Creating Your Path: Takeaways from Cre8tive Con with Harry Spaight

Creating Your Path: Takeaways from Cre8tive Con

[00:00:00] There's a lot of inspiration out there and people spend thousands and tens of thousands of dollars on events every year And nothing's changing in their life. And they're saying things like, some day I'm going to do something. Well, I've got news. I mean, some day does not come. Welcome to Sales Made Easy, a podcast for business and personal growth. Join Harry Spaight, as he hosts sales experts and business owners who share their journeys of personal growth and business success now, here's your host, Harry. What is going on in this special edition of the SalesMate Easy podcast? I want to talk about this past week at CreativeCon. For those of you who don't know, uh, good friends of mine put on this event out near Chicago in Arlington Heights at the Metropolis Theater. It was absolutely incredible to [00:01:00] meet these people for the first time in real life.

[00:01:02] Uh, so I definitely had a blast just on that aspect alone. So Creative Con is really was an event put on by Julie Loken. Dominic Damasky, Tom Langan and Heidi Dunstan. And really what the message was behind this was you can be a creator and you can thrive as a creator. A lot of people hesitate. They don't think that the creators, I certainly didn't think I had a creative bone in my body at one time, and just seeing all the people there with the different stories.

[00:01:41] And Dominic has said over the years that everybody has a story in them. And as I was speaking to different people, clearly there are all kinds of stories. So what happened when we got out there, the state, the theater is really this historic looking [00:02:00] building outside of Chicago and Arlington Heights, it's beautiful.

[00:02:04] And we went in and they gave us a tour of what the stage would look like and. What the green room would be. We walked all around the building, which is pretty cool. And seeing the breakout rooms and just the fun stuff with props and so forth. Um, you know, some of us may be, have dreamt of being an actor or something, but being in a theater like that was just, uh, a lot of fun.

[00:02:32] Meeting Julie Loken, the brainstorm behind this, uh, she is. A very giving person all about serving people, all about helping people to reach their dreams. And I'm just thrilled to know this woman, Dominic is actually one who helped publish my book. He's, uh, his company is Motivation Champs. Uh, he spoke to me about this event and he says, keep this on the radar.

[00:02:58] We may be looking for [00:03:00] speakers. And sure enough, I was, uh, blessed to be able to speak at this event in my journey. It was really talking about, uh, you're not too old to pursue your dreams. Uh, so I was thrilled to be able to share that experience and hopefully inspire somebody. Tom Langan is a. Emmy nominated video producer and he spoke about storytelling and he's just masterful at creating video.

[00:03:30] And, um, so I can't wait to see the videos of this event as they come out. And Heidi Dunstan was the event planner organizer. Uh, she made things happen when things were not maybe going as well as she would've liked behind the scenes. Those of us who are in the building would have no idea. It seemed to go flawlessly.

[00:03:52] So super, super event. Lots of great people, speakers, TEDx, [00:04:00] speakers, podcasters, people who have monetized podcasting. People have been podcasting for nearly 20 years. I didn't realize that podcasting has been around that long. Uh, people like, uh, Brian Alvis, who has been podcasting. Uh, he mentioned for 19 years.

[00:04:17] So lots of great people, great stories, great advice. Um, so that, that alone was worth the price of admission. The other thing that I thought was really interesting was how many people who were older, I'm not saying they were my age older, but people who were middle age, probably fifty-ish. Forties and fifties that were thinking about making these changes in their life where they were, you know, optimistic that they were going to do something.

[00:04:55] And that just, I just wanted to talk [00:05:00] about that a little bit, is that we think that we always will have time. Uh, I don't know what it is about us, but we know the clock eventually runs out mentally. But we put things off sometimes way too long where they're not even ever done. And then of course people die with regrets.

[00:05:22] So I was thinking back in, in my own journey, it was 10 years ago or so, 10 years prior to me writing the book, selling with Dignity, that the idea came into my mind and as I thought about it briefly. I dismissed it pretty quickly. I dismissed it because of the negative self-talk that who am I to write a book?

[00:05:48] I am not an author. I'm not smart enough to write a book. Uh, there are plenty of people that are smarter than I am that wrote their books. The World does Not Need a [00:06:00] Book by Harry Spade and all of this negative self-talk. So. Within a few minutes, I was talking to myself out of the idea that came into my head, and this is a huge mistake.

