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Creative Deadlines – Jack White Uses Them

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The Music

It was mid-March 2011 and Austin, Texas, was already sticky hot.  My then boyfriend (now husband) and I travelled from San Diego to enjoy the music of South by Southwest.  Many of my advertising creative friends attended the interactive week of SXSW and left merely hours before we arrived.

I wasn’t there for advertising though; I was there to get lost in the music.

SXSW attracts musicians from all over the world.  Every stage, every parking lot, every possible space becomes a venue.  (I first listened to one of my favorite bands Onward, Soldiers in the parking lot of an ice cream shop.)  The talent is unbelievable.  The creativity astounding.

Surprise shows pop up at a moment’s notice.  Jack White of The White Stripes performed an acoustic set during one of these moments.  With no possible way of knowing about his improv performance other than being in the right place at the right time, we weren’t – we missed it.

Jack White uses Creative Deadlines

Much like creating this surprise show, Jack White creates his own deadlines to enhance his creativity.  He uses tension to fuel his creativity.

During the filming of the documentary “Under Great White Northern Lights,” Jack White said, “Book only four or five days in the studio and force yourself to record an album in that time.  Deadlines and things make you creative.”

Advertising is a deadline-driven industry.  I’m sure you don’t need more deadlines there.  Notice though, when deadlines and schedules are set, you get things done.  How can you take that into your personal life?  How can you use that model to reach your goals outside of work?

How to Schedule to Reach Your Goals

One success strategy that helps my clients and me personally is to designate blocks of time to work toward a specific goal. Those blocks of time serve as deadlines which force your creativity to come out to play.  Maybe that’s four or five days every month.  Maybe that’s 15 minutes every weekday morning.  Maybe it’s 90 minutes every Wednesday.

Whatever you decide, put that time on your calendar and treat it like the very important meeting that it is.  That block of time – or “meeting” if you will – will get you closer to what you really want.

If you block out that time from say 7p.m. to 8:30p.m. for the next four Wednesdays, and you find yourself this Wednesday at 6:48p.m. waiting for the clock to change to 7p.m., just start.  Write down what time you started and go for the 90 minutes you committed to.  You know how good it feels to get something done early.

Your success will come from putting the blocks of time on your schedule, protecting those times and moving into action during those times.  If Jack White can set aside a block of time to record an album and make it happen, then you can set aside blocks of time for your goals too.

If you like this blog post, please share it with others via Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, however you like to be social.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Clients, Creativity, Goals, Time Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

2 Ways To Face Your Fear

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fearFear.

It immobilizes us.

It keeps us up at night.

And it can do more than keep us alive.

(For the sake of conversation, let’s divert our attention from fears that coincide with our survival instincts.  Let’s talk about being afraid of things that won’t kill us.)

5 Of The Top 10 Fears Boil Down To 1 Fear

Fear of Public Speaking

Fear of Intimacy

Fear of Failure

Fear of Rejection

Fear of Commitment/Making the Wrong Choice

What do these fears have in common? Five of the Top 10 Fears revolve around the Fear of Fitting In.

Fear Of Fitting In

Wait, but we’re creative, isn’t that how the majority of our lives have been?  People called us those, “Creative Weirdos,” or “Awkward Artist Types.”  And look where it got us – into an industry that awards us based on how creative or radical or weird our ideas are!

As advertising creatives we’ve found the place where we can fit in and we embrace not being the status quo.  And yet, how are you doing with the fears of public speaking, intimacy, failure, rejection and commitment?  Are you letting the Fear of Fitting In hold you back in any of those areas?

2 Ways To Face Your Fear

As in the post “When ‘Just Do It’ Doesn’t Work,” it’s important to acknowledge what is in your way, understand it and have compassion for it.  It’s OK to feel afraid; everyone does at times.  Understanding your fear may entail understanding what your fear is truly protecting you from.  With that, you have two options in facing your fear – using it as fuel or weakening it.

1. Use Fear As Your Fuel

Advertising creatives are competitive.  Why not use your competitive nature and compete against your fear?  Go head to head with the fear that’s holding you back.

Which will win – your creativity or your fear?

Which will persevere – your desire to be happy or your fear of what that may take?  

What if you could channel that anxious energy into overcoming what you’re afraid of?  Use your fear as your fuel.  How empowering would that be?  Afterward, you’d feel on top of the world!  You were the one who gave that killer presentation.  You were the one who pitched the best idea to your ECD.  You were the one who took the leap of faith and committed to that new job.

