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Up-Level Your Life with Mindy
Up-Level Your Life with Mindy
Unleashing Your Potential: Marc Scheff on the Creative Journey of Self-Discovery and Growth
What if creativity is the missing link to unlocking your full potential? Join us for an inspiring episode featuring visionary coach Marc Scheff, who shares his transformative journey from the realms of visual arts and tech to becoming a full-time coach. Marc opens up about how his passion for creativity and understanding the mind has shaped his diverse career path, ultimately leading him to guide others in overcoming self-limiting beliefs. Discover why Marc considers coaching his most creative endeavor yet, and learn about his pioneering role in user experience design.
Explore the often-unseen side of creativity that extends beyond traditional arts. We discuss how educational systems can stifle creative instincts and how adults might feel disconnected from their imaginative potential. Marc helps us question societal pressures and the idealized lives portrayed on social media, encouraging a shift in focus towards finding fulfillment in everyday joys and relationships. Through stories of personal expression, problem-solving, and even parenting, we highlight the many forms creativity can take in daily life.
Discover practical steps to initiate change and make space for personal growth. Marc shares insights on starting with small, manageable changes that lead to meaningful progress. By creating space—mentally, emotionally, and physically—we can accommodate new life directions. Hear about the Unleash Creativity Club, a program supporting people passionate about creative pursuits, and learn the benefits of being part of a community dedicated to nurturing artistic talents. Stay tuned for more enriching discussions as we continue to explore the transformative power of creativity.
Marc Scheff is a visionary coach dedicated to guiding makers and changemakers on a profound inner journey. With his expertise, individuals break through barriers, transcending self-limiting beliefs to unlock the full spectrum of their capabilities. Word salad, right? The turth is they do things they want to do but aren't just think they can't. Marc's transformative coaching goes beyond the visual arts, resonating with a diverse array of clients, empowering them to architect their own narrative and flourish in their professional endeavors.
To learn more about Marc, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcscheff/
To learn more about Mindy CLICK HERE
Hi everyone and welcome back to Uplevel your Life with Mindy. I'm your host, mindy Duff, and I have a special guest with me here today. I'm going to be chatting with Mark Schaaf about boy I don't even know. I mean, I think I know what we're going to talk about, but Mark has quite the background, so this could go anywhere, right.
Speaker 2:It really could. I'll try to. I'll try to keep it focused and hopefully, valuable, helpful, informative.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Mindy, this is nice to talk to you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And let me tell you a little bit about Mark formally, and then I'm going to let Mark tell you about himself informally. So Mark Sheff is a visionary coach dedicated to guiding makers and change makers on a profound inner journey. With his expertise, individuals break through barriers, transcending self-limiting beliefs to unlock the full spectrum of their capabilities. Mark's transformative coaching goes beyond the visual arts We'll talk about visual arts here in a little bit Resonating with a diverse array of clients, empowering them to architect their own narrative and flourish in their professional endeavors. And again, welcome to the show, Mark.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. That's well said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I read I mean, that's like your formal, you know bio, um. But I always like to hear people explain in their own words what do you really do? Like we, we okay, that's what you like on paper do, but what do you really do? How do you see it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I think the thing that I do and that I've always done is and this is maybe, maybe too broad, but from you know, from the moment I can, I you know, from the moment I remember, even even in high school, college, after college I love to learn things, I love to learn new things, I love to, I love to especially learn about, kind of like, how people work, how creativity works, how the mind works, and obviously I've had careers in tech and art and I like taking those skills and what I like doing is I like learning those things and then helping other people take those tools and create amazing things with them.
