Your answers are within
Your past and future hold the key to your destiny
During this week of unrest and revolution, I have chosen to listen to the stories of our brothers and sisters and look at ways to support the cause of justice and equity for people of color, specifically Black people who have been oppressed for 500-hundred years. However, I still want to honor my commitment to support you as artists.
So, I cut this week’s solo episode from a recent mastermind I led where I shared two pivotal exercises from Pat Flynn’s book, Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money (*affiliate link) that I’ve been reading. I’ve been using this time as we are sheltering-in-place to look within for guidance as I move forward in life and in business. They’ve been extremely helpful for me on my journey and I believe they can help you too, especially now as the hierarchy of our priorities evolve.
NOTES
I share how looking at where you’ve been and where you want to be can help you connect the dots to create the life you want for yourself — a life that is drawn and not traced.
One of my goals is to help you to live that kind of life and I hope these exercises help shed light on how you can attain that.
I also share a bit about the upcoming ärtful hangouts that I’m launching soon.
LINKS
Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money
by Pat Flynn (*affiliate link)
ärtful hangouts (for audio producer + podcasters)
ärtful hangouts (for video producers + filmmakers)
TRANSCRIPT
[0:00] Music.
[0:08] Welcome to artful, a community committed to championing artists and creative misfits from all walks of life.
This show gives you an insiders look into the rial, scrappy lives of artists creating with purpose,
including interviews with beatboxers, graffiti writers, DJs, chefs, photographers, designers, illustrators, filmmakers, and music artists from around the globe, as well as insights and inspiration from yours truly.
I'm Gabriel if an award-winning artist, coach, entrepreneur and fellow misfit. All right, let's do this.
[0:39] Music.
[0:51] One of the things I wanted to mention to you guys that's been really, really helpful for me,
especially if you have time to just kind of sit and have a little bit of personal time to the exercises have done recently.
They've been it just absolutely pivotal has been to take a sheet of paper and fold it in half both ways so that you have forced quadrants and right basically your five-year goals,
the four most important things in your life.
One in each quadrant mine were family, finance, professional and health, or my four, and then in each quadrant.
Under those four things that I wrote down family finance, profession and health, I wrote,
goals that I have for in the five years, and then I took it and I learned origami,
and I took the paper and I made an origami millennium.
Faulcon Yes.
[2:04] And so I have it to go back and look at I also have it in my notes My digital note app.
What I did was I just wrote down what I want for tiff and I and for myself relative to health and finances and, you know, like being debt-free,
you know, different types of investments and things. That way, you're kind of looking forward, right?
And looking at like what you want in five years, what you want your life to look like in five years,
and then the other is looking back, this one I found really, really fascinating and going back to your very first jobs and working through all the way up to what you are doing now,
and basically writing down,
What was that you loved about that?
Like picking? You have to do every job, right, cause I had several that I kind of jumped around like college years and stuff.
[3:00] But going back through and like the ones that you really liked, the ones that you really didn't like and thinking about What was that you really liked about them?
What was like a Fonda memory you had?
What was that you really didn't like about it? And then you essentially grade it and you say, Like, was it A, B, C, D or F?
You know, like, did I love it was perfect. It gotta be. It was mostly great.
You know? Is it a C like and was OK d like Not so good. And the efforts like I fucking hated it like is like the worst job ever.
But what that did for me, it was so helpful to start to see the common thread about the work that I have done like my first job was a paperboy.
The thing I loved about it was freedom. I got to ride my bike.
It was on my time. I got to watch sunrises and I had freedom, and I realized that was an entrepreneurial job like I didn't work for anyone.
[4:00] And anyway, so then, like, there was about 10 years when I was in, like around college to when I moved to Colorado, where I was in the music industry.
I was of Music Buyer, and I wanted to start my own record shop, and that was up until about when Digital started.
Fuck the music industry, and I realized the thing that I loved about all of those was that I was curating and selling artists’ work.
[4:31] Does that make sense? So I loved I was, like called me a vinyl pusher because I would just push music on people and just sell it like a drug dealer, cause I was just like, if you heard this Oh, my God.
And I just was authentically like loved sharing music with people and selling artists’ work because I love them, which is what I'm doing now, right?
And that was part of how that helped manifest was like going back and looking at those things.
And so I wanted to use that as an example because I realized that I loved selling it because it wasn't really selling. I wasn't like, greasy set salesman. Dude, I just love music. I love art.
I love you guys. I want to share you with people and help you be successful and thrive.
And that was what I love about deejaying and being a music buyer and all those things because I was basically selling artists’ work and pushing them to people who didn't know about them.
[5:31] And so that was such an affirming thing to go through and do thinking about what is that life looks like?
What I want it to look like what I want to strive for and then looking back at what is it I've done? And so there were all these things that you realize, like, that's what I didn't like.
This is what I did. Like, where does that? I'll sit.
What were the fond memories that I had of these jobs and then step back and edgy Old As soon as you start doing a few these it's crazy because you start to see it? You're like that's where they connect and you see how the dots connect.
And it's I'm telling you, is life-changing like it was awesome to go through and do this exercise.
[6:10] Because you have the hindsight and the foresight and you see how they converge to where you are now and how you're going to get from the one to the other and, like, how they all sit, It's fucking awesome. I'm telling you, it's fucking awesome.
So anyway, I wanted to share that with you guys, Um, as something that you could do when you have some like me time.
[6:30] And and And don't I recommend using paper, pen and paper, or pencil and paper, whatever.
But like, it's a whole different element of your brain.
If you want a digit, I like to digitize later, but just write it down because it's such a visceral experience.
Ah, and it really helps you to tap into what you're doing and get away from the tech. So real quick.
Eso You know, I'm starting these hangouts, these virtual hangouts that I'm gonna do hangouts.
Once a month, I'm gonna have one for audio producers and podcasters. And then I'm gonna do another one for filmmakers and video producers.
Since those air like my two wheelhouses and so they're going to be $10 a month, they're gonna be 90 minutes once a month.
I'll follow up with links and stuff so that you can join love and light high fives.
[7:28] Music.
[7:35] Well, that's it for this episode, whether this is your first time listening or you're already a fan.
Thanks for being here. I hope you enjoy the show. All links and show notes for this episode can be found at the artful dot co slash podcast.
If you haven't yet. Please subscribe to the show and leave it rating a review on iTunes.
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Go to the artful dot co slash guest, and if you want to leave me a note about an idea or topic for the show, go to the artful dot co slash speak pipe.
Thanks again for listening until next time keep being on.
[8:15] Music.