Mid-Year Check-in: How to Unlock Your Creative Goldmine and Finish What You Started

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When it's time to move forward. Sometimes you need to look back. And before you start something new, sometimes you got to make sure you finished the first thing that you already started. Now, as I'm recording this, it's right around the midpoint of the year, and so I thought it would be a good time to kind of take a pause. Not necessarily start anything new or give you any new information from guiding gigs, but just tell you why it's important to take a step back and make sure you're finishing and completing those great ideas that you already had that maybe you left on the back burner.

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Give me just a moment to welcome those of you who are new to God and Gigs, and then we'll get right into this important conversation.

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Hello, and welcome to our show. Thank you so much for making this podcast a part of your creative day. If you are new to our show, you are in the right place at the right time with the right people. My name is Allen C. Paul.

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I'm a creative coach, musician, and author. And this platform, this podcast, everything we do here, is to help you to transform your creative life from the inside out by applying timeless spiritual principles to the temporary creative problems that you might be facing. So if you're new, you are in the right place. And as I'm recording, as I mentioned in the intro, it's right around the middle of the year. It's actually Memorial Day weekend as I'm recording.

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And so instead of going into something new, getting another interview out, which, again, I've had some incredible interviews in the last few weeks, and I thought, you know what? Maybe it's time to take a pause and let you go back if you're listening at any time and check out what's right before this episode. Some incredible interviews with guys like john mike with some incredible ladies like alison de la mota, Janeen hammond, deb brown maher sam worshaw was on our show, husband to jade worshaw, who is a dave ramsay personality now. And we had her on the show back last year. And it just occurred to me that there's so much good stuff that sometimes we pile on and I just say, watch the next episode, listen to the next episode.

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And I don't ever talk about what's already there in the archives, which is really enough for us to kind of go for years. We've been around that long with almost 200 to 50 episodes now that sometimes just adding on stuff to add on stuff is not necessarily beneficial for you. So maybe I should take a pause and just say, hey, spend a week, maybe don't even necessarily go on to the next episode. Go to the last one. Catch up on what you might have missed.

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Because there's so much value in what has already been shared here that I never want to discount it simply just to have something new in front of you. Now, that being said, of course it is important to have fresh content every week. And so we'll continue to do that no matter what. But whenever you're listening to this, please make sure you subscribe to our show, subscribe to the YouTube. We're catching up on YouTube, putting some of our back catalog onto YouTube to make sure that there's complete episodes, even if it's not video.

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Sometimes I'll just put the audio up there in case you enjoy watching it or listening on YouTube. And we are also making sure that our Guiding Gigs 360 community, which is where we put everything guiding Gigs ever had for all of our community members who want that mastermind level coaching and accountability that's also going to be always updated. So this is the summer for me to really make sure that we are leveraging everything that's already in Guiding Gigs, that I'm not simply doing more to do more, but that I'm serving you, our audience, our listeners, our creators of our community with what really works. And oftentimes it's the things that we already do. It's not new stuff, it's the things that we already do that I want to make sure we are making sure you have the access to, and that we never, never just move on from what really works, the tried and true stuff.

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So now let's talk about you and your steps forward and backwards. Have you looked back? Have you looked back at the first half of the year? Again, if you're listening, round June of 2023, it's about the midpoint of the year, so let's talk about that. Is it a great moment that you're like, yes, we've made it to the summer and I feel great, or is it Where did the year go?

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And these things that I have planned to do, I have not touched any of them. That might be the case on either side. You might think that you've got a great start of the year to the year, and the rest of the year you got a great plan. Or you might feel like, man, I got stuck and where did the year go? And I didn't have a plan to make the next three months or the next six months a success.

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We're calling this season in Gotten Gigs 360 at least the Summer of Success, because I really want this summer to be a springboard for you and Gotten Gigs to really make an impact in those things that are already on your plate. This is kind of like, I guess, the theme that we're talking about now. I didn't intend it to be a theme, but it's becoming a theme because maybe the new, new idea that the things that are brewing in your head is not the thing. It could be that you need to go back to the thing that you started and let's make sure you finish that now. We just finished a promotion.

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If you're listening, it might be going on, but most likely if you're listening after Monday Memorial Day, we did a promotion where we allow people to jump in on guiding gigs, 360 gold at an insanely low or really no price, and then gave them discounts earlier, later on. So if that's not available, you can still jump into gotten gigs. 360 gold, that is my highest recommendation for you. But no matter how you get that accountability, make sure you're having conversations with people who are inspiring you to get things done that you said you were going to do. It is so easy just to talk in circles.

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It's so easy to go into the next thing, oh, I want to do the new song. New this, new that's great. But are you leveraging what you already worked on? And did you complete it in the first half of maybe 2023 or whenever you're listening the last six months? Did you finish the thing that you said you were going to finish?

