Creativity is an Act of Rebellion... So Is Trusting Yourself
Building your life should be an obsession
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Dear Creatives, Artists & Entrepreneurs,
Happy 1st of the Year!!! It’s nice to be back after taking 4 months off from the newsletter… I missed writing it more than you know!!
So much to catch up on, as well as discuss this week’s topic on creativity and how do we let it guide us instead of us trying to control it.
First, we have several thousand new faces in the community so if you’re new here, I’m grateful to have you!
Second, for context about what I’m going to discuss in this week’s letter, let me do a recap of the past 18 months:
Recap:
I fired myself as CEO of my digital agency (June 2022)
Decided to go ALL IN on my calling, personal projects, books & more (Same month)
Started my 2nd podcast, The Niche Is You (Sept 2022) - 188 episodes and nearly 100K downloads in 14 months (Dec 2023)
Created a FREE texting community… sharing weekly texts for the soul & podcast episodes on growth & fulfillment, health, wealth, happiness & keeping out all the noise. If you’re in the US, you can join 600+ of us HERE (Non-US coming soon)
Wrote 30+ newsletters… and changed the name from PERMISSIONLESS to none other than, The Niche Is You (yes, a newsletter & podcast w/the same name)
Created a FREE workshop to bring more clarity, vision, direction & creativity to the world, Reverse Engineer Your Life: Work, Rest, Money, Play & Creativity (Feb 2023) - It’s since has gained over 1,240 participants… You ALL are awesome!
Created my 1st signature course in nearly 7 years… Write, Design, Build: A Creator Studio & Operating System to help you organize your thoughts & content around the niche of you + build an audience from it.
Co-founded a Creator Community called Build 1 Thing with my close friends Nadeem & Derek to help creatives, artists and entrepreneurs around the world make more stuff and have a community that keeps them accountable.
Grew my own audience on Instagram from 25K to 80K+ (More on that later)
Finished a 3rd of my upcoming book… pending release Spring ‘24
Started my long awaited project for making an apparel line… launching this January 2024.
Now, was this an exhaustive list… Yes.
Did I take on a lot these past 18 months… Absolutely.
Is that necessary for everyone to do… Absolutely Not.
Did I know I was going to do any of the above mentioned… Not a clue.
Does it seem overwhelming when you read this… Maybe… Most Likely.
Does it seem overwhelming when you’re actually doing all of it… Not as much as I thought it would.
Was it all thought out before I started… No. (This is for you “overanalyzers”)
Did I have all of my answers before I moved… Nope.
Did I allow myself to just create and receive the answers along the way… 100%
And this is where I’d like share my findings with you all on…
The fact that…
You have more creativity inside of you than you think
When we create, we are connecting to a higher power
Creativity is an act of rebellion… so is trusting yourself & the process
When we let go of who we think we are to create from who we really are, we’ll find we’re right on time
Let’s start here
👇🏼
#1: You Have More Creativity Inside Of You Than You Think
I believe we all have vast amounts of creativity inside of us.
It’s part of our birthright… We’re created from the Creator and we come here to create.
And creativity is not simply the “arts,”
but a way we use our talents and gifts to bring something contributory to the world in a multitude of different ways… individually expressed from our soul.
So, why do we sometimes feel blocked, stagnant, stuck, not creative, not motivated, or even downright depleted?
Because often we’re giving away our creativity and life force energy more than we are producing from it.
We give it away at jobs or clients we don’t align with…
We give it to people who need our value because they haven’t understood theirs, or in reverse because we don’t understand ours…
We trade in our calling because of the fears we have about how we’ll earn a living and make a life from it for the picture of “stability” & “security.”
We allow the physical world’s input to directly affect our output.
and
We’re hard on ourselves for how much we haven’t done more so than how much we have done or are capable of doing.
But…
once we remove external constraints, overthinking, expectations and our harsh inner critic…
and we connect back to our intuitive nature… your creativity will draw it all out of you!
And it will most likely pour out of you like you’ve never seen before!
So much so that it might even feel like you want to do anything and everything… like a caged lion who was dormant for years and now has the ability to run freely anywhere and everywhere!
And that’s exactly what happened these past 18 months… it poured out without any expectations, without any constraints on what it had to be or look like, and without thinking of how the vision will all come together.
I created, and my answers were revealed.
I created some more, and more answers came to me.
Which leads me to my 2nd finding
👇🏼
#2: When We Create, We Are Connecting to a Higher Power
I had ideas of what I wanted to create because our ideas are always calling, but I had no idea how it would all come together, nor how I would do it all, nor when it would get done.
Pro-tip: If you’re waiting for answers before you move, you’ll be waiting for a very long time… just move!
There’s a famous expression… “God helps those who help themselves.”
