Episode Transcript
Transcript:
Intro: This is words that move me, the podcast where movers and shakers, like you get the information and inspiration. You need to navigate your creative career with clarity and confidence. I am your host master mover, Dana Wilson. And if you're someone that loves to learn, laugh and is looking to rewrite the starving artist story, then sit tight. But don't stop moving because you're in the right place.
Dana: Hello. Hello and welcome. I'm Dana. This is words that move me. Welcome to the podcast. How are you? I am stoked that you are here. Thank you so much for being here. I am exceptionally jazzed on last week's episode. Thank you all so much for your feedback and for loving Reshma Gajjar as much as I do. Wow. That was a good one. Um, if you haven't already go give that a, a swoop swoop was the first word that came to my head, swoop that out and enjoy. Um, all right, today I am talking directly to myself and also to you, but I think I really need to hear this right now. So there's a chance that you do too. I remember finding at some point during the lockdown, a love for simple life, simple pleasures, simple, but not easy tasks and so on and so on. And you know what? Life is so sneaky. I feel like it has crept up and all of the sudden I'm over committed. Again. I am overwhelmed again, and I'm like, what? I swear I already figured this out. I have already learned how to be productive and calm, motivated, and relaxed, focused, and feeling free. I swear I have done this work already, but apparently it is not at the forefront. So I'm going to stand myself in front of this microphone and re-do re-learn. Remind myself of some of the work that I have already done about simplifying my life. I'm excited to do that for myself. And I'm excited to share some of my favorite tips and tricks for simplifying. What can seem like a very complicated life in a very complex world. Uh, but first wins. Yes. I have like a grand slam of wins today. So get ready. Sports references are not my thing, but you know what? I'm going to run with it. Okay. First one is that I've been watching a lot of maybe too much Ted Lasso. We'll talk about it later. Here's what I'm really celebrating today. I'm celebrating a visit back home to Colorado and spending some safe and quality time with my family. My beautiful family. Ugh. Shout out Aunties, Uncles, Maya, my brother, my sister, my brother and sister in law. The nieces. Oh, Swoon my dance teacher, the one and only Michelle Latimer. The one and only Chelsea Latimer, AKA my best friend since we were tiny, tiny tots and Chelsea's daughter, Sunny, double swoon. Um, oh, and also our guest from episode 70, Erika Morri. So in general, shout out Colorado. I love that place. I loved my time there. I made a peach jam. You guys with peaches from my sisters peach tree. Um, it rained. It was gorgeous. Oh. And I did an art project with my mom. Shout out, Stan, stay tuned for more on the art project and yeah. Um, back to top the wins off, Mr. Ted Lasso watched a lot of that. Um, which is probably why my wins list is so long wink, wink. Um, if you are not watching Ted Lasso 10 out of 10 would recommend, okay, I'll stop there. Ted lasso winning. Now you go, what's going well in your world.