[00:06:12] We have to learn to understand where do these ideas come from and Examine it. So when we say things like, I should do something or I need to do something, we need to stop and reflect and say, why did I just say that? Is that really a passion of mine? Is that really a dream? Should I really write a book?

[00:06:34] Should I really start a podcast? So as we think through this and recognize that we can offer a lot to other people who are in similar circumstances. I mean, there's 300 million people or more in this country alone in the us, plus hundreds of millions and billions everywhere else. I think the latest count was somewhere [00:07:00] around seven to 8 billion people in the world.

[00:07:02] So there are a lot of people that need to hear your story because they can be inspired by your story and be moved to do greater things in life. When we look at it selfishly, and I, I say the term selfishly for myself. Is because I was holding back, I was not really thinking about other people. I was thinking about myself and the negative self-talk was all about me.

[00:07:30] I wasn't really thinking about, well, who could benefit from this? And is my passion to serve people greater than my fear or my unwillingness to put myself out there? So, interestingly enough, during this event. And I look at the progress that I've made over the past several years from the time in 2020 where I was pretty desperate and not feeling like I had much of a life left to live.

[00:07:57] I mean, it was the countdown towards [00:08:00] retirement. And you know, my productive years were behind me. My best years were behind me, and it was just. You know, I did not look forward to the future. 'cause retirement to me is just the countdown to, you know, the inevitable, um, which is old age and death. And that did not excite me.

[00:08:19] I wanna be productive in my later years, and hopefully you're the same way. Well, during the event, Dr. JC, Dornick the dragon, he was the MC and he kept Reiterating. About the need to take action. So between speeches, he would highlight what the speech was about or what the workshop was about, and then he would come out and speak to the audience and say, what are we going to do?

[00:08:51] What, what step can we take? And this is the critical thing, is that we can listen, we can be [00:09:00] inspired, we can be motivated, but. What good is it, honestly, if we don't do anything with it? And how many millions and millions of people listen to people like Tony Robbins and others who are inspiring? Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins podcasts.

[00:09:20] I mean, you name it. There's a lot of inspiration out there and people spend thousands and tens of thousands of dollars on events every year that they're going to. And nothing's changing in their life. And they're saying things like, some day I'm going to do something. Well, I've got news. I mean, some day does not come.

[00:09:44] We actually have to decide. And speaking from experience, when, from that time, 10 years prior to writing the book, 10 years went by, 10 years. What could have been the [00:10:00] difference in my life if I had started 10 years prior? And you know, I'm not looking back with regrets, but I'm just saying is that the time flies by and when we say someday, we can look back and you know, thankfully I had the opportunity to be reignited a spark happen for me.

[00:10:21] But it doesn't happen for everybody. They dismiss it, even though they may be inspired, they say, this is really great. I'm fired up. What are you going to do is the next question. And the key thing is, is to take a step. And for me the step was, I am going to start writing this book now. There was no, I'm gonna get us, I'm not gonna get us started tomorrow.

[00:10:51] It was immediately as I thought, as a thought, I had it in my head. I went over to the computer and started typing [00:11:00] away in a document about what the chapters were, what the title was, and so forth. And even though a lot of that has changed, I wasn't looking for perfection. I was just looking to get started.

[00:11:14] Because I knew that my opportunity passed years ago, and years and years went by, I wasn't gonna blow that again. This time I was clear that I needed to get started. So what is the lesson here is that we think that. We're looking for perfection. We're looking for whatever it is that we're going to do, whether it be start a podcast, become an author, whatever creative thing there is, we think it has to be perfect.

[00:11:52] We think that it's gotta be great or otherwise we'll embarrass ourselves, and I just [00:12:00] encourage you to think through that. What have you started in your life that you are immediately great at? You see when you learn, if you're a musician and you learn to play the guitar or the piano, you did not start out being great when you learned whatever the tasks were on the job.

[00:12:22] I'm pretty sure you did not start out being great when we went to school, when we took classes, we didn't know everything we had to learn. We were not great in the beginning. So this happens over and over in our life. I mean, whether there be a sport, if you're playing hockey or golf or doing gymnastics or dance, you just start out being great.

