How to Unlock Your Creativity and Feel Inspired Every Day

Transcript

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Welcome to the Dream Nation Breakfast Club. I'm your host, Josh Valentine. And for those of you who are tuning in for the very first time, welcome, welcome. This is where we gather together every single Tuesday at 7:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, and we gather with our community from all around the world. This week we are going to be covering how to unlock your creativity and feel inspired every day. Now we all can use a little bit of that, no matter if you're a creative or identify as a creative or not, we all have the ability to be creative. And creativity can help with so many different things in life, especially when it comes to problem solving and just navigating through certain challenges that you're dealing with. Sometimes it's those creative ideas that are really what get you through those difficult moments. If you guys don't mind, like comment, share, tag, you can subscribe. Thank you. For all of you who share stars, the Breakfast Club, if you don't know, is streamed on multiple platforms. So you can find it wherever podcasts are streamed. If you wanna catch it live, you can catch it live on my YouTube channel. You can catch it live on Instagram, on Facebook, so many different platforms. So all in all, really happy to be here with you all. And with that being said, let's jump right into it. Now, if you're new, typically within the first 20 to 30 minutes, we may cover different life hacks, fun facts. It depends on the week. So I have a few shares for you, and these are personal development shares. One is from the book, giant Steps, and the other is from The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, which I absolutely love. And welcome. Welcome everyone. All right, so the very first share that I have is the importance of understanding human behavior is best shown with a metaphor. Imagine someone standing on a riverbank. Suddenly he hears a cry for help and sees a man drowning, so he leaps in and rescues him. As he's catching his breath, he hears more screams and again, jumps into the river. This time rescuing two people before he even has a chance to recover. He hears four more people calling for help. The rest of his day is spent pulling a person after person from the raging waters. If only he had walked a short distance upriver, he could have discovered who was throwing all those people in the water in the first place. What efforts could you save yourself by addressing problems at their cause instead of their effect? So really, really powerful share. And I, I believe in the idea of the best time to kill a monster is before it grows, right? And we all have those things that are festering in our lives that unfortunately for most people, we, we tend to wait until it's, it's too big, or to the point where it's too painful to the point where now you're forced to make a change. So what, what things that you're currently navigating through in, in your personal life that you could very well just stop from, you know, essentially bleeding out, uh, because. Uh, that's, that's the case. Oftentimes when you, when you see people who are navigating through their finances, for example, you may be navigating through your finances and, um, as you're navigating through your finances, you find yourself in a space where, you know, uh, it's, it's just too late. Like you're too deep into debt. You're too deep into just ruining your credit score or being behind in your taxes. And if you don't address it early enough, you know, especially the root cause. Because sometimes the greatest threat to our, to our wealth is, is just us. It's like the old African proverb that I oftentimes share that if there's no enemy within, the enemy, outside can do us no harm. So really the, the root cause for, for most of these issues, uh, many times it's just us, right? Working out our, our mindset. Because as you guys know, when it comes to just success in life, 80% is mindset. 20% is skillset. So it really does fall on your mindset. So next we have a share from the seven habits of Highly Effective People. And that is achieve the daily private victory. Write your own routine for daily renewal where you can improve block out time for renewal in your next weekly planning. So this is major. Now, many of you who follow my work, you know, I oftentimes share that on Sundays I pretty much shut everything down. I don't work on Sundays. And sometimes it's, it's difficult as an entrepreneur just taking the, the day, the day off, and especially in my world. So the, the line of work that I'm in, a lot of people, uh, for the most part work on on Sundays. Because, uh, there are a lot of people who are off of work on Sundays. So, you know, many people prefer to do business on the weekends, uh, because that's where they're most likely to reach out to their, you know, customers or, or be able to, you know, touch base with people. So the reason why I bring that up is because, um, I had went like over a decade just grinding it out, working every single day of the week, like no boundaries whatsoever. When it came to when I can and, and or when I could and couldn't work. I, I would even tell people like, Hey, you know, if it's two, three in the morning, like, hit me up either way. Right? And I had no boundaries. And the reason why. That was the case. I, I was running a global business, so we'd have people in different time zones and everything like that. So, um, at some point in time though, I realized that, oh, this isn't healthy, right? This isn't necessarily a, a good thing me grinding. And, you know, sometimes you think that as an entrepreneur that, uh, rest and relaxation means laziness. It means that you're not putting in work. And we live in such a hustle culture that we're, we're sort of. Indoctrinated into this, this, this mentality of always putting in work, right? Or not getting any sleep. It's almost like a badge of honor if you're like getting five hours of sleep. But I've seen this time and time again where people burn out. You know, they burn out or they end up on a one-way ticket to the hospital, and now they're forced to take a break. So don't let that be you. It doesn't have to be the case. Oftentimes, rest and relaxation is actually what can lead to more productivity. So on the second part of this, it says, ask yourself, am I spending time each day renewing my body, mind, heart, and spirit? The daily private victory, time spent each day in a routine way, renewing body, mind, heart, and spirit is the key to developing all of the seven habits. And he's referring to the seven habits of highly effective people. So taking that time to just really relax, catch yourself. For me, I, I love hitting the sauna. My, my gym has a sauna so many times. I'll just go in there. And just sweat it out and take time to relax or take time for meditation, take time for just walking outside, but really, really being intentional about your, your r and r, your rest and relaxation and all that stuff. Now here's a really great, great quote by Stephen Covey, and that is there's no other way you can spend an hour that would begin to compare with the daily private victory. It will affect every decision, every relationship. It will greatly improve the quality, the effectiveness of every other hour of the day. So my great mentor, Mr. Tony Robbins always talks about his hour of power and really his hour of power is priming himself up for the day with all kinds of breathing exercises, gratitude, things like that, um, that can get. Himself in a peak state. And I definitely recommend, um, for, for all of you, whether it's a, a meditation, prayer, reading, scripture, breathing, yoga, whatever it is, whatever's your thing, uh, but taking some time for yourself every single day. Especially for those of you who are, uh, single moms, you know, a lot of single moms are just really stressed out. It's a, it's a lot for a woman to manage. You know, sometimes two, three jobs to, to be able to make ends meet, and you find yourself getting burnt out. But