How to Unlock Your Unique Advantage and Reach Creative Success in 2024

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What is the number one thing stopping most creatives from making an impact and becoming successful? Is it because they don't have the money? Is it because they don't have the network? Or is it something else? Could it be that the number one thing that's missing from most creatives toolbox that would make them able to stand out is the one thing that they all have, that you have, but you haven't utilized this thing yet?

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I'm going to explain to you why this one ingredient is the most important key to your creative success in the coming year and every year after that. In this creative checkup episode of The God and Gig Show. Give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to our show and then we'll get right into this extremely important conversation.

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Hello and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a heart of your creative day. If you are new to our show, thank you for joining me. My name is Allen C. Paul.

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I'm a musician, author and creative coach. And this podcast is here to help you transform your creative life from the inside out by applying timeless spiritual principles to the temporary creative problems that you might be facing. I hope you'll subscribe here on this app, tap the notifications bell if you're watching on YouTube and make sure that you stay connect with us because you found your tribe. People who want to lead with character, become the creators that God created them to be and to thrive in the mainstream arts and entertainment space. Now, I told you in the beginning that I was going to tell you something that was the key ingredient to success and it's something that most of us miss out on.

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And this might seem a little harsh, but I think you'll understand why I went in this direction because we're talking through in this short series, kind of like a miniseries on the things you have to do to be successful in 2024. And whenever you're listening or watching this, you're going to need these ingredients. They come from our confident creative blueprint. Also the book God and Gig succeed as a musician without sacrificing your faith. But I really felt like these principles really kind of need to be revisited and reintroduced in a new way and a fresh way.

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And this one really does need to be reintroduced because this is the third section which we call Respect the Business. And there's something about the business of being a creative that is missing from most of us when it comes to being able to make it out of our heads, out of our minds, out of this victim mentality, out of this. The industry is so hard that nobody can make it because there's too many people that already do this. There's too many people that already have channels. There's too many people that make this and make that.

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Now maybe that's not you. And I appreciate you for your positive, but I'm kind of playing off the negative card because I see so much of it. My city is not a good city for my art or my craft or my industry. I'm not there yet. There's so much of this that makes us feel like we aren't going to be able to be successful.

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And I don't mean just going full time as a creative. It might be even simply something that you want to be more involved with in your creative life in a passion way, but you still feel like there's something missing that you can't break out. And you may not want to be famous, but you just want to be recognized and known for your art and being able to do it on a consistent basis. And here's the ingredient that's missing. And again, please take this with a grain of salt and in love.

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But what's missing is integrity. Now, that might seem like a very harsh way of saying that you're not who you say you are. I'm not saying that you are lying. I'm not saying that you have a bad character, that you are not representing yourself correctly. What I am saying is that most creatives have trouble embracing who they are and leading with that, especially when it comes to your creative business.

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In other words, the way you show up in the marketplace. Most of us, we look at other people, whether it's in social media, whether it's in our artistic niche, wherever it is, and we immediately go to comparison. And when we go to comparison, we immediately think, well, if such and such is doing this, then I should be doing this. If such and such has this many followers, then I should have this many followers. And the reason why that goes right against integrity is because to be integrous is to be the same thing inside and out.

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If you are comparing yourself, you are now trying to become something on the outside that you are not on the inside. You're trying to be something else that doesn't really fit who you are. Now, this doesn't mean we shouldn't use best practices when it comes to seeing what other people are doing and using ideas and being inspired by other people. But what I'm very hesitant to think of and to share is when that goes too far, it's hard to really figure out that line. But we all know when you go from being somebody that you are to trying to emulate and copy and try to be something that you're not.

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And that is a superpower that I think most creatives who have really honed their gift, who have stuck with what works and also have been willing to change and adapt, but always in a case of being exactly who they are, not trading it in for a cheap version of what another creative or another artist has done. And that my friend along with the consistency. That is what is going to help you make it in 2024. Why can I say this? Because this is the same thing that I'm dealing with even as I'm recording this.

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It is definitely a struggle to see what I do and to see what other people do and not try to emulate them, not say, Wait, I should do exactly what they did to blow up their channel. I should do exactly what they did. But God didn't call me to their race. God called me to my race. And so if you're watching or listening right now, I'm only called to reach those that God has called me to reach.