Speaker 2:So sometimes that creation is art, sometimes that creation is a relationship, sometimes that creation is business. But now that I'm really committed to my coaching as a full time practice and this has been a transformation, a COVID transformation you know I can now take all of the many, many, many books and experiences and workshops and trainings and all these things that I've done and really apply it in a very, very deep way for people that I find, I mean honestly, people ask me like are you? I'm not making art the way that I was before? That's just the truth, and so you know, how do you feel about that? Are you like you know? Yeah, you know it was definitely a conversation I had to have with myself, but this work is the most creative work I've done in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I could see that easily. So let's talk about so. You're coaching now, but let's talk a little bit about before, because we've kind of hinted around this visual arts bit. So what did you used to do? And I know you still I mean it's in your bio- that you help people, you know even with. You do your own art and you help people with art.
Speaker 2:But let's talk about that just for a little bit. Yeah well, I think it's kind of interesting the way that you asked it. It's what I used to do. I mean it is, and it's a thing that kind of gets in people's way. I think, when they talk about transformation Because there is, you know, to move in a new direction, if you will there is an aspect of kind of letting go of of what you were doing. And I'll say more, I'll answer your question on creativity. But I just want to kind of note, like there's, there's a real, there's, there's almost like a grief that that that one might go through if they're changing careers or moving on from a relationship or, you know, having kids. You know, as you well know, the life we knew before kids is gone forever. But art, yeah no, I mean, I've always, I've always been interested in art. I've always made art.
Speaker 2:When I was, you know, in high school, I had this great art teacher, mr Buckley, who you know. I went to a small school there weren't that many electives, and there was one year where we did not have a paint, you know, like a drawing painting elective, but he picked four of us, five of us and said you know, talk to the administration if you guys want to do as a boy school. If you guys want to do, you know, art electives, they said that I could basically take extra time just for you. So you know, I was into it, but then when I went to college I wasn't. There wasn't a lot. I mean, my parents were very supportive of kind of whatever I wanted to do, but you know, my dad's a pediatrician and my mom was a nurse, and so there was a little bit of like, yeah, you should go and like, try to get a job. So I studied computer science in school because I thought I'll get a job, I'll do some art on the side. Very, very quickly.
Speaker 2:When I got my first job, I was talking to all the designers and we created this was 1999. So you could. I had a friend who literally would every day wake up and check to see all the new websites that had been made on the internet, cause you could do that, cause there was like four of them. So this is early on and we all of us sort of creative minded folks at this company said we want to have a new position where we're we're really thinking about how to make the websites and the user experience. There was no such thing as user experience. That literally didn't exist. So this was the path that I took. And then, you know, I started taking art classes and kind of went oh man, I really, I really like this.
Speaker 2:And I started taking more art classes. And, and then I was taking so many art classes that I had a relationship fall apart. And my boss, who I have since thanked, offered. Offered to let me be a part of the next round of layoffs so that I could really focus on what I loved. Offered to let me be a part of the next round of layoffs so that I could really focus on what I loved.
Speaker 2:And I went through a whole I mean even the art side. I, you know, I went to art school. I went back into tech and video games, because, you know, it's this winding path. I was, you know, I was in my 20s and I was like, ok, well, let me, what can I do? You know, what can I do with this? I didn't really know, but I started to discover the world of illustration, where I spent a good number of years and taught for a little over a decade I think 11, 12 years taught illustration and drawing and even in that time, completely transformed and went into fine art, where I'm probably best known for my resin work. I'm probably best known for these Shoot.
Speaker 2:I should actually have one sitting here so I can show you. But well, here I have a. I'm going to knock everything over. You can hear everything falling off my desk, but this is one that's in progress. But you can see, these paintings are like there's a thickness to them and this is not done. But it's going to be a self-portrait, and you can see. Actually it's kind of neat to see. You can see that this is an underlayer.
Speaker 1:I and you can see. Actually it's kind of neat to see. You can see that this is an under layer. I'll put more resin on, I'll draw on top. This is this is what I'm probably best known for in the art world. People might be listening going okay, so he does art. Like, what the heck does that have to do with this coaching and how can that help me? But it does it all. It all comes together and I know that it does so, which leads me to my next question Um, why do you think creativity is so important?