remember, you can't fill from an empty cup, so you always have to make sure that you are filling your cup. For those of you who have been following my work for many years now, you know, I oftentimes talk about the five F's, you know, which are faith, fitness, family, fortune, fun. And I talk about them in that specific order because I believe that, for example, uh, faith comes first because faith is the glue that keeps everything together, right? Your spirituality, your connection with your creator. Secondly is fitness. And sometimes people hear like, well, how, why is it that fitness comes before family? And it's the idea of the oxygen mask on the airplanes, right? When they instruct you to, in an emergency landing, uh, they, they instruct you to put on your mask before you put on anyone else's mask. So if you're with a toddler, you would think. First reaction is to let me take care of the toddler. But they specifically instruct you to take care of yourself first. Put the mask on yourself, because at least if you have oxygen, you're not in that fight or flight state, right? You're not in that sympathetic nervous state where, uh, you're freaking out and now you can't help anyone. So you always have to make sure that you are taking care of your body, mind, and soul, so that you have a capacity to be able to take care of your relationships, your family, your friends, things like that. So that's a big, big part of the process. So it's faith, fitness, and when we talk about fitness, we're talking, you know, mind, body, soul, all of that, mental and emotional fitness, and then family, then fortune, then fun, right? So a big, big, big part of the process Now. And when it comes to, uh, today's topic, how to unlock creativity and feel inspired every day. So I, I absolutely love this topic because I'm big on inspiration and I, I love the saying that the word inspired, it has the words in spirit in it. So when you are feeling inspired, it is, it is divine. It is something that is coming from. Right, like from, from spirit. And, and I believe in that wholeheartedly. Like whenever you resonate with someone that, that truly inspires you or, or deep, deep inspiration, whether it's creativity or, or you're watching someone perform or you, you're, you're just moves by something inspirational. Maybe it's it's nature, maybe it's art, whatever that is, right? Inspiration. It feels amazing to be inspired. And how many of us can use a little inspiration like when life starts life and sometimes it's difficult to feel inspired or sometimes you just feel blocked where you have no inspiration whatsoever. And I know for me, I, I wouldn't say that I necessarily identify as a, as a creative per se, but one thing that I can, I can tell you is that some of my greatest business challenges have been solved through this process of creativity, just feeling inspired, getting ideas sometimes when you have to get resourceful. Sometimes when you have to get innovative, these things require some degree of, of creativity or inspiration, uh, to solve your greatest challenges. So sometimes even in relationships, it helps being a little creative. Ladies, how many of you can genuinely appreciate when a man is being thoughtful and a little, little creative, right? Like it does, it does go a long way, especially if there's an effort put into it. So a big, big part of the process when it comes to just, let's say relationships or it comes to business or just anything, right? Creativity can go a long way. Now, when was the last time you felt truly inspired? Think about that for a second. I had to reflect on that as I was going through my notes earlier this morning. I was just reflecting on that like, man, when was the last time I felt truly inspired? Like ideas were flowing effortlessly. They were just coming in. And there's certain, there's certain things that trigger that. There's certain things that can enhance that. And I'm going to be covering that, uh, here today. So make sure you take notes. I always recommend taking notes, and I was just at a speaking event that I was doing, and I always share the, the cliche saying that note takers are history makers. The weakest thing is stronger than the strongest memory. And I have to constantly repeat this because it's, it's unfortunate that people still don't realize that over 90% of the information that you are taking in, you're probably gonna forget it. You're not gonna remember all of those details. So it really does help to take notes, and you just never know when you're gonna have to use those notes to deliver a workshop. Today I'm driving out. To Orlando to do a corporate training. And a lot of the, the stuff that I'm going to be teaching on came from notes from some something that I learned in the past. So it really, really does help. And you're never, you, you never know when you're gonna be in a situation where you have to do some kind of a training or teaching. So again, take some notes today because I'm gonna be sharing a lot of great information. Next, okay. You, you have to remember, uh, when, why create creativity matters. Creativity matters because when it's all said and done, creativity is not just for artists. Creativity is problem solving. It is innovation, like I mentioned, and self-expression. It's how you express yourself in the world. Okay? And remember, the most successful people are also some of the most creative thinkers in the world. You think of like a Stephen Jobs, or you think of an Elon Musk or, or anyone. It can be an Oprah Winfrey or, or Tiger Woods or some of the greats, right? The, the, what made them great is, yeah, they, they, many of them have analytical minds, but they also have this creative element to them, uh, that has produced really, really great works, and that the people that we find the most inspirational, you'll find this underlying creativity for a lot of them. Okay? So super important to remember now. I can tell you right now, uh, there have been moments in my life where I had to really, really dig deep. Like I remember when I, when I launched my company, dream Nation Media, and I had to really come up with a business plan and I didn't really know what the next step was, uh, during that time. And one of the things that really helped me, um, I play chess from time to time, and I have a chess board here in my man cave. And the chess really, really helps stimulate my mind in a lot of ways. And sometimes it, it's a combination of things that unlock that creativity. For me, it was just taking some time to meditate and just wait for God to kind of like bring me those downloads, if you will. And, and see what he's trying to tell me. Um, and sometimes just engaging in something that's stimulating to the mind, like, like a chess or going out for walks in nature, that's one of the things that helps, uh, as well. And some of my biggest breakthroughs in business literally have came from just those meditations because the, what meditation does is it relaxes you. And when you're relaxed, you sort of like open up your heart as well. Your, your, your mind and your heart. And it does help to sort of have both open in a sense. There's a saying that the longest journey you'll ever take in your life is the journey from the head to the heart. And it's so true. And sometimes when we're in fight or flight mode, when we're in survival, it's very difficult to be creative. We're like shut out from that divine inspiration. So it is helpful to just get yourself relaxed. And one of my mantras when I'm in a meditation is show me the way. Show me the way, show me the way or how may I serve. And repeating this mantra over and over and over really helps with receiving those ideas. And with my company, I, I received the exact instruction on who to reach out to, how to go about the business plan, literally from tapping into that creativity. So I'm speaking from personal experience. It really, really does. Help. And another suggestion is to have daily habits that inspire new ideas. Things that you can do every single day that, that open up, that channel of, of creativity or inspiration. Sometimes just even listening to