2. Weaken Your Fear

If going head to head with your fear isn’t your style or if the fear is too strong, then concentrate on reducing it.  Again, understand where the fear is coming from and acknowledge that it’s most likely trying to protect you.

My clients have gotten the best results by weakening their fears in the following 5 ways:

  1. Thinking of a time when they faced another fear and pulling from that experience (For example, how you embraced your creativity and found an industry that expects it.)
  2. Planning and preparing how to handle the fear – including different options
  3. Looking to role models who have battled their own fears and won
  4. Focusing on the motivation for overcoming the fear and the benefits that come with the victory
  5. Reprogramming their thoughts about the fear by creating positive intentions

According to an article in Psychology Today by Karl Albrecht, Ph.D., “Fear, like all other emotions, is basically information.  It offers us knowledge and understanding – if we choose to accept it – of our psychobiological status.”  Albrecht goes on to write “And the more clearly and calmly we can articulate the origins of the fear, the less our fears frighten us and control us.”

Fear Is An Opportunity

Fear holds us back.  Fear keeps us in the tiny box where we are, where we don’t realize we’re suffocating.

Being afraid of something signals an opportunity for personal development.  When you push outside of your comfort zone – especially to the point of feeling fear – that’s when the most growth happens.  You can break out of the box.

Life After Fear

Imagine what your life would be like once you conquer your fear.  Really.  Take a moment and imagine.  How would your life be different?  What could you accomplish?  Who would you become?  Would you be more satisfied?  Would you be happier?

I challenge you to either use your fear as fuel or to weaken your fear to the point where you can have that life after fear.  You can have all that you’ve imagined.

Share one fear that is holding you back (one that doesn’t challenge your mortality).  There’s no judgment here.  I’ll start in the comments section.  Share one fear and whether you are going to use it as fuel or weaken it.

Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Blocks, Creativity, Fulfillment, Goals, Happiness, Money Tagged With: , , , ,

Ask For What You Want

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Time and time again I’ve heard clients, colleagues, friends and even strangers wish for the most achievable of things.

“I wish I had more money.”

“If only I had a steady stream of income from my freelance business…”

“I wish I had an extra week vacation.”

“Working this much would be tolerable if I sat near a window.”

“I don’t know what to do next because I don’t know where that company is in the hiring process.”

“I wish I knew how So-and-So did it, because then I could be successful like that.”

“I wish I knew what So-and-So had to get that promotion over me.”

“Why hasn’t that person given me what he or she should know I really want?”

Can you relate to any of these?  What do you wish for?

How can you get what you want?

As creatives we often think so far outside the box that we forget the box itself.  What if it doesn’t take the next big idea or an elaborate plan, sweat and hard work to get what you want?  What if all you need to do is ask?  Ask for what you want.

If you want more money, ask for it.  Ask your boss for a bonus or a raise.  Ask your freelance clients for more money, more projects and more referrals.

Ask to sit by the window all day or even part of the day.

Call the company you applied to two weeks ago and ask where they are in the hiring process.  Then ask that company for any next steps you can take.

Ask So-and-So what they did to get where they are.  Ask your boss what So-and-So had to get promoted over you and what you can do to be the promoted person next time.

And please ask – that person that hasn’t given you what he or she should know you want – for what you want!

What if others should know what you want?

Many times other people simply don’t know what we want, what we’re wishing for, what will make us happy.  To put it bluntly – they are too busy wishing for themselves and doing everything else that they have going on in their lives to stop and consider what you may be wishing for.  Or, worse yet, they may assume you are wishing for the same thing that they want.

For instance, I’ve seen it happen all-too-often, advertising creatives reach a certain point in their career where they don’t care as much about the money as they do their vacation time.  Yet, employee review after employee review they end up unsatisfied because more money was thrown at them instead of that time off that they so desperately desire.  And why?  Because they haven’t made it clear to the decision-makers that they value vacation time the most.  They don’t get what they want because they never asked for it.

What happens when you ask for what you want?

When working with my clients one-on-one, we create a clear plan on how to best ask for what they want so not only do they have the confidence to ask but also 9 times out of 10 they get what they want.  (There are best practices when asking and things you can do to improve your odds of getting what you want.)

Can you guess what the #1 response is when my clients ask for something from someone?  What do you think that someone says?

“Oh, you could have had that sooner if you’d only asked.”