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And if not, you might be sitting on a gold mine and you just haven't explored it. I just had this conversation with one of our members in God and gave 360 gold about something that he did that was highly successful, got him some new fans and got him some followers. And then I asked, did he continue doing that? He's like, no, I only did it once. I was like, Why?

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But I'm as guilty as that. And you're guilty of that too. When we see something that works, we sometimes get bored and we think it's not going to work again. And you got to just stay with the consistency and the persistence of doing the thing until the thing no longer works or you finished it and it's time to move on. And there's always place for new, there's always a place for creative, obviously innovation, where things change and you want to try something new.

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Nothing wrong with that. But my point to you in this midpoint of the year type of reflection, sit back, relax a little bit, and then take stock of where you're at is to do that consistently. Make sure you're finishing what you started. Make sure you're making the best of the stuff that's already in your hand. So forgotten gigs.

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Like I said, for me, that means songs that I've already written. I got to work on those songs. I don't need to write new songs right now. I need to finish the ones that I already started. I got to finish the books I've already started.

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I got to make application to the things that I have planned in my life to do and make sure that I'm accountable to someone to actually follow through with it. Same thing for you. I believe in your creative life. You've probably got some great ideas, but you also must have some ideas that you just kind of let slip and it's easier to move on to the new thing. So I'm not trying to preach to you or tell you that you are off your game.

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It's human nature for us to look for the new versus stick with the tried and true and make sure that it gets done. Because I guarantee you there's probably some great gold mine ideas and concepts that you might have left on the back burner because it got a little hard to finish. You need people around you. That's why you need groups like God and Gigs 360 Gold and our Community and our podcast, things like that, to keep reminding you, bringing back what works, what matters to you, reminding you of your why and sticking with it. If you do that, you're going to find the next six months and the next three months and the next three weeks or whatever time period that you need to finish that thing.

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It's going to be so much more fulfilling because you stuck with what really works and you didn't just leave it by the back burner and let it go under the bridge, as they say, water under the bridge, because you didn't want to go back to something that you thought you should have finished a long time ago. That's my encouragement to you today. Nothing fancy, nothing deep today just a reminder for your mid year, I guess. Again, as you're listening, perhaps sometime in June, my birthday is coming up. I don't know why I like to mention that.

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I didn't mean to mention it, but I mentioned it again in a previous discussion and it is like a reminder to me because my birthday is right around the middle of the year as well. So it just reminds me, hey, take stock. Be grateful for what you already have. And most of the changes in my life, like the big changes have always been during the summer, too. So maybe it's just a trend transition moment for me, but I believe it's also for you to take stock.

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If you're taking a vacation, great, rest. But also take into consideration, what's the next season of my life, the next season of my year? How can I capitalize on the time that I have to do what I've already committed to and make sure it's done well? If you do that, I guarantee you God's going to bless it and you're going to feel more satisfied and fulfilled because you didn't just jump on to the next thing, but you stayed true and faithful to the thing that you already committed to. All right, my friend, that's our God and Gigs creative Checkup style episode for today.

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Please follow follow up with that subscribe on YouTube or Apple podcast or Spotify, wherever you're listening. Let somebody else know about this. That's another thing I'll ask you to be accountable to, please. There's a creative in your life. You just thought of them.

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You just thought of somebody else. Because we all have friends and people who are in our networks. You just thought of somebody who needed this reminder. And why do I know that? Because I just thought of somebody who needed this reminder.

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And as much as it's easier just to say, well, they're good, think about them. Send this episode or maybe your favorite episode from the last six, seven weeks or something. We've had so many great ones, you could pick and choose any of them and just say, hey, send that text to them. Most of these apps allow you to send it via DM or some other way that goes directly to them. You don't have to post it on social media if you don't want.

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Just send it directly to them and say, hey, I was thinking about you. This inspired me. Maybe this will inspire you because I believe in your creative gift. They will appreciate it, and I guarantee you, not because it's coming from me, but because of all the amazing people in this community and the people that we've had the chance to interview. I guarantee you they'll be blessed because of it.

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Okay? Iron sharpens iron, as the Bible says, and we are creative, so creatives sharpen other creatives. And that's just what happens when you share podcasts like these. So please do that for the end of the year or the beginning of the year, whatever you're listening. Kind of do that little reminder to them, okay?

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Send it to them and say, hey, there's some great commentary here, so some great resources. I think you should check this out. Share the Guiding Gig show with them. That will help them, and it will help us to spread the news and help other creatives become completely confident in what God has blessed them to do. Okay, that's our show for today.

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Thank you so much for being a part of our community. I hope once again, you'll subscribe and stay connected with us on all of our socials all those links are in the show notes in the description of this app that you're using right now. And until next time, I hope you be blessed and that you will continue to become the creative that you were created to be. God bless, and we'll see you next episode. Thanks for joining us here at the God and Gig Show.

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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.