really great audios or podcasts, it goes a long way as well. Okay. So knowing what you have to do personally and is different for everyone, right? But we all have those creative blocks from time to time. And finding out what works for you can go a long way. For some of you, it may be doing something physical like dance. Some of you, it may be listening to some music. I know for me, if I'm drinking some coffee, listening to some, some hip hop, like I love, I love rap music. Like I grew up listening to hip hop and you know, growing up in, in New York was a big part of our culture and I, I can tell you like whenever I need a tap into that motivation, it does help having those songs that can just get you going. So, uh, finding out what works for you, whether it's a cup of coffee or going out for a walk or reading scripture or just getting a, a really great workout and dancing, whatever, painting, all of that. But try a little bit of everything and see what works for you. And sometimes certain things work in different seasons depending on where you are, but my suggestion is just try everything and see what sticks. So next we have understanding creativity. Creativity first and foremost, isn't something you have or don't have. You know, creativity is like a muscle. Some people think that when it comes to creativity, they're like, oh, well I'm not a creative person. No, we're all by our very nature, we're creative. We're, we're, we're source, right? We're you're not. You don't have a soul. You are a soul. And your soul is, is tapped into, right? If you acknowledge this, it's, it's tapped into the divine. It's, it's. It's connect. You are a child of God in a sense, right? So when you understand that, you also understand that, hey, creativity is my divine right? I, I am, I'm, I'm born with creativity. We're all born with creativity. It's just some people are a little bit more, more, more sensitive to the creativity where, where they're just, they use it a lot more. They have an ability to use it a lot more. Or maybe they found their, their channel. So you may not necessarily resonate with painting, but you may be creative in, let's just say, uh, creating poetry. Or you may be creative when it comes to solving different business challenges or problems. So we all have the capacity for creativity. So you have to understand that because some people feel like, oh, I'm just not creative. You, you're looking at people who can draw really, really nice and you're like, oh, that's not me. But you forget that. That's just one form of creativity. Okay, so remember, everyone is born creative, but life routine, sometimes fear suppress it. It suppresses the creativity or just lack of awareness that you even have it in the first place. So I'm gonna share a formula for creativity. A really great formula I found online. And that formula is this. Courage plus curiosity, plus consistency equals creative flow. So for those of you who ever follow the, the flow state, for example, the flow state, there are certain things that trigger people to, to get into that flow state. You ever, you ever, have you ever been in a, in a state where time just melts away, you're doing something you love or passionate about, and maybe you're having a bunch of fun and time just melts away. It goes by so fast, right? And that's the flow state. Or when you're working and you're just locked in, you're in your zone. That's the flow state. And there are certain things that, that trigger that. And these are a few, right? So you have courage sometimes doing things that are a little bit challenging, that push you a little bit, but you also have this curiosity. So you're a, a childlike enthusiasm to just learn something and then you have consistency. And then that's what equals creative flow. Okay? So if you want to consistently be creative, having these three things go a long way. Now remember, creativity is a state of openness, not effort. You can't force creativity. It just doesn't work that way. It's just opening yourself up, opening up those, those energy centers or whatever you wanna refer to it as, whether it's your mind, your heart, all of that. But you, you have to open up yourself so that you can have that, that creativity flow through you. Now, when you're relaxed, curious, and emotionally free, that's when inspiration flows naturally. So the idea is to be relaxed, curious, and emotionally free. You can't expect to be creative and you're stressed the hell out. You can't expect to be creative, and you're just all up in your mind and letting the, your, your thoughts consume you. So that's a big, big part of the process. Now, the next part that we're gonna cover are the enemies of creativity. The enemies of creativity. Here we go. The first one is perfectionism. How many of you struggle with perfectionism? Drop a y in the comments. If you're one of those people that just always do your best to be perfect with everything, and sometimes you have paralysis of over analysis, you're overthinking it. I know I've been there, right? So if that's, if that's you, drop a Y in the comments for all of you perfectionists who are on the breakfast club, I most certainly have been there with, with so many things. And the thing about it is perfectionism can become the enemy to execution. Never forget that. Perfectionism oftentimes is the enemy to execution. So a lot of people, they wanna get everything lined up before they finally just pull the trigger on whatever it is that they're working on. Like I remember when I was having my first kid, like. I was, I was just so freaked out. I didn't feel ready. I'm not sure how many of you could relate to that, but when our first child was coming, my, my son ZI was 25 years old, and I'm just like, I called up my, my stepdad and I'm just like, Hey, you know, how do I do this? I, I, I had no idea what to do. And, you know, I, the, my first, my first thing to do was like, like, do I just go in a book and read a book? Right. But all in all, I, I realized that with parenting, oftentimes it's just something you gotta, you just gotta go and you gotta get in it. You gotta be a practitioner of it. It's like social media. If you wanna get good at social media, use it, play around with it, tinker with it Now with, with parenting, right? You just, it's, it comes natural to us as human beings. We've been parenting since the beginning of time, so it, it was just really going into it and. You know, seeing what works, seeing what didn't work. And the second child, we were a lot better. And the third one, we were even better, right? But it was just something that we had to just go into and not get caught up in this idea of perfectionism, because let's be honest, imagine if we all wanted to be perfectionist when it came to our parenting. There's just no way. You don't even have the luxury of perfectionism. You, it's just something you have to jump in and, and you've, you've gotta get it done. So sometimes when it comes to some of your, your goals, right? It just helps to just jump, jump in that there's a saying that sometimes in life when it comes to success, you have to jump and grow your wings on the way down. That's the idea. Don't sit there just thinking about it, right? And planning the entire time and never actually executing. Okay, so next we have another enemy to, creativity is overthinking. So too much logic, blocks, intuition and imagination. And remember, imagination is the greatest nation in the world. Imagination. It is, it is definitely what is going to help you Time and time again throughout your journey, especially for those of you who are entrepreneurs, you've gotta have a, a, a big imagination. And it's very difficult to tap into that when you're just all caught up in your logic. Remember, you have two parts of your brain. So you have your left brain, which is responsible for logic and reasoning and all of that, and it's the analytical part of your brain, but then you have the right part of your brain, which is creativity, it's imagination, it's, it's more emotion, right? So you have to exercise both aspects of your brain. And oftentimes what happened is we're