Speaker 2:Good question, really good question. Um, I don't, hmm, I don't know if I don't, I don't know if I don't know, if I would even say it's important, I would say that it's unavoidable. Yeah, it's. It's the reason why you eat whatever you eat for breakfast or dress the way that you dress is that you know, you saw something and you tried it and you decide you liked it, or maybe that was the choice you had. But fundamentally, we're all creating everything in our lives.
Speaker 2:Now I want to acknowledge, you know, some of us have more choices than others. Some of us have more privilege than others. Some of us have less choices than others. That's not to say that everyone you know I'm not one of these like, oh, just, you know, just think, put it out in the universe and you'll have whatever you want. Sometimes the choices are limited, but we can be creative, I think, within those choices. I mean, I think you probably, like anybody else, have been faced with a choice where you don't really like either option, and sometimes we have to be creative about either making the best of one of the options or making. Sometimes I actually find, especially in creativity, that constraints on our choices can actually cause, you know, cause you to have more creativity.
Speaker 2:But I want to also acknowledge, like the thing that I didn't say in that little history is that for the last 20 years I've been in and around the coaching world. I was in a group that was doing a lot of coaching in the, in the from like 2004 and on and on the West Coast, and then I've done a lot of coaching from like 2004 and on on the West Coast, and then I've done a lot of workshops and a lot of books and personal growth. I've done coaching, I've had coaches, so that was always kind of in the background, and so when an opportunity presented itself for me COVID to you know, sort of reinvent myself I got to take a good hard look and get really creative about okay. So I listed all these different things that I do and I didn't just do those things. I mean I run an art gallery, I was an art director, I was a creative director, a founder, like.
Speaker 2:I worked at kind of all the different levels and what really made sense was A, the creativity piece and everything that I just said, but also working with people at these different, at these different levels, because with the, I mean, you might look and say you know sort of jack of all trades but at the same time I've seen so many. I've seen corporate nonprofit, you know. Independent freelance like I've seen all these different things from a number of different angles. Independent freelance like I've seen all these different things from a number of different angles. And you can hear it in my voice Like I'm so excited to work with people and to discover how they want to navigate best. Whichever world you know, it is that they're in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's. That's really interesting. And again I'm going to bring it back to this creativity piece, which I think I don't know. I run across so many people that think that they're not creative. Well, I'm not creative or I can't.
Speaker 2:I can't paint a picture.
Speaker 1:I can't do, I can't, you know, I don't. I don't sing, I don't do whatever, and that's that's not true. But I mean, maybe it's true that you know somebody listening cannot sit down and recreate the Mona Lisa shirt, but that doesn't mean that you're not creative. But I think that it's interesting because, as I was kind of all looking over you know your history and everything and preparing for this podcast, I'm actually taking a course right now and it's all about brain and brain development and how that relates to children and whatever. It's a whole thing.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I just finished this chapter on creativity and watched this wonderful TED talk by a man that would be really great if I remembered his name.
Speaker 1:I don't, but it was all about how, essentially, schools are kind of designed to smoosh creativity and I don't think that and I'm a teacher, I've been a teacher, I'm teachers are great. I don't think any teacher out there is heading to work every day, going, all right, I'm going to smush the crap out of these kids' creativity. It's just a byproduct of what happens, just due to the structure of that, and then we end up with adults that think that they're not creative and even though, like you say, you are creating every day, when you choose what you're going to wear, et cetera, et cetera. But you have so much more creativity that's untapped because you just haven't been really using it. And that's again not to say that everybody has to go out and paint a picture, but that's just. You know, like you were mentioning solving problems and being having to look at it from a different way, yeah, so I really think that you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I just think it's a thing I mean you mentioned right, like I have two kids. You've got kids. How creative, how, how much more creative are you now as a parent? You know, a decade plus into into parenting?
