The Daily Writer

A number of years ago, I sat down in my son’s bedroom late at night after he fell asleep. I was in my mid-30’s and intensely discouraged.

As I began to pour out my thoughts, they took shape as a manifesto. I included this “Artist’s Manifesto” at the end of my book The Artist’s Suitcase because it represents the core of what I believe about artists.

In this episode, I’m also sharing it here because it never hurts to get back to the basics. Whether or not you’ve heard it before, I hope it encourages you to stand up and embrace your creative destiny.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/manifesto.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup. 

I’ll be honest: one of my least favorite aspects of blogging is creating images. Graphic design has never been my strong suit, so selecting and manipulating images has always been something I’ve just tolerated.

At the same time, images are an important part of the reader experience. We are visual creatures, and a screen full of text with no images is pretty boring to read.

For several years, I struggled with figuring out a good way to produce quality images for my blog. But the last year or so, I have been using the Word Swag app, which helps me create high-quality images in just a few minutes.

In this episode, you’ll learn why I love this app and how it can help you create images for your blog. I’ll also point you to a video walkthrough of the app to show you exactly how to use it.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/blogimages.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! When you leave a rating and review on iTunes, it helps other people discover the show, and it also helps me to serve you better. To leave a rating a review for the show, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes. If you’re listening on a mobile device, just click the link in the show notes.

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup. 

I’ve always been drawn to Gothic cathedrals. These medieval works of art represent one of the pinnacles of human ingenuity and creativity. The designers, laborers, and craftsmen worked to build something they knew would outlive them—not only by decades, but by centuries.

That’s a stark contrast to today’s creative world, where we don’t normally think in centuries or decades, or even years. We think in weeks and days, hours and moments. But is there a way to balance the need for relevance and timeliness with a more long-term perspective on our creative work?

The real question is: Will your art outlive you?

In this post, we’ll ponder this question as we look at three imperatives that we must consider if we’re going to create art that lasts.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/cathedrals.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! When you leave a rating and review on iTunes, it helps other people discover the show, and it also helps me to serve you better. To leave a rating a review for the show, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes. If you’re listening on a mobile device, just click the link in the show notes.

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.

As a creative entrepreneur, you have an endless number of career choices available to you today. These options can be a real blessing or a real curse.

They can be a blessing because you can tailor-fit your creative work to fit your passions, gifts, and interests. But they can also be a curse because it’s easy to get paralyzed by all these options.

This has increasingly been my experience the last couple of years. I recently sat down and thought through all of the types of work I’m currently doing, or could possibly be doing, to make money.

To help give me clarity and direction, I created ten questions that have helped me decide my future direction. Some of these questions are controversial, but in the end, I believe they will help you as much as they have helped me.

In this episode, you’ll learn what these ten questions are and why they are important. I’ll also share how to access a free assessment that will help you clearly walk through all of the work you are doing, or could possibly be doing, and how to figure out which ones to focus on.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/careerquestions.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.

Do you ever feel like your New Year’s goals are a distant memory by the time summer arrives?

Me, too. Guilty as charged. There has been more than one summer when I’ve resigned myself to failure and said, “Eh, it’s too late now. Maybe I’ll tackle that creative project next year.”

If you can relate, I have a solution you’ll love: the 2017 Summer Creative Challenge.

During the month of June, I’m hosting a 30-day challenge to help you tackle a major creative goal. The purpose of the Summer Creative Challenge is for you to decide on a creative goal and make major progress toward achieving it during the month of June. This can be any goal that helps you achieve success in your creative life.

In this episode, you’ll learn three reasons why you should join the challenge, and how it will benefit you.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/2017summercreativechallenge.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup. 

I have been dealing with depression since my late 20’s. I’m now 42, so this has been an ongoing battle with a demon that will be lurking in the shadows until I die.

A couple of months ago I went through a wave of depression that lasted for a couple of weeks. In this post, I want to share what happened and what I learned.

This is a different post than usual. But if you are struggling with depression, I hope you will come away knowing that you are not alone in your struggle. My main goal is to urge you to do whatever is needed to get healthy.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/surviveddepression.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.

Do you ever have trouble staying motivated and productive in your creative life?

If so, you’re definitely not alone! My friend Cary recently sent me a question that expressed what many of us feel sometimes. He says:

I have plenty of blog, podcast and video ideas floating around in my head. When I actually sit down and write, record, or create a video, I am on top of the world because I am getting it out of me and into the world. 

One of the problems I have is staying actively productive. I'll have spurts where I am cranking out good content on a regular basis, then I will get off track and look up and months have gone by without anything being done. 

Therefore my question is: How do I keep from being thrown off track so easily and stay on top of putting my content out weekly, like I want to do?

Cary has two separate but related issues here: motivation and productivity. Both of these are solved by having a system for producing your content.

A system is a repeatable process that you can use to get predictable results. Using systems doesn’t sound very inspiring or creative, but that’s exactly what need to produce material on a regular basis.

In this episode, you’ll learn nine tips for being productive and staying motivated by using systems. These systems help me produce several pieces of content each week: two blog posts, two podcast episodes (which are audio versions of my blog posts), and a newsletter. (This is on top of my full-time teaching job and work for several freelance clients.)

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/motivated.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.

Not too long ago, I was talking with a friend about the success his and his family were having. He had just received a promotion at work and a substantial bump in compensation. His wife had also gotten a new job and was making twice her former salary.

Life was going really well for them.

But I confess that the more he talked, the worse I felt about myself. My joy morphed into jealousy as I secretly wondered why so many good things weren’t happening for me, too.

No one is immune to seductive whispers of jealousy. We must constantly be on the lookout for the “green-eyed monster” that loves to tell seven lies that we’ll expose on this episode.

Don’t let your feelings of jealousy hold you back. Face your negative emotions and start doing the work you’re called to do.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/jealousylies.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.

A few weeks ago I spoke to a friend about a creative opportunity. I thought I had a good shot at being accepted for it, but then my friend called me back. I was not going to be considered for the opportunity.

At first, I was hurt and a little angry. I moped around the house for a couple of days, feeling sorry for myself. 

But on Saturday morning, I woke up and had a stark realization: I was acting like a child and my attitude sucked.

I stood back and took a hard look at myself. What could I learn from this? How could this rejection make me better?

In this post, I’ll share nine things I have learned from this experience. I hope these will be useful as you deal with rejection in your own life.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/rejected.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup. 

Relationships are the glue that holds society together. If we’re going to succeed in our families, work, and creative lives, we must know how to relate well with people.

However, sometimes things go south and relationships start to crumble in our work environments. It might be a firing, layoff, controversial leadership decision, or some other event that sets you emotionally on edge. When this happens, it’s easy to fly off the handle and do something you’ll later regret.

In this episode, you’ll learn five tips that will help you avoid workplace drama that so often derails careers and ruins relationships.

For the post that accompanies this episode, head over to http://kentsanders.net/workplacedrama.

I definitely appreciate your feedback! If you’d like to leave a rating & review for the Born to Create podcast, you can do so here: http://KentSanders.net/itunes.   

Ready to break through your creative barriers, navigate fear & doubt, and get clear on your priorities? That’s why I wrote The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. Grab your copy here: http://KentSanders.net/suitcase.

Join our growing Born to Create Community on Facebook! Check it out here: http://KentSanders.net/facebookgroup.