Imagine you had what you are wishing for.   Now, go ask for it.

If you’d like to share, please post a comment.  

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Blocks, Business, Clients, Fulfillment, Goals, Happiness, Law of Attraction, Money, Time Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Happiness in Advertising?

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Advertising People are Leaving Agencies

Research shows that 30% of advertising employees will leave their agencies this year. (This is one of the main reasons I’m working with advertising agencies through presentations and high-level career coaching.)

Driven to Help Advertising People

When I saw the question, “How Much Do You Utterly Despise Working in Advertising?”, I immediately wanted to reach out to miserable advertising people, GRAB THEM BY THE SHOULDERS and tell them it doesn’t have to be this way – THEY CAN BE HAPPY! I know the vicious cycle too well; I lived it and I have the solution. I can help whether it’s through an agency presentation, agency-sponsored coaching program or working directly with an advertising art director, copywriter, designer, ACD or CD without the involvement of his or her agency.  It’s my passion.  It’s my purpose.  And it’s also my biggest frustration to know that there are people in the advertising industry that don’t want to go to work in the morning and don’t know that they can change that.  When I get all fired up (e.g, this very moment), I have to remind myself that I can only help those that want the help (like my past and current clients)…oh and those that know an advertising career coach like me exists. And with that, I’ll end this public rant of sorts (which can’t quite compare to the intensity of the rant in the video below created by Deutsch LA) and get back to telling the industry I exist and I want to help.

Cannes Session

It’ll be interesting to see what Deutsch LA proposes and what they share about their “ownership culture” during next Monday’s (June 18, 2012) Cannes session “Ending The Agency Talent Rotisserie.”  Deutsch LA created a series of videos as a teaser including the video above, which were included in the AdFreak article with the subtitle Deutsch wants to make you happier.

What I Do – Money and More

Yes, turnover is costly to agencies and money is important to a business, but it’s not all about money.  Keeping talented creatives is a must.  Attracting talented creatives is a must.  And a certain level of happiness is a must if you want to create great ads consistently.  Deutsch LA recognizes that, “this agency talent rotisserie has real costs, on recruiting, creative excellence and business development.”

I push my clients to make substantial shifts toward employee satisfaction (custom to each agency and  advertising creative individual’s needs), so that each can be fulfilled when they were previously stuck.  So they can dramatically slow down or stop the agency talent rotisserie.  I guide them to the balance of efficiency with palatable culture.  They go from talk to action.  They go from their employees leaving to their employees being happy to work there again.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Articles, Business, Clients, Creativity, Fulfillment, Happiness, Money Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Creative Week 2012 Highlights

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One Show Interactive Awards

Enjoying the company of my long-time friends, Creative Recruiters from GSP (Linda Harless and Zach Canfield) and DraftFCB (Rafi Kugler) was a personal highlight during Creative Week 2012. Here we are the final night of Creative Week at The One Show Interactive Awards.

Creative Week 2012 was a whirlwind, an incredible whirlwind.  Each day started with a breakfast presentation at 8:30a.m. and ended with parties that lasted until 3:30a.m.  (Note: That’s 19 hours of inspiration, networking and good times, and it’s impossible to do it all for 5 days straight.)  Here are some whirlwind highlights:

  • The people that think the Big Idea is dead are outnumbered.  No one is arguing about the Big Insight (as a replacement) yet.
  • Curate the funny.  That’s advice from Ron Faris, the Director of Brand Marketing for Virgin Mobile USA.
  • When an audience full of want-to-be authors are asked if they’ve ever wanted to write a book, 2 people will raise their hands – the guy who’s written a book and me.
  • Adobe’s VP of Experience Design, Michael Gough, never mentions the word “creativity” to his people.  For Adobe, it’s about the alignment of 10,000 people and getting them all moving in the same direction.  Imagine the “creative” alternative…
  • Every 7 to 10 years puppets become viable again.  The people of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop believe we’re on the onset of that.
  • The best networking happens after the events.  While business cards can be exchanged during pre-scheduled networking times, the most natural, genuine (and fun) networking takes place when people are hanging out because they want to.
  • The concept of “collaboration,” with its best of intentions, continues to be the black sheep in discussions on creativity.
  • People want to work with cool people and do cool stuff.
  • If phone chargers are gold, finding an outlet to use in Manhattan is platinum.
  • 72andSunny sat on a panel for provocative advertising and then swept The One Shows (yes, plural, both the advertising and interactive awards) with their provocative ads.