Speaker 1:Yeah, as compared to just starting out, you mean. Yeah you had a lot of practice right yeah. Yeah, you have to get creative. You don't have a choice but to be creative.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's one of the things I mean. I think about the the work that I've done as a coach, but also, you know, as someone who's been coached by many different, some really wonderful people. So much of it comes back to my parenting. You know, I think that this work that I do on myself and that my clients do on themselves, so much of it just comes back to their families, their loved ones, their kids. The things that I hear from people in my course, my program, are oftentimes I mean yes, some of them are making art or writing or making music or doing these different things.
Speaker 1:Most of the stories I hear about is about the relationships in their lives and how they're changing yeah, that's fascinating and again, like it's all, it's already there, it's just accessing it and kind of learning how to do some of that. So, which brings me to my next question I feel like in I don't know in our society right now. I feel like there's this oh, what do I want to say? There's so many people that feel stuck. There's so many like when I maybe it's just Facebook ads targeting me, I don't know. Now that I'm talking about, it.
Speaker 2:I'm going to need even more.
Speaker 1:I mean, the algorithm doesn't know what we're up to Exactly, but I see a lot of advertisements and programs and whatever, and memes and everything about. You know people who just feel but it's still, it's true, it's out there. So why do you think that so many people feel that they aren't quote unquote living their purpose?
Speaker 2:I think that's a really good question and I think, well, I, you know. I think I think that's a really good question and I think, well, I, you know. I think I think there's a couple of things Very, very big picture I mean honestly very big picture is that we live in a world where there are too many people who don't have their needs met, who are dealing with various kinds of oppression and bigotry and wealth inequality and food scarcity and all these different things. It's just really hard to be creative and think about things like what am I here for? If you're worried about any of those things? I think that's a very real, that's very real and and and that just has to be said we also live in an age where, like you said, you know, I can be anywhere in the world right now, like I can look up and find local news, you know, in almost any spot in the world, and I'm aware of everything that's out there or I could be, you know, and I'm aware of you know, and not to mention the sort of influencer culture that we have on social media. So now you're constantly being bombarded with people's best lives and so you're constantly sort of sitting there going wait a minute. Why am I, you know, why am I not? Why am I not doing that?
Speaker 2:But I don't actually think. I don't actually think purpose means, you know, being a, you know, being a multimillion follower, influencer, because because it's not about that per se the people that I work with who find purpose, some of them do go off and do those big things and that's great. But what some people come to and it's and it's not easy to come to, sometimes I had someone in my, in my last, in my last group, who was like what if I don't? What if I don't want to like change the world? Like what if I? Just, you know what, if I just want to like do something, like have a nice life and be nice to my partner and and and take care of my, my friends and family, there's not, there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:We, we people, throw around the word purpose now, like if you connect with your purpose, you're going to go be the next, you know so-and-so. No, if you, if you find your purpose, you're going to be you, and, and who that is is sometimes, like we said at the very beginning, sometimes it means letting go of some of these ideas that society is telling us that we have to have, or these influencers just tell you know, comparison is the thief of joy, so to speak. So once we can kind of let go and it's a practice. You know what I'm? All the things I'm talking about is not like oh, you know, you're going to listen to this podcast and go. Oh, of course I can just let go of that. It is practice. It does take, you know, repetition and consistency and work, but I've seen people go through this process.
Speaker 1:And it's really a beautiful thing that starts to happen when they start to just meet themselves. Yeah, I like that and I like that, I like that. That individual in your group was like well, what if I don't? I mean, that's that's probably. Honestly, if we polled the world, I would guess that that's the majority that don't want to go out, and just not that they don't want the world to improve, but like they don't necessarily have these big, grandiose dreams of making this big change. They just want to live a nice, good, happy, content life. And I think really, when it comes down to it, that's what all of us want is just to feel happy and content and at peace with ourselves. And that might mean that you're going out and doing big things and it might mean that you're not. It just depends on, like you said, you, the individual, doing big things and it might mean that you're not.