[00:12:48] We started out like everyone else did. Maybe we had some natural abilities, but we had to work at whatever it was to develop the skills [00:13:00] and to be much better at it and hopefully reach greatness. I'm still working at re reaching greatness, so there's plenty of potential for the future for me, but. Uh, just a, a sidebar here is that we have to let that go.

[00:13:15] We have to let go of these thoughts that we need to be perfect, and there's a saying that perfect gets in the way of good enough. I'm not sure exactly how it goes, but you can recognize that much of what we do in life isn't perfect, but it's good enough and. If we don't do what's good enough and we just wait for perfect, what are the chances of it ever happening?

[00:13:46] You see, perfection comes with repetition with us, developing the skill, the muscle memory, the practice. And if we're not practicing and we're just waiting, um, what good [00:14:00] is that doing, honestly? So if you're thinking about starting a podcast. And you say, well, I want the podcast to be great. I want to be like Joe Rogan or Mel Robbins.

[00:14:10] It's not going to start out that way. I mean, there's millions of podcasts and think about who is in your audience, who would like you, who needs to hear your voice. There are people that will be inspired that will want to hear you. You will, just as you have friends in life, you'll have virtual friends that become listeners.

[00:14:31] And they will be anxious to hear what you have to say next because they're in the background. But hearing the inspiration and the education that you're providing or whatever it is, it might be just entertainment, but they will be your fans. If you have friends, you will have fans. So what do we do with that?

[00:14:53] What can we do? So if you're thinking about starting a podcast, get the pen and paper out and [00:15:00] start writing. What, what excites you? What topics excite you? And think through that and say, well, for many of us it is, we've had jobs and built a lot of knowledge and insight from our careers that we could share to others.

[00:15:19] Others will have great hobbies. I mean, they're passionate about music, they're passionate about crime. They're pa I mean mysteries and so forth. I mean, there are podcasts about every topic. And so whatever your passion is, you can create a podcast. And the great thing about this, and you know, I used to overthink this and say, well, podcasting is such a commitment.

[00:15:43] And I didn't spend a lot of time overthinking, but I just thought it was, you had to do it every week for years, but you could do like a season and it could be a once a month season. So say you want 12 episodes and you're going to talk about [00:16:00] your passion, which is solving crime mysteries, or whatever that is, right?

[00:16:07] Maybe that's your passion or maybe your passion is about. Um, vacations and trips that you have taken, or, you know, I live in Florida. There's a lot of people that are, not a lot, but a number of people that will talk about areas around them. Great little quaint, small towns that have history and great restaurants and parks and museums and so forth.

[00:16:32] And that can be a podcast. It's like you could have your own radio show or your own television program. But you don't feel like you have to do it every week for the next five years. Maybe you just wanna get started and say, I'm gonna do a 12 episode thing and just see how that goes. The time it takes to record 12 episodes.

[00:16:55] I mean, you're probably talking, you know, maybe if you wanna do 20 minute [00:17:00] episodes, takes maybe an hour to record that if you want. Maybe it takes 25 minutes, but. You know, maybe you jot down some notes as to what you wanna talk about and you speak freely and you please don't worry about your voice, don't worry about the arms, so forth.

[00:17:18] No one's looking for perfection. What they're looking for is to learn from you and to hear what you have to say. Because if we say, um, in real life, we're gonna say, um, on the podcast, I say so a lot. I mean. It's just what it is. It's, but people will still be attracted to you. So we got, we really should let go of this idea of it being perfected per perfect, or the idea of having perfection in what we do.

[00:17:45] See, I'm speaking over myself. So in the podcast, you can use great tools. There's inexpensive tools to edit podcasts. One of 'em is descript. It's about $15 a month. [00:18:00] And that can remove the uhs and the ums if you are worried about that. And the other thing the script does is that it, you can click a button and it will give you studio sound.

[00:18:11] So if that's something you wanna do, feel free to use that. Um, but others just speak naturally. And I mean, some people are podcasting. Sam Crowley, uh, every day is Saturday. He's been podcasting for years off of his smartphone. And he did it in his car and he has millions of people that have downloaded his podcasts.

[00:18:33] Uh, I started listening to Sam Crowley back in probably 2018 or so, maybe even before then. But here's, this guy talked about speaking, I mean, podcasting in his car and just speaking what's on his mind. So whatever is on your mind and you are passionate about it, just give it a shot because there is no time, like the present and time flies by.