Awesome. Rock on. Congratulations. I'm so proud of you. Please keep winning all, keep coaching. I will stop with the Ted Lasso references eventually. Um, but here's, here's what we're going to talk about today. Somewhere along the way, somebody, some very clever someone wrote and sold the story of the self-made man. They made this story about this person that climbed from the bottom to the top, all by their lonesome, the story of rags to riches, and we all bought it. We bought it in hardcover. We read it every night before we go to bed. We are so subscribed to the story. And now that I think about it, I'm thinking that it was probably the same person that bottled and sold the virtue of the one man band, um, that we drink, like it's water. And I am just rocked by how deeply I believe. And I'm sure so many of us believe and might not even be aware of the thinking that we should be able to succeed on our own. That's what I want to talk about today because lately I'm starting to disagree. I really am. But I see it all over the place in my friends and myself and people I work with. I see us showing ourselves evidence of other people who've done it. We're always talking about the people who are self-made or who did it themselves. And we hold them on a pedestal. We think it's virtuous. We think either that I could never do that. We just look at them and reserve that story. Just for them. We think that I'm not talented or determined or financially backed enough. Like I'm not wealthy enough. I don't have what it takes in terms of like time, talent team money, um, or worse. We think I know exactly what I need to do. I have everything I need to do it. I'm just not doing it. Woof. We just aren't doing it because we think I don't have time. I have other commitments. I have to wait for something else to happen first. Or maybe I could save myself all that work and someone else could just reach out and offer me some help or someone higher up the food chain might just reach out to me, take me under their wing and teach me all of their wisdoms. I could just, you know, leapfrog this whole hard work and managing my mind bit. Well, I hate to break it to you, but big name working people. The ones that you are looking up to right now are likely not going to come knock on your door and offer their time to help you figure your stuff out. Time itself will not outstretch its metaphorical hand. It will not extend itself for you. It will not stretch itself for you. Nobody is going to gift you time to work on your career. You have to gift it to yourself and you don't have to do that alone. Let's talk about it. On the subject of time, the slippery little sucker, it gets full of things that are important to us. And sometimes things that are not important to us, but pretend to be important to us. And then all of a sudden, another month has gone by another year, has gone by the year, is coming to a close and you might be feeling no closer to accomplishing your goal than you were back in January. When you set it for your new year, new me moment. I get it. I've been there. I've been in and out of there actually several times, but I want to, before I, you know, help you get out of there, I want to point out why there is actually not the worst. There isn't so bad. There is probably going to happen. I think our creative lives kind of happen in cycles. Very, very productive modes, rest recovery, inspiration, modes, learning modes, sharing modes, all sorts of different kind of, you know, ebbs and flows of a creative life. It's really, nothing is wrong with that. Unless you are thinking that something's wrong with that. We add insult to injury of not accomplishing our goals. When we let our lack of progress, slow us down. Even further. We blame time. We blame other people for taking up our time and we blame people who have time or resources for not offering those to us. And of course we blame ourselves for simply not getting down to business. What we are doing is beating ourselves up. We're down on the mat, wrestling with our circumstances and our thoughts about ourselves saying, I should be X or I should be doing Y and I'm not, which makes me bad, not good, not able to fix this hopeless unworthy. And then we don't get help because we feel unworthy.
So here in lies, the problem and here comes the truth. If you weren't getting the results that you want, it likely isn't because you don't have time or don't have determination. It's because something else is missing because if you already had everything you needed, if you already had everything it takes in terms of tools, skills, et cetera, you would already have the results that you want. If it were true that you could do it yourself, you would have done it. You don't need a different body. You don't need more discipline. You don't need more time. What you need is to evaluate the ways in which you are spending your time. And I know this is a strong word, but I'm going to say it wasting time. You need to evaluate the ways and the reasons for which you are wasting time. The reasons in which you are wasting time, the wasting you need to evaluate is the time wasting. For example, let's evaluate more. I pick up my phone and scroll because I think I deserve a break. And I think I have a few minutes to spare, but then a few minutes turns into much, much more and boom, wasted time. I waste time in the mornings because I think I can get away with less time. So I hit that snooze button. I hit that snooze button again and again and again. Boom. I think I can get away with less. And therefore I have less wasted time. How about this one? I watch another episode of Ted Lasso because I think that I have to, I think it is so good. I have to keep watching. I don't. In fact, when I keep watching it, I get to the end and I wish I hadn't binged it because now it's over. There's no more left. Tier 1 time wasted. Here's another one. It might be me. Might be, you might be both of us. I go shopping. I go shopping for all the things I go shopping for groceries. Totally not scheduled. Just whenever I'm feeling like. I think the thing that I need is out there in the world instead of in my head, that's when I go shopping and I will shop for anything, mind you, but the feeling that I don't have, what it takes or I don't have the thing I need instead of being met by managing my mind is met by me, going out into the world and looking for something and then paying for something. Usually something that I don't need. Holy smokes, time wasted and occasionally money wasted. And I do those things with full consciousness. It's not like I black out, like there's a moment. Although usually a very quick moment where I decide to waste time. I commit to it like, oh my goodness happens a lot, but I'm getting better at it. I'm getting better at recognizing when it's about to happen. And I'm getting better at clearing those hurdles versus running into them, just running into them, full speed and then collapsing on the floor. So cheers. I, I, I truly am getting better at this. And I know so many of you are too, so many of you who I get to work with in the words that move me community, come to me saying things like I know better or intellectually. I know what I need to do, but I just don't feel ready like in my gut or I know I can do it. I just haven't a lot of this conversation comes up this knowing what we should do technically theoretically, you know, hypothetically from the critically, um, I digress. I digress sounds wow. Somebody's glad to be talking again anyways, we're back.