Speaker 1:It just depends on, like you said, you, you, the individual. So. So you talked about not comparing and I a hundred percent agree with that. Do you have any other, any other tips or questions? I always think that questions are like the most I don't know. I always tell people you got to ask yourself why. It's like the most annoying thing, but like, keep, keep asking why and you'll eventually get to the answer. But what would be three questions that a person wanting to find their purpose should ask themselves? And again, recognizing that purpose could be big, could be small. We're just going for a happy life here.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this is a. This is a hard one to answer, cause there's um, actually I run workshops on on this and there's kind of there's, I think. I think there's lots and lots of good ways of approaching it, but there's two that kind of come to mind.
Speaker 2:So if you don't mind me giving you two sets of questions, go for it. I would say the first is really like designed to get you to a functional idea of purpose and that is that is really. You know, looking, looking, looking back, kind of like I gave you my whole for everything that I do, looking back. Okay, so what do I do, who do I do it for and what is the impact? And with those three questions you can almost put together a purpose statement. You know, I do X for X, so that this is how the world changed, or this is how my smaller world changes, or whatever, however big your world is. So that's that's kind of like. That's kind of a formulaic approach, the one that I do. And this is, I think, really actually best done with a coach or somebody asking the questions. You can do it yourself as well if you know how to sort of journal in conversation with yourself. But it's two questions and it's so funny I do this with some of my groups and some of my clients where you literally just ask these questions until you're kind of fried and the question is what do you want?
Speaker 2:And you know what about that is important to you and it sounds very simple. But if you really, like I said, it's good to work with someone, because if you really just allow yourself the space to answer those questions and sometimes there is like long pauses in these conversations but somebody might say, you know, I just, you know, I want to buy. You know, I want to buy a house and I want to not worry about money. Okay, why is that important to you? Well, safety and security, Okay, well, so then, what do you? So? Then, what do you want? Oh well, if I have those things, then I would want. And why is that important? And you start to get to these deeper levels of what it is that really matters to you.
Speaker 2:Because it's probably not. I mean, yes, we live in a capitalist society, so money is important, but that's probably not your purpose. You know that's a thing that, like, you should want and go get and good for you. But underneath that, I haven't found an exception to this. So if anyone's listening and has an exception to this, please email me. I'd love to hear about it. But there's always something underneath that that's really driving somebody, something that they care about, whether it's, you know, safety or freedom, or courage, or confidence, like any of these kind of values that people have. So that's, I would say there's a formulaic three questions, and then there's like more of a do it with a friend or a coach, two questions over and over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that um two questions over and over is a really powerful exercise. I've done something similar before, um slightly different questions, but again um another like twist on that. What I have done is where they just ask you the same question, like what do you? Maybe it's what do you want? For 30 seconds or 60 seconds? What do you want? You respond and they just keep asking what do you want? What?
Speaker 2:do you?
Speaker 1:want. What do you want? You might repeat yourself quite a bit, um, as you're trying to think of what you want beyond the first, you know three or four things that you come up with, and usually the first. You know three or four things might be something kind of superficial. I want a snack, I want a nap, I want to you know, whatever.
Speaker 1:But then stuff comes out. Usually if you're with a trusted friend or coach and you're in a safe place to do so, you will be shocked at what can come up and the words that will come out of your own mouth and you'll go well, where did that even come from, I? But? But it'll be the truth.
Speaker 2:You'll recognize it immediately but yeah, that's really powerful. You say that like that's. I think, um, it's one of the things I always ask people kind of you know, at the end of our session or at the end of a group or something, I'll say you know, what are you taking away from from this or what's what was valuable to you in this conversation? It's a way of getting people to really summarize and think for themselves and it's going to be easier for them to remember when they've kind of reviewed it. But the most common answer I get is that they were able to say things that they hadn't quite had the words for or said out loud before, and that sounds like, yeah, okay, well, I've got good friends, I can do that. But there's something qualitatively different about really intentionally going into a conversation like this, whether it is with a friend or a professional coach, but going in with the intention of discovering something deeper.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that it's. It's very powerful for people that are like I don't know about that, that sounds silly Well try it and then let me know how that went.
