to unleash the creativity built into you.
3. Do it your way. Once you’ve learned all you can and failed all you can, find a way that brings out your best creative self and do that. Who knows? If you succeed, someone may ask you to befuddle the minds of those who come after you!
Passing Lincoln has a legacy for me now. I learned how to write well, found my strengths, and created a new way that works for me. I hope your next project does the same for you.
I’d love to hear your thoughts! What is a lesson that you have recently learned about creativity in your own life? Share in the comments!
Michael S. Rogers is a Jesus follower, husband, father, preacher, author, and founder of Alive to Grace. His family is his first ministry, but he also currently pastors Faith Church of Christ in Burlington, Indiana. You can find him at his website, Amazon author page, and on Facebook.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | Google Play
For more great resources to help unleash your creative powers, visit my site at KentSanders.net.
Connect with me on social media:
From the publisher's feed
The Daily Writer is a podcast for writers who want to live a more intentional and creative life.
Hosted by author and ghostwriter Kent Sanders, each episode offers practical…
Whether you’re writing a book or trying to make progress on work that matters, The Daily Writer will help you take the next step. Learn more at DailyWriterLife.com.

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