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And he's given me a grace for the season that I'm in to operate in the creative space that I'm in right now. And he's holding me accountable only for that. So my integrity is to be accountable simply for the message and the art and the gifting that he's given me for this season, for this reason, and for the people he's called me to. And that does not equal or can be compared to anybody else's creative career. And so when I ask you and say again, kind of pointedly, that the thing that's missing from your creative success.

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And here's a key thing, you have to define success the right way. Are you defining it by other metrics? By how many followers other people have? By how many album sales, by how many different art projects somebody else has? Or are you defining it by God's standards?

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And are you being very clear about God? Show me what I am on the inside as a creative and make sure that that equals what you are putting out as a creative and being satisfied, as the Bible says, content with that. That is the missing piece that I can say in every single successful creative we have interviewed for over 200 episodes now on the Gotten Gig Show podcast, every single one has had to come to grips with, I have to be who I say I am, nothing more and nothing less. Every bass player, every artist, every songwriter, every keyboardist, every producer, all of them. If you go through all of our episodes, you'll see that common thread.

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They all say, I had to be exactly who I say I am. I had to be confident and comfortable with my own skin being integrous in business, which means not trying to be something that I'm not inside or outside of my church life, my spiritual life, my family life. That is the key that made them able to walk and be comfortable in their own skin and not feel like they had to either shrink or use their ego and try to build themselves up to be something that they're not. That, my friend, is what's going to help you to be successful in every walk of life, but especially in your creative life, especially in this era, and I can be, once again, very clear. This is why we need to reintroduce this.

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Because back when I wrote my book, there was no AI artificial intelligence, but now there is. And guess what? People are going to search for more and more as more and more voices sound the same, because they're all coming from this algorithm and this artificial intelligence. They're going to be looking for people who are authentic, who are integrous, who have integrity, who are who they say they are. They're not hiding behind any kind of AI.

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They are absolutely authentic. They are who they say they are, and there's no fakeness around them. That is your superpower, my friend. That is the missing ingredient to success next year. So I'm going to challenge you.

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Think about your tactics, think about your strategies, do all the marketing stuff, do all the research. But at the end of the day, are you speaking with the voice that God gave you? Are you speaking directly from the place that you know you have to hone in in this coming year, in the next year, whenever the next season is coming, you are honing in and saying, lord, let me know exactly who I am, and then let me show up in business exactly that way. Not flipping the script, not changing things around to try to be something you're not, because people see through it and it simply doesn't have the power. Whenever you think of a wave, the big tidal waves, the things that come crashing down, those huge waves, they build up energy over time because they constantly repeat underneath the water that same cycle they build and they get exponentially larger.

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That's the same way it is when you are integris. You may not feel like you're making a lot of progress, but as you stay in that integrity flow of staying who you are, who you are, you're building up momentum just like a snowball rolling down the hill. And if you stick with that, you are going to have so much more power and authenticity and authority and influence because you have not traded out your integrity for something that you're not. When you reach those stages, when you reach those opportunities, you will be the exact kind of person that can handle the success that might come your way, that God might bring you, my friend. I may sound very passionate about this, because I am.

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And even as I'm talking about this, I'm encouraging myself as I'm encouraging you. Make sure that integrity is your number one goal when it comes to respecting your own business and respecting the business of others in the music industry, because you're called to be who you are, who God made you to be as a creative, nothing more and nothing less. I hope that has encouraged you. I hope this Creative Checkup episode has kind of given you some fuel and some inspiration to stick with what works in your creative life. But always be willing to shift and change things in terms of tactics, but never change who you are and what God made you to be and the way that he made you to create in this world.

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If this has blessed you, please make sure you subscribe stay subscribed. Make sure you tell a friend. Send this episode to them. This might be the encouragement that they need, especially if they're feeling low at the end of a season, at the end of a year, at the beginning of a year, and they don't feel like they're going anywhere. Remind them and send this to them so that they can stay inspired and encouraged to stick with what God put on the inside of them.

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Because his gifts are without repentance, he doesn't call them back. He simply wants you to use them more effectively. Thank you so much for listening and watching. Thank you so much for being a part of the God and Gigs community. Until next time, continue to become the creative that you were created to be.

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God bless and I'll see you next episode.

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Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gigs show. Please leave us a review on itunes like our Facebook page or visit godandgigs.com and tell us what you thought of this show. We'll be back soon. In the meantime, go create something amazing.