Speaker 1:So do you have any other just must do tips for people that are feeling just kind of stuck Like they're? They've asked themselves some questions, they're working on their purpose, but they just kind of feel stuck, like they're not in the right place in their life or where they want to be, and they maybe even don't even know where they want to be. They just feel this stuck feeling.
Speaker 1:I know we've all I mean sometimes you get like that like for a day and you're like, all right, well, I wasn't like this yesterday, I probably won't be like this tomorrow. But sometimes you're like that for like weeks at a time and then you know it's something bigger. So what are your tips there? What are your tips there.
Speaker 2:You know, I would say I was thinking about this. There's a few things I would say that I think are helpful. Like if you're listening to this and you're feeling kind of stuck in your life and we've all been there I mean I'm not doing what I do because I was never stuck. I'm not doing what I do because I'm never going to be stuck again. I mean I could tell you about five areas of my life right now that I'm probably dealing with that feeling, and I could tell you about five areas of my life right now that I'm probably dealing with that feeling. But I think there's a few things that help. One at the very highest level is that change either comes for you or it comes with you. Change happens, change is inevitable. Things are going to change. You can either let it happen to you or you can actually do things that kind of steer the direction that you're going to go. So what does that mean? I think the other tip that aligns with that is that you may actually have an idea of what you want your life to look like and it's so different, or there's too many big things and it's hard to like. It just seems impossible. The thing that I would say is think of one, one small change you could make and this is how you take the wheel of the change machine right. Think about one small thing that you can do that would be in that right direction. It's not about getting to a destination. It's about turning your compass, turning the car whatever metaphor you want to use in the right direction, because as you go down that path, you're going to start to see more things and the thing that you thought you wanted, you know, like, there was lots of things that I thought I wanted in the art world, in the tech world that as I went down that path, I started to see more and go, oh, you know what? Actually, I want to go in this other direction. That's okay, but you have to start moving.
Speaker 2:So I'll give you, I'll give you an example, right, like, um, I, uh, exercise is kind of the easiest example, right Like, if you know if you, if you have this idea, like you, you know you want to be healthier in whatever way. Uh, you want your body to look different in whatever way. Um, you can sit and think that it'll change tomorrow, but we all know that. You know if you, if you just sit and think that's not going to necessarily change your body. There's some science that would maybe nuance that, but we'll, we'll save that for another, another podcast. But you know, the mistake that I think people make is like, ok, I'm going to change, I'm going to be a fit person, I'm going to like totally eat differently and I'm going to go to the gym five times. And we all know what happens on the second week of January when people do that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Right, so the the, the advice that I would give if you're ready to take the wheel on your, on your on your change machine and ready to ready to point it in the right direction, think of a small thing, and when I say small I mean something that you can do in less than 30 minutes, and that's really, really key. I think when I, when I work with people and I'm like what's a small thing you can do? Well, they're like well, I could set this up. And I can say I'm like no, no, no, no, smaller, smaller, smaller. Well, I could, I could find, I could find out which gyms around me have the classes that I like. Great, that's it, that's it. Just do that, because then you have a small goal, you get that dopamine hit and you might start to start to move along.
Speaker 2:One of those things If you tell me that you're going to work out for an hour a day for the next two weeks, I'm like let's forget that. That's like too much. Maybe you'll do it and maybe that's great and that's fine. But I encourage people, especially if they're feeling stuck, maybe that's great and that's fine, but I encourage people, especially if they're feeling stuck, is to just do that online research, make that phone call to a friend, ask them what they would do. Just do something that you can do in less than 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:And then last thing I'll say is if you can take that thing and make it repeatable, right. If you consistently show up for yourself and the kind of person you want to be whether that's a healthier person, a nicer person, a better parent, you know, a better boss, a better leader, a better executive, a better team member, a better whatever you can find a small thing that you can repeat, and sometimes that's, you know, maybe that's like you, like. This is what I did. I started working out for 20 minutes in the morning after I got all my stuff done, and that has translated into decades of consistency, because the other thing is, if I totally get screwed up on my exercise or whatever, I can always go back to that less than 30 minute step and still feel like I did something. I'll leave that there. There's there. We could have a whole podcast on that.