All of that knowing, but not doing or hypothesizing, but not testing. That's all happening because knowledge, knowing what you should do in should (in quotes) do on its own will not get you the results that you want. You have to apply that knowledge. You have to stop beating yourself up with the shoulds and the shouldn’ts. Instead, remind yourself that becoming the person you want to be will require, require experimentation, exploration, evaluation, re evaluation, correction, and probably some overcorrection. If you're a dancer. And if you want to do that all on your own, you absolutely can. But you can also find support. You can find a peer, a partner, a community, a group of people with a similar focus and hunger for doing the work. Of course you can find an agent, a manager, a person who knows things and applies knowledge about things that you don't yet have. Oh man, I highly recommend getting to know some producers, people who understand project management find a coach or a mentor, find yourself a Ted Lasso and then get to work. And if you are listening to this, that means you have access to all of that. So come and get it.
But first I will give you right now. You don't even have to come and get anything, just sit right there and I will donate. I will gift. I will give gladly a few of my favorite ways that I do more by not doing it alone. When I catch myself feeling confused or thinking, I don't know, dot dot, dot, fill in the blank. I hollered at my friend, Google, which I know most of us have gotten in good practice of, but I do not simply Google the subject that I am looking for. I Google the subject plus blog or podcast or expert witness or book or consultant. That is how you weed out the 16 year old YouTubers who in general are there to practice their video, making skills, not to help you. They might even be there to make money. That's fine too. They might be there to be exercising their new, what is the word I'm looking for? I don't know why they're there, but for some reason, when I searched for things, the first seven results that show up are a very young person showing off their fancy tutorial skills. Um, not necessarily the experts in the field. So that is tip number one, Google plus blog podcast, expert witness book consultant. That is a good jumping off point. If that doesn't solve the case, I'll hire someone who can I love. And it was not paid to tell you that I love Lynda.com That's where I learned to edit in Premier Pro is where I've learned. So, so, so many things. Um, I hear that wyzant.com, W Y Z A N T is also great for general tutoring. If you don't know how to teach yourself, ask someone else to teach you. Speaking of asking, this brings me to point number three, ask obvious, but good questions. I'm going to link to our words that move me podcast episode about how to ask good questions. What I really want to underline is that asking questions is a good thing. Even the obvious ones. If you can ask them in a way that shows how much you know, not how much you don't know.
And finally, when I catch myself feeling confused, thinking all the, I don't knows, I stop talking too much. I stop myself from talking too much by saying, I don't have an opinion on that right now. What do you think? And then I listen. Those are my pointers for dealing with confusion. Now let's talk about overwhelm when I feel overwhelmed, because I'm probably thinking I don't have time. I'll stop wasting it. I'll stop reaching for my phone. I'll delegate to my lovely, lovely team. Shout out Riley Higgins, shout out Malia Baker, or I'll reach out to apps like Task Rabbit, fancy hands I hear is helpful. Um, oh, and this one is important. I'll stop over committing. And I won't lie about why I can't do things. I really think that's important. And I know there are probably a lot of people pleasers out there who might think it's easier to lie about why they can not commit than to just explain the truth. And I will tell you something very reassuring. It is possible to tell the truth and to still be kind, give it a try. Here's another one that's been cropping up lately, perhaps it's because I'm on the tail end of recovery from surgery, perhaps it's because the world is quote, picking back up. I mean, for how long have we been saying that now? I don't know what it is. That's making me think that well, I do actually, it's my brain. That's making me think that, that I am outgunned, that I am outnumbered or that I don't have what it takes when I hear those thoughts start cropping up. I immediately, but gently remind myself of my strengths and my skills. I don't just think about them. I don't just write them down. I use them. And then with my new found self confidence and willingness, I'll ask for things I'll ask for help or ask for a raise. I'll ask for an upgrade. I'll ask for a coupon. I'll ask for better terms. I'll ask for therapy. I'll ask for romance. I'll ask for things. This is huge. I think you'll find that you're way more likely to get things that you ask for than the things that you secretly wish someone would give you.