And so, when you move, 1 step at a time, you create… and as you create, answers will be revealed…
answers to the projects in front of you, answers to your overall vision, answers to your life’s pressing matters, and even answers to where you last left your keys.
Why?
Because we were made in the image of the Creator and when we create, we are co-creating with God… this is where we receive.
We receive answers, guidance, strategies, creativity, prayers, motivations, disciplines, ideas and more…
When we create, we are moving in the direction of answered prayers.
I took the first steps in June of 2022 and I was provided with an idea.
That idea turned into a brand (The Niche is You™), which started with a Podcast…
then advanced into to a way of serving others through their own creative and spiritual development,
which then elevated into the content I wanted to speak on,
which then elevated into my newsletter,
which then elevated into my upcoming apparel line,
which then elevated into… well, I have to save a few things for 2024.
In the beginning, all I had was this concept that really stuck out from a newsletter article I did two years ago titled, The Niche is You.
I didn’t know at the time what it would turn into and that’s exactly the point.
In creating, we receive every answer we need
It’s not to say we’re in a complete state of motion 24/7, but we are in a complete state of natural curiosity for the building of our lives.
And if in any moment you feel like playing small or doubt what’s possible, tap into that voice from the Creator that says, “nah, bigger (insert your name here).”
Which leads me to my 3rd finding
👇🏼
#3: Creativity is an Act of Rebellion… So is Trusting Yourself & the Process
It’s rebellion because it separates you from conformity and asks you to contribute your own unique value to the world.
And if you’re dealing with value or worthiness issues, please remember…
you were born worthy and with valuable gifts… you just may need to reconnect to yourself to remember who you were before society distracted you.
Your own creativity is a much better roadmap than following convention…
And
The more you connect, the more you create.
The more you create, the more you trust yourself.
The more you trust yourself, the more you bring your highest and best self to the world at large.
This concept is also what inspired the following piece I wrote (featured in my upcoming apparel launch - see below)…
Creativity is an act of rebellion…
Building your life should be an obsession… one sparked by immense curiosity, constant discovery, purposeful experiences and an insane amount of execution to show up to life.
Take time to look further into the things you’re most curious about. They’re not lingering for no reason… they’re asking you to investigate.
And when that natural curiosity plays itself out in public, the people benefit most… you get to be you and the world receives from it.
So, you taking the less conventional route may be met with resistance at first…
whether from loved ones or general society…
but your less conventional route, which is your divinely mapped path, will also serve as a light in the world.
Don’t dim your light to fit in… use it to inspire others to do the same.
Which leads me to my 4th finding
👇🏼
#4: When We Let Go of Who We “Think” We Are, to Create From Who We Really Are, We’ll Find We’re Right On Time
Who you think you are may not be as big as who you really are… that’s the reminder of “Nah, Bigger.”
Earlier in 2023 I wrote a piece online that said,
When you’re done trying to be something you’re not, everything else will take off.
Instead of maintaining an “image”, preserve your authenticity.
Let go of who you think you should be for everyone else and be the actual person everyone is waiting for.
My finding on this was simple.
Was I always my authentic self… Absolutely! It’s my thing.
But I also had to let go of building everyone else’s vision for them in order to really pursue mine… even without knowing the full vision (or even a tenth of it) at the time.
Be willing to let go of the person who’s been showing up for everyone else, in order to be that person for yourself.
Then let what you create be how you show up for everyone else.
Let God and your creativity work through you so the world that’s trying to find you can.
👇🏼
Simplify, Multiply, Diversify below…👇🏼
SIMPLIFY…
You’re not lazy… you might just be afraid to start. One step can fix that.
MULTIPLY…
You can stretch yourself thin from doing so many things for other people’s vision, or you can focus on yours and bring so many new things to the world.
Giving to yourself is gifting the world with more value.
DIVERSIFY…
Start with one creation, but allow it to diversify into many… You’ve got more time than you think, but you need to move.
🧠 Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
1. → Reverse Engineer Your Life - (Join 1,240+ Creators) Workshop (including downloadable templates & frameworks) to bring more clarity, streamline your vision, audit your time and create more predictable outcomes/results. (no cost)
2. → Write, Design, Build - (Just Launched) Content Creator Studio & Operating System to scale your creativity & reach without the burnout… Creatives, Artists & Entrepreneurs, this is not only how I organize my creativity, ideas & writing, but how I launch over 120+ pieces of “shareable” content per week in under 2 hours & grow my audience (40% off For Launch)
3 → Build 1 Thing Community - Live Creativity, Business & Mindset coaching 4x/mo + tons of free resources to increase productivity within your life and business (online). ($47/mo)
*Bringing your message (passion, professional work, voice, ideas and more) to the world for your business or personal brand can be difficult, unclear or confusing. It doesn’t have to be.
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New Podcast Episode ➠ How to Take the Next Step When You Know You’re Meant For More (Apple, Spotify)
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