Speaker 1:We could do a podcast just on that.
Speaker 2:I feel like I've been rambling on now for a while about it.
Speaker 1:No, that's great, and I love that you talk about just that one small step. I mean I can't help but think of James Clear's book Atomic Habits, you know if anybody's read, that Like he's huge on like the the you know you talk about.
Speaker 2:well, I'm gonna start going for a walk after dinner, which sounds like a small step, but he'll even break it down further and say no, no, no, you're gonna put your shoes on, your walking shoes on, and that's it yeah.
Speaker 1:And then, once that's the habit, then you extend it, yeah.
Speaker 2:She said my habit is not dancing for five hours a day. She said my habit is putting on my shoes and calling the cab.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Now I have to go downstairs. Well, now I'm at the gym. You know what I mean. It's like you put these things. James Clear is an absolutely huge influence on me and I had the good fortune of actually speaking with him about some of this stuff and, uh, can't say enough good things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I also like that in you know, you kind of hinted at this too. Um, when we sometimes, when we're so stuck, I think like, well, I don't even know, I don't even know if this is the right thing, like I could go off on this path and you know, maybe that's the right thing for me, but I don't even know if it is. But doing that just small step is it's a commitment to do the small step, but it's not like you're drastically changing your life. If you're not sure if you should go this way or this way, will you take that one small step and then, like you say, things open up and you start to see what that path might look more like, and then you might stop and go. Oh nope, because sometimes you have to take a wrong step to know that it's the wrong step, and then you, you can go just kidding and go back and make a different choice.
Speaker 2:I'm working with someone now who's having that exact experience. The small step that they're taking is doing some online research and speaking with some people in various programs that they were considering and about a month into this is going. I don't know if I actually want to do it, which is great. You didn't waste a year of and thousands of dollars in a program to discover you didn't like it. You did, you did the small thing first, yeah, yeah, there's always I think there's always a step like that that you can kind of you can kind of put, you can start to be in action and see you know if it's, if it's for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I love that. So I do have one final question for you. This is my, my I guess it's becoming my signature question.
Speaker 2:I ask every. It started off as the question of the month.
Speaker 1:I ask everybody this question, but it's my favorite question, Um. So what's one thing you wish everyone would do in regards to their own wellbeing?
Speaker 2:in regards to their own well-being. Create space. Yeah, it's something I see in my own life, in my family. My wife works very, very hard. She loves, she's very, very dedicated to her mission in life, her purpose in life, my clients, the other artists that I know, the people, the entrepreneurs that I know the thing that is so often in the way is just this is this lack of space, and I mean that both physically and sort of mentally, emotionally and also just temporally. Like you know, I was working with someone who very short version of the story is. They kind of gave me their calendar and there was and they were like I have to create all of this work for this thing in a couple of months, but there's literally no space. So that's what we worked on. When we did, we managed to create space and he had a great show and it may look impossible, but and I would also say I mean, if you're having trouble doing that in your life, there's lots of resources out there. I'd be remiss if I didn't say I have a few, obviously, my newsletter and my sub stack and you know working with me.
Speaker 2:This is something that I do a lot with clients because a lot of times think about it this way, right, I do a lot with clients because a lot of times think about it this way, right, like you, your, your identity, your life is like a puzzle.