very all up in our, in our prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for logic and rational thinking, and we're not opening up those creative channels. So it does help sometimes literally to. Like shut your brain off in a sense where you're not overthinking these things. And, and I struggle with that because I, I'm a someone who's very, very analytical and it, it is very challenging at times to just shut your brain off and open up your heart, but it's one of the best things that you could do on your journey. Next we have fear of judgment. Fear of judgment. This is a big one. So you start creating for approval and not expression, and this is a big, big mistake you start creating to just because you want to just get all the, the claps and, and the accolades and, and it's all about the recognition and all of that, as opposed to just creating for the sake of creating. Rick Rubin, who is like a music icon and has been responsible for helping so many hit songs just come into existence. He, he always talks about that, right? Just creating for the sake of creating with no ulterior motive to receive just approval from other people, right? Just bringing what's inside of you to life and that's what creates the very best art. So that's a, that's a big, big a, uh, aspect of it because so many people and get caught up in just, what are people going to think about me? You see, one thing I learned is that people don't necessarily fear failure. They fear being judged by other people. Like what are other people going to think if they know that I failed? That's really where the, where the fear lies. They say the two great fears in life are, are. The fear of social judgment and then death. Right? But it's crazy how there's so many studies that show how people fear public speaking more than they do death. Why is that? Because it's not the act of public speaking. It's what are they thinking? It's, it's looking foolish in front of people. And this is something that obviously is a survival mechanism that goes back many, many years, but you have to get control over it because it will sabotage your success. It'll sabotage your entire life if you're always caught up in what other people are going to think. I remember a great mentor of mine would oftentimes say that in order to be in, in, in order to be admired by thousands, you have to be willing to take ridicule from a few dozen ignorant ones. And it's so true if you, if you want thousands and thousands of people around the world to admire you for your work and your contribution. You have to be okay with the few ignorant ones that are not going to be so fond of you or your work. Listen, you're not gonna be everybody's cup of coffee, and that is okay. Don't get caught up in trying to please everyone because when it's all said and done, you have no control over what other people think about you. You have no control. You can sit there and you can dwell on it, and you can allow it to affect you. Or you can just say, you know what? People are gonna think whatever it is that they're gonna think. And you know, people, people hate on everything, right? I mean, people hate on Jesus. And the dude was like, you know, a saint. I mean, just like a child of God who came here to bless other people and create miracles. And it's like, if, if he was hated on what makes you an exception, what makes you think that you're gonna be exempt from, from being hated on, right? So, uh, you, you've got people like Mother Teresa or Dr. Martin Luther King. They were, they were also hated on, right? Like people who genuinely did a lot of. Good for the world who were hated on, right? Some became martyrs. Be that because they, they were just so hated on, but they did so much good for the world. And when it's all said and done, you are no exception. None of us are, we're gonna go through that process. But the, the quicker you can let go of the fear of judgment, the faster you can get to where you wanna be. Next one. Next one is busyness. Busyness is also an enemy to creativity. So constant activity leaves no space for creativity to breathe. So sometimes it really does help to just slow down and not do anything. Not do anything. Just take time to really process your thoughts. Take time to really catch yourself. And I know this happens to me all the time. I get so caught up in busyness and just realize, I get to a point where I'm like, yeah, this busyness is not really productivity, just me justifying. Like, oh, okay. Well I'm, I'm busy thinking to myself or like really telling myself that I'm being productive, productive, but oftentimes busyness doesn't equate to productivity. So you have to be mindful of that, and it does help at times to just slow down and not do anything and catch yourself. Another thing, uh, when it comes to an enemy for of creativity is comparison. So comparison disconnects you from your own unique voice comparison will have you being something that you're not. Right. You start to put on this persona and persona. The Latin word for a persona means mask. A, a persona is the mask you put on to sort of like fit into the world. And there are times where we get caught up in comparison and you end up putting out work that's not authentic to who you are. So that's a big, big part of. This, this whole equation here when it comes to creativity is, again, not getting caught up in perfectionism, overthinking, fear of judgment, busyness, and comparison. Because comparison kills creativity faster than failure ever will. So being mindful of all of these different enemies can definitely go a long way. Ask yourself, which of these enemies have been blocking my creativity lately? Has it been perfectionism? Right? I, I can tell you tons of seasons where that has been the case for me. Has it been overthinking? And I've also navigated through that fear of judgment for me probably was the number one thing. The number one thing from slowing down my business. Like what are they gonna think? Like, and not reaching out to people who could have. Really change things for me and my business. They would've been made great business partners, but I allowed the the fear to cripple me along the way, and eventually I got to a point where I just be, became numb to the opinion of other people. If there's anything that can help you on your journey is becoming numb to whatever people think about you, honestly, when you get to that place, you're going to be able to just be so much more effective. And then comparison, right? Comparison. Sometimes you feel less than because you see other people winning, other people thriving, but you should never compare your chapter five to someone's chapter 50. You don't know what they had to do to get to where they are, right? There's so much that probably has happened behind the scenes and you can't get upset with the results that you got for the work that you didn't do, and then you also don't know what these people had to sacrifice. Some of them have sa made sacrifices that you never in a million years would dare take on. Right. So I, I oftentimes share that if I knew, if I know, like if someone had told me how long it was going to take, when it came to my success, how, how, what I had to actually sacrifice and what I was going to have to go through, and the years of sacrificing. If I knew that, I probably would not have even pressed forward because I would've just been like, no, there's no way in hell it's gonna take that long. I gotta do all of that. Right. And it is probably a good thing that I was oblivious and a little bit naive to basically like the whole process of what it was going to take. And now, I mean, looking at the other side of things where I ended up, it's like, yeah, I'm happy that I embarked on it. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss on this journey. You don't wanna get caught up in all the things that you actually have to do. Again, you take that leap of faith and you grow your wings on the way down. That's the idea. So the mindset for creativity, this is a, a really, really great segment. Now, when it comes to the mindset, you have to adopt a beginner's mind and approach everything as if it's your very first time. It's like when people just get into poker, right? And they have this, they, they call it beginner's luck. And oftentimes with beginner's luck. What's happening is the beginner is not so caught up in what other people think because they're a beginner. It's like, oh yeah, like I'm, I can screw up. And people are gonna just say, Hey, he's a beginner, or she's a beginner. Of course they're gonna screw up. And they get this beginner's luck because they're just open. They have this childlike enthusiasm where you are, you're able to just create or perform and you have no attachment to the approval of anyone, and you are just experimenting for the sake of experimenting. And you get this beginner's luck. You're open, right? And it does help to have that beginner's mind when it comes to whatever it is that you're doing, treating things like it's your very first time. Because when you think about it, when something is your very first time, many times you're also very attentive. To what it is that you're engaging, and you're a lot more present in the moment because it's your very first time. Whereas sometimes we get a little bit comfortable. We've been doing something for a while, and you don't really have that same level of enthusiasm or attentiveness that you would've had as a beginner. So adopting that beginner's mind definitely goes a long way. Also, learn to play again. Learn to play again. Creativity thrives in play, not pressure. So that, that, again, that childlike nature where you're just engaging and you're playing and you're having fun. That's the biggest thing. Having fun. Oftentimes in my business community, uh, one of the things that's that's shared a lot is, uh, to remember the number one rule is to have fun, not get caught up, because going through rejection can be daunting. For a lot of people. And when you get caught up in the rejection part of it, it's, it's, it's gonna affect your ability to produce. But when you're just, when you're, you're fluid, right? And you're, you, you, you release that tension. You're just having fun. You're playing, you're, you're gonna have much better results. You ever look at like a Steph Curry, for example. Steph Curry, when you watch him play basketball, he looks like a little kid that's just out there playing in his backyard and, you know, he like lobbing the ball up and shooting these crazy shots from sometimes he'll just play around, even in the bleachers and he's just having fun, right? He, he'll have his little mouthpiece and he is like chewing up his mouthpiece while playing the game and, and, and, and dribbling the ball. And he just looks like a kid who's out there just having a blast. And that's the idea, not being so rigid with how you go about your work and genuinely playing. Next is accept mistakes. Remember, it's never a failure, it's feedback, right? Mistakes are a big part of the process, and they're ultimately fuel for innovation. You actually have to fail your way forward when it comes to innovation, it's like if Thomas Edison, if he did not fail, you know, over 999 times, then he would not have got the light bulb a thousand time, right? And it probably wasn't exactly on the thousand time, but moral of the story as he's, he went through a lot of trial and error to eventually come up with a light bulb. So you have to accept mistakes, and you have to embrace it and lean into it. And remember it's actually a prerequisite to get to where you wanna be making mistakes. Next is practice presence. Practice presence. The most creative ideas come when you are here, not in your head when you are here, not in your head. So embracing the present moment, immersing yourself in the present moment. That's how you get into that flow state, because when it's all said and done, that's all we have is the here and now. But sometimes we get so caught up in thinking about the past or reflecting on the future, and we have overwhelm, overwhelm, guilt, shame, anxiety, all of these different things. Whereas if you really, really just got good at living in the present moment, all of that stuff goes away. Next we have gratitude and curiosity. Expand your perspective and keep ideas flowing, gratitude and curiosity. The beautiful thing about gratitude is that it's sort of like a, a mental hack. For quieting the noise, because we oftentimes get caught up in just thinking about all the negative things that are happening in our lives, or the things that we're not so happy about or not excited about. And you're so focused on that, that you get more of that what you focus on expands. What you focus on the longest grows the strongest in your life. So you have to be very mindful at all of these different aspects of, um, just your, your creativity. It's, it's all about what you're focusing on in the moment. Because if you're focusing on, for example, the bills that you have to pay for the month, how do you expect to be creative? If you're, you're, you're just stressed out, how do you expect to really unlock that, that creativity, if you're so caught up in your relationships and, and what's not right about them and all of this, this stuff. So you have to put yourself in a state of gratitude in a sense, because. Two thoughts cannot occupy the mind simultaneously. So when you're in a state of gratitude, it's almost impossible to think negative thoughts when you're thinking positive thoughts with gratitude, right? If you're reflecting on all that you're grateful for, there's no room for fear and insecurities and doubt and overwhelm because you're so caught up in being in such a state of gratitude. Okay? And it's the same with being genuinely curious. If you're just opening yourself up to curiosity, like being, being genuinely fascinated, you have to turn your frustration into fascination. Like, wow, I remember Jim Rowan would always say that he, he'd say, you know, you turn your frustration into fascination discipline, your disappointments channel that focus into getting fascinated with life, getting fascinated with whatever unfolds before you. And really reflecting on just how you can solve that problem ahead, right? The fact that life even presented it to you. What can you learn in that moment? So definitely super helpful to understand that. Now, the next part we're gonna cover it are practical habits to unlock creativity. So this is gonna be super, super valuable for you, especially if you're working on anything right now. These, these rituals, if you will, can help you be a lot more creative throughout the month. Okay? So the first thing we have is morning inspiration rituals. So that morning inspirational ritual can be starting your day, for example, with something that expands your mind. So it can be music, it can be journaling, it can be nature, it can be prayer. For me, I, I do a combination of all of those. I have this deep focus playlist that has have these really, really amazing soundtracks that have these frequencies that help you get into a creative state or a resourceful state. So music can definitely help. Journaling sometimes for me, getting my, my thoughts on a pad, uh, whether it's paper or just taking notes on my phone, it absolutely helps. Getting out in nature absolutely helps all of it. And the beautiful thing about getting outside is when you go for a walk and you're getting sunlight, sunlight produces serotonin in your body, and serotonin is a mood stabilizer. It, it, it is. Why you feel those, those good. Warm feelings, right? It's a happy chemical in your body. So understanding what triggers those happy chemicals also help. And when it comes to getting out in nature, journaling, all of that stuff definitely helps. Whether it's your dopamine or your endorphins after a great run, having those endorphins flowing through your body, that runner's high, if you will. Having, having an understanding of the habits that lead to those good feelings and just doing a lot more of that, it is absolutely gonna help you throughout your life. Next, we have create Before you consume. Create before you consume. So don't grab your phone first thing in the morning. If