[00:18:58] I mean, as we know, the older [00:19:00] we get, the quicker it seems to go. And you don't wanna be like me looking back and saying 10 years. Seriously. I waited 10 years to get started. It was, you know, silly, right? To say that least it was silly. So let go of the perfection, give it a shot. Good things are going to happen with you.

[00:19:22] And you know, when you see events like this at CreativeCon and you, I'm just going back to that now, you see the different people who are making strides and we're all at different levels, different places in our journey. The other tendency is, is that we compare ourselves and we are thinking, well, they're so far ahead of me.

[00:19:43] There's so much better than me. You just have to let go of that thinking. We can't compare our beginning to someone else's middle. I heard that expression like, oh yeah, that makes sense. So just like you're learning to ride a bicycle, you're not [00:20:00] gonna look at the Tour de France and say, wow, those people are so much better.

[00:20:04] I might as well give up. Now you recognize that, I don't know. We don't really do that when we're five years old, but you get the idea. We don't wanna compare ourselves to someone that's really far along, compare ourselves to what we did in the past, right? Just look in the mirror and say, I'm gonna compare myself to what I was doing last week, last month, and last year, and I'm seeing the progress that I'm making.

[00:20:28] Hopefully that makes sense. All right, so creative con. Tons of creators, people that are inspiring. These are the people I love to hang out with because everybody has a story, as Dominic says, and those stories are incredible. They're inspiring, and we can learn from so many different people. We have different beliefs politically, probably spiritually, but that stuff doesn't matter.

[00:20:56] You come together for a, you know, for a [00:21:00] topic of. We want to show the world that we're creators and that we're putting ourselves out there and we want to be better, and we want a community of people who are like minded that are, you know, letting go of their fears and showing their creative side. So.

[00:21:20] Julie Loken. Tom Langan. Dominic Damas. Heidi Dunston. Definitely you wanna follow these people. Uh, I highly encourage you at the next CreativeCon as it comes around, uh, and is spelled with an eight. Instead of the A in creative, um, look that up. I'll put it in the show notes. And, um, I'm telling you, these people will get you going, but we have to take the step, right?

[00:21:46] We're gonna be encouraged, but we need to take the step. And if I can't be any more clear, that step needs to happen now. So if you're listening to this podcast and you're thinking, well, I've [00:22:00] always wanted to write a book, really don't know what it is. Get the pen and paper out, get the juices flowing, and start thinking right.

[00:22:10] Write as you think, mind map it if you will, and just write down all the different topics that you feel like you're passionate about, and then you'll narrow it down and then you'll start writing if that's your dream or if it's podcasting. Similar thing. Find the topics, write 'em down, and then just get started.

[00:22:29] You don't have to worry about the expensive microphones, the expensive cameras. Your first round of podcasts, you're gonna have very few listeners because nobody knows you yet, but it will build over time and the worst thing that will happen is that you'll try something new. And if you're anywhere older than 40, I mean this is good for you.

[00:22:52] I mean, there's a lot of people in their forties and fifties that get very discouraged in life 'cause their kids are getting older and they're kind of losing [00:23:00] their sight on their mission and purpose. This will probably reignite it. When I was speaking, I asked the question, how many podcasters in the room and I asked has pod, is anyone here agree with me that podcasting has changed their life?

[00:23:16] I. And there was a lot of shouting and clapping on that one because it has, it's changed my life. It's brought me into a whole new world of creativity and meeting incredible people. So whatever it is, get your creative juices flowing. Don't worry about being perfect. Get in touch with the right people to become new friends.

[00:23:38] The people at CreativeCon would be a great place to start and get moving. I hope you're having a great day. Thanks for listening, and feel free to reach out to me at Harrychat.com. If you would like to talk a little bit more about that, that will bring you to my calendar. [00:24:00] Thank you for listening to Sales Made Easy. If you found value in our conversations, please subscribe and leave a review. Our goal is to provide practical strategies for growing your business while staying true to your. Remember, success in sales is about serving your clients. Serve first and the selling will follow.

[00:24:21] We'll be back soon with more insights and inspiration. Until then, keep serving and providing value to others.