Speaker 2:You're a. You're a puzzle piece in this puzzle where you've got your you know, and it's like a whatever shape it is and you've got your relationships and your kids and your work and your other projects and your social life and all of the things in your life fit. So now you want to change something? Well, great, but that means your puzzle piece changes. So now what happens? There's pressure because there's these other pieces that were like I was kind of used to you, like this, and they'll either push you back into the shape that you were or you can do the work, have those conversations and start to find a way to either have them make space for you or, obviously, in the worst case, sometimes you know friendships and jobs and other things are no longer a fit if the change is big enough. But you've got to create that space so that you can change your shape. I can give you a lot of examples, but that's really that's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's interesting, I like that. Nobody has ever said that for an answer before. So good job, you're the first one. No, I like that, and it's so true. I mean, whatever you know when we're looking to make a change. That's one of the hardest things is you know, if you're, we'll go back to working out. Let's say you're going to start working out, however many times a week, but you haven't been doing that. Well, when are you going to do it? And if you didn't stop and take the time to figure out the when and to make that space, then you're going to find that after a couple of weeks, that's part. That's one, one reason of many why people kind of fall off the wagon, so to speak, because it just they didn't take the time to make the space and then it doesn't work out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I could say that with a thousand different examples.
Speaker 2:It's true with relationships, it's true with work. I mean, if you are in relationships is another easy one. Like if you know if your life is sort of full but you're looking for that life partner or better friendships or whatever, but you're spending all of your time with, you know, people who sort of are no longer a fit for you or maybe don't meet the needs that you have now, because we're all changing. I mean, I'm, you know, I'm almost 48 years old and hopefully, I think, very, very different from 38 and 28. My needs are different. What I enjoy is different, you know, what brings me joy is different and my friendships have changed over time to match that.
Speaker 2:That's a very easy one to think about.
Speaker 2:But if I was, you know, if I was still doing all of the things with all of the people that I was doing, exactly, I'm still friends with a lot of those people, by the way, which is proud of.
Speaker 2:But you know, we have to make space in our lives for the things that we enjoy and so that, again, it'll just keep coming back to this idea, so that we can continue to meet ourselves in new ways, because we are constantly changing, and so I think it is a constant practice and it's a worthwhile practice. Any app you have right, like to learn a language, to learn guitar, to meditate every single one of them says you know, five minutes a day, you'll, you'll see. You'll see the progress. So if you're feeling stuck, you know, or if you want to start to think about, okay, what would? What would even change? Look like Find, find a thing that you can do for five minutes a day. That would give you a little bit of space to just let these ideas come, let that right brain kick in a little bit and start to put ideas together.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I love that, I love that, and then I love the shout out to the right brain.
Speaker 2:That's where we live. Oh, let's do a whole other. Let's do four more hours on the right brain, yeah.
Speaker 1:I told you this brain course that I'm that I've been taking has been fascinating.
Speaker 2:Maybe after you can send me a link to that. I'm really curious about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been pretty interesting stuff. So well, mark, this has been an interesting conversation and I know you have so much more to share, but within the confines of this podcast. You know we probably should wrap it up. But if people are also thinking, wow, this guy's got lots of great info, how can I learn more from?
Speaker 2:him? Where should they go? I'm pretty easy to find Mark Sheff. Coaching is my website. I'm assuming you'll put up a link. It's Mark with a C and you can spell my last name. I'm on LinkedIn under Mark Sheff. If you are a creative, I work with folks around creativity. But if you are someone who is doing creative work you know drawing, painting, music, writing I do run a course and a membership program. That is a group of people who are really doing all of this work that I've been talking about. They're doing this inner work and all of them are kind of it's called the it's actually called the Unleash Creativity Club, and all of them are working to kind of unleash that creative force within themselves, whether that's as a professional career or even like. We have people in there who are, you know, this is not what they're going to be doing for a living, but they, you know, they feel a calling to do it, so those are the places to find me.
Speaker 1:Awesome, love that. And yes, you're right, I will put the link in the show notes so people can just click away and find you super easy. And Mark thanks again so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 2:It was such a pleasure. This was a great conversation and we'll email a little bit about the right brain stuff because I want to know what your recommendations are there.
Speaker 1:And everybody else that's listening. I hope that you gained a little something from Mark in this podcast and, wherever you're at, I hope you're having a fantastic day. I will catch you on the next one.