you know my work. You know, that's one of the things that I preach more than anything is the first, at least half hour of the day, last half hour of the day, at a minimum. If you can do an hour, it will absolutely help you in so many ways. Unplug from social media, unplug from being online, the, the first and last hour of the day and, and just ease into your day. Don't, don't give away all of your dopamine to your newsfeed. So many people like, what they tend to do is the moment they wake up, they're going on their newsfeed and it becomes a distraction. It becomes something that is grabbing your attention, grabbing your dopamine, and you wonder why you don't have any motivation throughout the day because you've given it all to social media. Okay? So again, you don't want to just consume the moment you wake up. All right. Now you can write, brainstorm, visualize so many things that you can do instead of just jumping straight into your phone. Big, big part of it. Next, we have move your body. So exercise, walking, dancing. I, I don't know about y'all, but I know like whenever I dance, like I just even do like some goofy dance, like all by myself, you just always feel better after a good old dance. There's something about moving the body in that way and just getting yourself relaxed. That, that absolutely alters your mood. Now, physical movement activates mental creativity, so whatever you have to do to just get yourself dancing. All right, next up we have change your environment. So new scenery equals new perspective. And it, like for me, for example, whenever I, I, you know, want to work in, in a coffee shop, I'll be very intentional about switching the coffee shop that I'm working at. Because you wanna position yourself in a winner's world, you wanna engineer your environment so that it's most conducive for your results. So that always, always helps, is just getting a new scenery, right? Trying out different places, different work, um, environments. So you can work from a coffee shop, it can be a park, it can be even just a short trip somewhere. All of it helps. The other day I took a two and a half hour road trip up to the woods last week, and, uh, it was incredible. I was out doing yoga in the woods and, uh, learning, you know, learning some new information and it was, it was just a great escape to again, open up that creativity. Right. So does help doing or just having unique experiences, different environments and all of that. Next we have journal Daily. Journal daily. Let your thoughts flow freely. Don't edit, just release. So don't journal for the sake of someone reading your journal, just journal because you are expressing whatever is on your mind, right? This is not, journaling is not like doing an assignment. It's not like you're, you're getting graded on it, right? Don't treat, you don't have to worry about your grammar. You don't have to worry about writing all neat, or even putting commas and periods and all this different stuff. Just journal. Let it flow. Like, treat it like creative writing. Let the ideas flow. You, you don't have to worry about capitalizing your letters or anything like that. Uh, just whatever it is that's on your mind. Release it and let those ideas flow and it'll be one of the best things that you could ever implement into your life. Next, we have. Mind dump before bed. Now, what is mind dumping? Basically it's writing ideas, lessons, or reflections before sleeping to clear your mind. So sometimes we get a little overwhelmed and it's difficult to sleep because we have so much on our minds, and it really does help to just. Release, whatever is on your mind, whatever's worrying you. Sometimes I even have to remind myself so that I'm not waking up through the night having anxiety like, Josh, you're good. This is what you got going on in your life and I have to tell myself tonight, you're gonna relax right tomorrow will take care of itself and relax. Let go of whatever it is that's that's bothering you, and just to be able to calm my nervous system before going to sleep. If you've never done done that, I would definitely recommend it. Sometimes you have to set your intentions for how you want your sleep to be, and you have to remind yourself that you are safe. You know, just relax is it ain't that deep, and do that mind dump before you go to bed. Okay. If you guys are getting value, by the way, I wanna make sure y'all are still with me. Drop a v in the comments for value, ma. Wanna make sure you guys are all still getting really, really great, uh, information. I'm sure it's definitely great information. Of course. Uh, but definitely would love to know you guys are still with me in the chats. Okay. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you for all of you who are dropping those comments. Appreciate the love. Um, also don't forget like, comment, share, tag someone who can get value. Um, if you're watching the replay, drop an r. If you're here live with us, drop an L in the chats. Next. We have. Set creative office hours, set creative office hours. So block time for creating even 30 minutes of uninterrupted focus can change everything. So being intentional about scheduling in those creative hours. So for example, if you struggle with, uh, let's just say, uh, social media, I was talking to a client yesterday who just, it's been tough, uh, he's been procrastinating with, with social media and I, I can relate social media. How many of you guys can relate to procrastinating when it comes to social media? It's just one of those things where it's sometimes it's like pulling out eyelashes. You, you don't really wanna do it, and it, it really does help to just say, you know what, let me schedule one day out of the week where it's just content b batching, for example, or creative batching where you post up all, or you create all of your social media for the. In that one hour or that one day of the week and just get it out the way. But being intentional about scheduling it in, if you know that for example, you're creative during certain hours of the day, then schedule in your creative hours during that time of the day. Some of you may be better at creative in the night. Some of you may be better at creating first thing in the morning, but whatever that timeframe is for you, schedule your day around it. It really does help. I, I remember that for me, one of the things that helped when, when I had to do prospecting, for example, in my business, whenever I would be done with my workout, I noticed that I had a, this rush of energy after my workouts. So I would go, I would sit at this table, um, at my gym and just immediately start prospecting right after my workout, before going back home. I would just take like 15 to 20 minutes to send out a few messages, and that was a very effective way to go about it. Another thing is sometimes we get a little overwhelmed with our inboxes. We have so many messages that we have to respond to so many emails or, or you have to respond to messages, having an hour of the day where you just dedicate to clearing out your inbox. That this will be one of the best things that you could ever implement in your day-to-day schedule. Have one hour of the day. I, I would actually set a reminder. It was right, right around, um, 11:00 AM I would make a goal to clear out my entire inbox by noon. That was my goal. So I had to respond to all of my messages, all of my emails, knock all of that stuff out before noon. And this will help you when it comes to just getting overwhelmed, because sometimes you have all these emails that you have to get back to, all these messages you have to get, and you get overwhelmed and you end up having paralysis of over analysis where you end up not doing anything. Sometimes when it comes to survival, it's not just fight or flight, it's fight, flight, or freeze. Some people just do nothing and you don't wanna get debilitated to the point where. You're not doing what you need to do. So being aware of that, right, that fight, flight, or freeze and saying, you know what, let me just schedule it in. This is gonna be my hour. And it does help. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. It, it, it really does help to just be, uh, aware in advance and set your intention at the beginning of the day, of the hours of the day where you have to get certain things done. Okay, so as we get ready to bring it in for a landing, I got a few more. We have, the last one we went over was mind dumping. We had set creative hours, and next we have limit input. So too much social media clutters your mental space, so protect your imagination. When was the last time you thought about your mind and your imagination as something you had to protect? Uh, I, I love sharing, I think it was Jim Roh or Zig Ziglar. It might have been Jim Rohn. He says, you have to stand like a guard at the doorway of your mind, protecting it from all the negativity of the world. Limit your input. I'm not big on consuming all of the news of the week. Like there's always going to be negativity on the news, and you can sit there and allow that to flood your mind. Remember garbage in, garbage out. Or you can be very intentional about limiting your, the amount of input. I'm the same with social media. I delete my apps multiple times throughout the day and whenever I need it for work, I redownload my Facebook, my Instagram, all of that literally. So, um, that's a, that's a big, big help when it comes to me and, and my, my productivity. Last but not least, when it comes to just habits that you can put in place to unlock creativity, we have surround yourself with inspiration. Surround yourself with inspiration. That can be people. Books, art, podcasts, your environment fuels your energy. Remember that. So you have to, again, engineer your environment so that it is conducive for creativity. So just to kind of recap the, the, the daily rituals, if you will, or just rituals that you can take on throughout the month. It's, uh, number one was morning inspiration ritual, right? It. Number two was create before you consume. Number three is move your body. Number four was change your environment. Number five, journal daily. Number six, mind dump before bed. Number seven, set creative office hours. I love that. Number eight, limit input. And number nine, surround yourself with inspiration. Okay. Now, when it comes to finding inspiration daily, just gonna give you guys a few tips. The first is inspiration. Remember, comes from observation. Not just information comes from observation, not just information. Just taking some time to go out there and observe. Observe. And that's why nature is so incredible, because just the process of observing nature and being around it. I love my kids. They'll run around our courtyard and we have this, this, uh, really cool fountain, uh, and you know, a lot of trees and stuff like that. And it's, it's really cool to just see them play with even something like a branch and use their imagination. I see them turning like branches and leaves and all this into like swords and shields and, and it's, it's really cool to see them interact with, with nature and use their imagination. And we forget that as we get older. Like, we forget how much imagination we had as kids. And it's unfortunate, right? Like why do we suppress the imagination? We can learn a lot from children because children can just go out there and observe. I, I'll see my, my son. I'm like, that creepy dad. That's just like looking at his kids and just observing them, right? Like, I love just watching my kids interact with each other, play around, and it's, it's amazing to see them just kind of like hang around and interact with the world and observation can really, really open up that inspiration. Okay, next we have practice noticing small things, uh, practice noticing small things. So sounds, colors, people, feelings. It's sometimes it's not about the thoughts, it's, it's, it's the feelings. Right. Using all of your senses to really interact with the world, this is another great way to open up that inspiration. Okay. How do you feel in that moment? Ask yourself daily. What inspired me today? So, uh, that this is something like when I was reflecting on this question, I was like, man, what did, what happened throughout the day that really, really inspired? I mean, what if you can implement things into your day? Like what if you were intentional about doing things that, you know, without a shadow of a doubt would bring you inspiration. Like it could be listening to that inspirational video. It could be going out to an art gallery or something like that. Or getting out in nature intentionally just to be inspired. Okay. Another thing is to keep in an inspiration list, and that list could be in your phone or you can journal a list and you wanna add to that list often. So I know, for example, whenever I need to get motivated. I know I gotta get my body moving. I have to change whatever it is that I'm focusing on in that moment. So I'll tune into some kind of motivational YouTube video, right? And I have to implement self-talk, I have to talk myself into being motivated, and that definitely helps as well. So having that inspiration list, sometimes it's, it's meditation. Sometimes I don't have the energy to meditate, right? So it, it just, it just depends. Um, and it kind of sounds counterintuitive, right? It's like having the energy to meditate, but sometimes, like, I'm just not in that mood to just sit there with my thoughts. Like, I need to physically just get myself like walking or something. Okay. Next is create a dream file. A dream file is essentially ideas, quotes, right? You can have, I, I have like pictures of some of the most inspirational people that I, that I know of, right? But having a, a dream file of all of these different things that make you feel alive. And it, it can be those quotes that are those subtle reminders to keep pushing forward. Okay. Another thing is to collaborate with other people. So creativity multiplies in community. I'll say that again for those of you in the back. Creativity multiplies in community, and I know like yesterday, I got around my boy Jay. My boy Jay. He's been on fire lately with just being productive and sometimes just being around that energy you have to get around the campfire. If you're too distant, you're not gonna have that, that motivation, that inspiration, that creativity. So getting around people who are on fire. There's a saying that you light yourself on fire and people will fly from miles away to watch you burn. There's just something about getting around people who are on fire, who are passionate, who are excited. It definitely rubs off on you. So find some excited, motivated people to be around and remember. You don't find inspiration. You allow it, you allow it, you open yourself up to inspiration. It's already there. You are source energy, right? You, you are a, again, a soul and, and you, you're not a, you're not a, a human being having a spiritual experience. You're a spiritual being, having a human experience. So you, you have creativity inside of you at all times of the day. It's about unlocking it and opening yourself up to that. Alright, so as we get ready to wind down, I wanted to share a few tips on overcoming creative blocks because sometimes you just, you don't have it in you to create, you don't have it in you to be innovative. You feel like you're just so stressed out that you don't even have the capacity for it. And this is something that I've. Had challenges with over the years, and it does help, again, to have an understanding of how to navigate through those creative blocks. I love what Rick Rubin does is whenever he's working with an artist and they're having a creative block or writer's block, oftentimes what he would recommend for them is to go home for the day. You tell him, shut it all down. Go home for the day and just write one word. Write one word. And oftentimes what he noticed is that if they go and they write that one word, it, it will lead them to now unblocking that creative flow and, and being able to write a lot more than just one word. So sometimes it's just starting small. It's, it's that small. It's the process of even just sitting with the work that you