Ooh, speaking of super secret, super resource www.donotpay.com This is the website that will help you contest fines or enrollment fees. Did you even know that existed, that exists? You're welcome. Do not pay.com. They also do not pay me to say this, but they claim to be the world's first robot, lawyer. This is how you can cut through the tape, beat the bureaucracy and find hidden money by not paying money for things that you don't need to. So there's that work? Here's the other one big, big fan of this one. Stop wasting money on things I already have, for example, Hm, coffee and clothes. Those foes jumped to my mind. I will instead drink the coffee that I already have, and I'll give the clothes that I already have a new life by maybe modifying them. I used to do this in high school. You guys, all the time, the thrift store dates were so real and so romantic, by the way, I love a thrift store date. Um, and then it would get all my stuff home and immediately take to it with scissors and bleach add like leather straps. And, oh, this was high school. I can still do that. I can still find that joy, that pleasure in repairing or otherwise altering items that I've had for a while then maybe don't fit very well. Um, or that have taken two, looking, not like a million bucks and moved them up into looking a little bit more like a million bucks, so much fun. Please do send me photos of this. If you take that advice, I want to see what you do. Also, if you are in the Los Angeles area in the valley, I would like to recommend my tailor who is on Burbank somewhere. Hold on, wait for it guys. I'm the pits. I was not prepared with that information today. Um, but it will add in the show notes, the name of my favorite alterations place in the valley. So good. So honest, very reasonable, very fast. Get into getting your stuff to fit you. It's the best. Okay. I think we've covered all of it. Lastly, I will say this to simplify my life. My biggest plan is to stop saying that I should be able to do it alone. And to simply start simplifying simplified does not mean take on the world by yourself. It might mean delegate. It might mean outsource. It might mean cancel. It might mean say no. It might mean scheduling your binge-watch of Ted Lasso so that you can feel great about sticking to the schedule instead of simply clearing your entire life, um, unannounced and committing to eight hours in front of the television. Holy smokes, that actually happened. So when you wrap up this episode, when you get to where you're going today, when you have a moment, make a quick list of the ways that you can simplify your life. And before I let you go, I simply must remind you that I am one of the ways you can simplify your life. I offer coaching and tools that help you manage your time, your money, your mind. Well, literally everything falls under that category. So that's, we'll just stop right there. Awesome. The words that move me community is a membership that has formed in support of the podcast and in support of creative life. And it is an excellent resource. I really, really hope that if this episode spoke to you, you take a look into it. I adore everyone that I work with there. Um, we have some exciting projects coming up as well within the community, like internal exclusive stuff. So I urge you come check that out. TheDanawilson.com/wtmmcomm
affectionately referred to as WTMMCOMM. Um, yeah, this is just, it's such a great place to team up to get that swift kick in the buns that you need, or maybe that gentle boost that you need. Um, a whole, whole lot of good things. So hope to see you there. And I hope that I, Hmm, here we go. Here's the segway that I was looking for. I hope I see you there and I hope you keep it funky. Yes. Way to bring it home. Wilson when I'm calm, keep it funky. Anything else? Oh yeah. Simplifying might mean that doing less means you can do more. So go on and get at that. I'll talk to soon.
Me again, wondering if you ever noticed that one more time. Almost never means one more time. Well, here on the podcast, one more thing actually means two more things. Number one thing. If you're digging the pod, if these words are moving you, please don't forget to download, subscribe and leave a rating and review because your words move me too. Number two, I make more than weekly podcasts. So please visit thedanawilson.com for links to free workshops and so much more. All right. That's it now for real talk to you soon. Bye.