Coming soon: Advertising Week the first week in October 2012.

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Creative Week 2012

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The eve of Creative Week 2012 is upon us. This week, May 7 – 11, Manhattan and Brooklyn will be buzzing with sessions on creativity, panels on storytelling, and awards for the best design, advertising and interactive work in the country.

As a Creative Week Contributor, I will be tweeting from events live @DS_Coaching and posting blogs on the Creative Week Tumblr throughout the week. I’ll be attending everything from The Freelance Shift panel to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Legacy session to the Education Summit to the highly-anticipated Creative unConference to The One Show’s Design, Advertising and Interactive Awards as well as The 91st Annual Art Directors Club Awards. It’ll be a wild and creative ride. Stay tuned.

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Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Business, Clients, Creativity, Fulfillment, Happiness Tagged With: , , , ,

Advertising & Design Awards & Friendly Faces

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As the advertising and design award shows gear up, the anticipation builds.  Who will be the big winners this year?  Who will get the credit they deserve?  What work will stand out in the sea of product promotion?

The 91st Annual Art Directors Club Awards are currently being judged.  Today, this clip from the interactive jury was posted, and a friendly face of one creative director with whom I worked came up.

Yesterday, the face of a colleague from my advertising days showed up in the 2012 Facebook Studio Awards Jury Session photos.

It’s incredible to think that I’ve worked alongside the best of the best – the advertising creatives who are jurying Cannes and The One Show and the ADDY’s and the Andy’s…and…and…  It’s simply incredible (if incredible can be simple).

As I write about the talent I was surrounded by and that I remain connected to, I want to clarify that I don’t mean to be “name dropping” nor jumping up and down saying, “Look at me!  Look at me; I have cool friends!”  My experience, my network and my insights are not a point of pride but rather tools to better help my creative clients.  My passion is coaching and consulting advertising art directors, copywriters and graphic designers.

Also, it makes me smile to see a friendly face on a video such as this one for the Art Directors Club Awards. ;)

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Creativity shows up when you invite it

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CreativityRecently I wrote an article around claiming your creativity.  As I wrote I could feel passion bubbling up inside of me.  I am creative (one notch more creative than business-like in the left-brain/right-brain test), and I am my happiest when I am surrounded by creative people.  “Who are creative people?” you may ask. Years ago I would explain the answer with specific examples of graphic designers, art directors, writers, painters, musicians and so on.  Now I tend to simply say, “Creative people are those who say they are creative.”  Notice, it’s not enough to know you are creative, you must admit it.  You must say it outloud.  You must claim your creativity.

Several weeks ago I connected with a creative group on Meetup.com.  Please understand that I am the type of person who only joins a group when I am confident that not only I want to commit to it but also that I have the time, energy, resources, etc. to jump right in.  So after being an assistant organizer of a music-related Meetup group for close to a year, I joined the creative group.  As I read the group’s description, a book that is on my to-read list was showcased.  The book The Artist’s Way has come up three times in a matter of weeks, so I took that as a sign to join the group (and bump the book up to the top of my list). After filling out my bio in which I first said,

“While I love art, design, music, and specifically singing and playing the ukulele, my real passion is coaching & consulting creative people so they finally feel satisfied even when they have previously felt stuck,”

I found out that the organizer of the group is also a coach!  Yesterday, we met for tea (for her) and coffee (for me) where we must have sounded like giggling teenagers with a crush (only we were discussing coaching, business, marketing, and creativity).  Stories were spilling out of me almost faster than I could say the words, and I was absorbing her experiences as if I were watching a movie trailer.  As with many times throughout this last year, the fact that career coaching is what I am meant to do was blindingly evident.  Her passion for helping others find or reignite their creativity was refreshing, and I couldn’t help but think about the final line in my article, “When you claim your creativity, you are powerful.”

The more I focus on my career coaching business’s niche market of graphic designers and advertising creatives, the more creative my thinking around my business has become.  It’s no coincidence that as I invited creativity to take center stage in one of my articles that it has begun to show up more and more in my work and life.

With that, I encourage you not only to claim your creativity but also invite it to be a part of every aspect of your life.  If you’re like me, you’ll feel more fulfilled than you even thought possible.

Filed Under: Advertising Creatives/Graphic Designers, Articles, Books, Business, Clients, Creativity, Fulfillment, Happiness, Law of Attraction Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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