have to overcome. There's a really great book that I wanna recommend. It's one of my favorite reads. It's The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield, not The Art of War by Sun Tzu. I'm talking about. Uh, or, or lasu, uh, whatever his name is. But I'm talking about the War of Art by Stephen Pressfield, and it's all about unlocking that, that creativity and navigating through this, this energy of resistance that is leading to procrastination, right? Or paralysis of analysis. So really great read, and it's one of, actually recommended it yesterday, and it's not one of those books you have to read from front to back. It's a really great, it's a small read, and I, I recommend it for everybody because we all navigate through resistance at some point in time or creative blocks that we we're challenged with. Now when it comes to overcoming these creative blocks, another thing is step away from your work. Take a walk, meditate, do something fun, just get away from it. Einstein was known for playing the violin. He would oftentimes just step away from all of these theories and formulas, and he would just go and, and play the violin and, and that was what helped him unlock his imagination. Okay? So find something that you can do to just get away from the work. Next is switch mediums. Switch mediums. So if you write, try sketching or even voice recording ideas, that can also help. I remember when I was in college. For whatever reason, it, it, it didn't help. Like I had to, I had to listen to the professor. I know some people can listen to a professor and they grasp the information right away. That wasn't the case for me. I had to write out really, really fast, whatever he was saying, not really pay attention in that moment, just write it out. And then I would also, uh, I would record the, you never knew I had a Blackberry at the time. You know, I'm kind of like dating myself. But we, we had these blackberries in college and I, I would record my professor, you know, and it helped me be able to just process the information because after the class was done. I would listen and then I would look at the notes that I was taking and that process of listening to my professor while I would be walking from class to class and also looking at the notes that I just scribbled out really, really fast. That's what helped me process the the information a lot better. And I excelled academically because of that. So definitely something else that you can do. Switch mediums. Another is revisit your why. Revisit your why. So reconnect to the reason you started creating in the first place, or the reason you embarked on whatever endeavor you're on. You have to center yourself back on the why, because there are gonna be moments where you just don't feel like doing it. Remember, most of success is easy to do, but it's easier not to do. It's so much easier not to do the things that you need to be doing. So how do you set up those guardrails for yourself to keep you on track? Next we have simplify, like I mentioned with Rick, Rick Rubin. It was just write one word. I remember when I used to have to write these, these college papers, these, these huge assignments, you know, it'll be like a 20 page paper. And the process of having to even do it, it was so daunting that I'd wait till like literally the last few hours and I'd always get it done, but I would always wait till the last minute. It's called Parkinson's Effect, where if you're given an allotted amount of time, we typically wait till the very last minute, especially if it's something we don't wanna do. So one of the things that I, I, I realized though, is that if I just sat down and wrote out the heading. The title of the paper. That process alone of just sitting down with the paper and writing out the heading is oftentimes all I needed to just get myself in motion. Remember, it's like a freight train. A runaway train doesn't start off like a runaway train. It has to build momentum. And sometimes the process of just getting those wheels turning a little bit is all you need to get some momentum to push forward. So remember, you can't think your way into inspiration. You have to feel your way into it. So as we wrap up here. And once again, if you got value from today's session, definitely drop a comment. I read through all the comments. By the way, appreciate the love as always. And, um, I forgot to mention, uh, there are tons of people who reach out to me all the time about how they can get into coaching, consulting, speaking, podcasting, how they can monetize their mission, monetize their message, all of that stuff. And it's a big, big part of my work. And, um, I have people reach out to me all the time. And what I do is I open up a complimentary coaching sessions to our community. Maybe you're just someone who's navigating through just, you know, accomplishing your, your goals, but you've been, you know, at a roadblock. Maybe you haven't really had the ability to be creative or resourceful, even just. Do the work that you need to do, and you have a block, you're in a season of your life where you just can't get yourself going. Hit me up. DM me the word coach, and I'll be more than happy to send you my Calendly link. I open up a few slots every single week to our community, and I'd be more than happy to just offer a complimentary coaching session for you guys where we can jump on one-on-one and I can just give you whatever information you could ask, whatever questions. And, uh, this has been my way of just thanking you guys and, uh, my gift to the community every single week. So, uh, I don't always have the availability, but um, when I do, you know, I always like to just open it up for you guys, so feel free to take advantage of that, um, if you'd like. Now, uh, as we close out, remember, creativity is not, um, creativity is a skill. It is not a gift. Creativity is a skill. It is not a gift. It's not like some people were born creative and some were not. We're all creative. It's just you have to learn how to unlock that creativity. Next, you need space, curiosity, and consistency. You need space, curiosity, and consistency if you really, really wanna live in, in, in this way where you always are open to, you know, all kinds of creative ideas. Remember, inspiration is always around you. You just have to tune in. That's really the big thing. It's always, always around you. Now, uh, do one creative thing today. What's one creative thing that you can do today? Right, that comes to mind and just implement one thing and whatever, whatever that is. And it could be just something that you journal about, coming up with a creative idea in your business, maybe it's drawing or painting or whatever. Write writing a poem. But one creative thing that you can do today. And also what you can do is journal about what inspires you the most. Think about moments of your life where you're just really, really inspired and write out a journal. It can be bullet points of all the things that inspire you the most, or moments where you felt inspired because there are certain patterns, right? And if you just go back to the patterns of what actually inspires you, you can always just implement those things into your day-to-day routine and find that inspiration that you're looking for. Okay. Or I should say unlock that inspiration because it's not something again that you have to find. So I'll end with this quote. The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. Dieter, FY, Dorf, I believe is how you pronounce his name, pardon to Dieter if I'm pronouncing his name wrong. But really great quote, the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. So ladies and gentlemen, go out there, create something beautiful, build that business, go after your dreams. That's what it's all about. And I appreciate you guys always coming onto the Breakfast Club. For those of you who like, comment, share, tag, subscribe, all of that good stuff. For those of you who leave reviews, it's always greatly appreciated and I look forward to seeing you guys next week. Take care. God bless. Breakfast is served. See you all next week, guys. I.