Stay ConnectedThe Creative Introvert Podcast is the podcast for creatives, makers, artists and entrepreneurs who prefer to work solo.
Cat Rose digs deep into the struggles creative introverts face and provides you with actionable tips every week. Topics tackled include: battling fear, increasing confidence, self-promotion without feeling sleazy, and overcoming procrastination.
Copyright: © Cat Rose Astrology
If you've done much research into what introversion actually is, you might have also come across terms like 'highly sensitive person' or have read that introverts are more sensitive to stimulus in the environment than the more extroverted humans among us.
You might have even come across the term ‘high sensation seeking’ and got wildly confused because how can someone super sensitive to sensation ALSO be a bit of a sensation junky??
But this is where the science-backed brain studies and pop psychology folklore gets muddled - and in this week's episode of the Creative Introvert Podcast, I'm going to clear this confusion up - once and for all!
Or at least attempt to ;)
I discuss:If you leave a review of the Creative Introvert Podcast on iTunes by September 1st 2017, you will be in the mix to win ONE MONTH of creative coaching from myself.
All you have to do is...
1) Leave a review by going to this podcast page in the iTunes store, and
2) Shoot me an email telling me just so I know which review is yours!
I’m going to number them and select a random winner by midnight September 1st. May the odds be ever in your favour!In this week’s episode of the Creative Introvert podcast I talk to Jasmine Star - photographer, branding expert and all round SUPERSTAR!
What we discussed:Jasmine’s blog post on how to network for introverts
Connect with Jasmine:
You can leave a rating and review on iTunes (here's how to do that) and I will be as happy as a kitten with a ball of yarn (or sob into my pillow, depending on what you write.
What is the importance of journaling? Moreover, what is the importance of journaling for introverts?
Well, let's start with what I mean by journaling.
Bujo’s (bullet journals) are incredibly popular on Instagram and the internet at large, but this is not what I’m talking about here.
I’m talking long-form, ideally handwritten, dear-diary style writing.
I’ve been heavily influenced by the concept of Morning Pages, a term used by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way.
While the overall book is more of a 12-step program for recovering creatives who’ve, well lost there way and need to get back on the art-making band wagon, it’s this practise of Morning Pages that are at it’s core, and that most people I’ve spoken to benefitted most from.
Morning pages described by Julia:
Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. *There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages* they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only.
Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page...and then do three more pages tomorrow.
And even if the Artists Way approach - which is very much inspired by God and the 12-step AA process - isn’t for you - there are tonnes of left-brainy people out there who recommend journalling - including fellow INTJ Tim Ferriss - you only need to google the term ‘Morning Pages’ to see a whole host of people raving about them.
But the underlying premise is this: journalling is a powerful tool for unlocking creativity, making sense of your own crazy thoughts, and I’m convinced is the number one backbone of my day - above meditation, even.
Yeah I said it.
Even when I’m on holiday or totally thrown off track, I can make time to journal before any of my other life-hacky routines and habits.
Today's podcast digs into:The Diary of Anne Frank The Diary Of Samuel Pepys Captain Scott's Last Expedition by Robert Falcon Scott A Writer’s Diary by Virginia Woolf Conversations With Myself by Nelson Mandela Runaway by Evelyn Lau A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait The Intimate Journal by George Sand The Journals of Sylvia Plath
Bullet Journal inspiration: Links mentioned:Julia Cameron's Morning Pages
Debbie Millman's Life Visioning
Why writing things down > typing them
The League of Creative Introverts
My habit tracking worksheet example:
FREE RESOURCE: 70 JOURNAL PROMPTSI’ve compiled my epic compendium of 70 journal prompts as a downloadable, print-ready resource for you, which you can grab for FREE below!
Get Your 70 Journal Prompts for Creative Introverts!You can leave a rating and review on iTunes (here's how to do that) and I will be as happy as a clam (or sob into my pillow depending on what you write.)
Todays guest is someone I connected with through Twitter - which is very fitting for our conversation because we really dive deep into what it means to use social media effectively and bust some myths that put a lot of creatives - introverts and extroverts alike - off the platforms.
Damian Keyes is a founder of The British Institute of Modern Music (BIMM) which is now valued at over £50M, and in 2010 started DK Music Management; where he helps musicians find work after leaving music education.
What we discuss:
“Time waits for nobody… sometimes you have to be a bit more ‘in your face’"
“For every no there might be a yes around the corner - you can’t let that stop you”
“As creatives we should put more effort into enjoying the creating as opposed to the end goal”
“Social media boils down to creativity and relationships - if you can master those two things, then everything else is just detail"
Should I stay or should I go? I can never decide!
I don’t meet the right people at networking events.
I go to events but I feel so awkward there I don’t feel like I make a good impression.
I sign up to events but end up bailing at the last minute because I can’t bear to go.
I’ve been there.
In fact, I was there just last night. There are lots of events where I live - currently Brighton - and coming from London, there were even more! I could very easily go to something every night of the week.
But. I’m aware that I’m an introvert. Why would I put myself through that hell?
Last night for example I had to do a real costs/benefits analysis on the bloody thing before I worked out I was running late and that gave me the permission to stay home. Whoops.
What I am also aware of the value of meeting new people. Talking to people about my work. Offering advice and may be landing a new client. Or making a new friend, a business partner, someone to collaborate with on an exciting project.
Fair enough if you get all your clients and customers from a site like Upwork or Fiverr or even your own website - but I’ll be honest: the biggest and best opportunities I’ve ever had? All started with meeting someone - yes - face to face.
Now this isn’t true for 100% of the time and I promise I will do a podcast on the most introvert-friendly ways of landing new clients and connecting with collaborators and reaching customers - I will!
But today I just want to help you with that age old introvert question that comes up when we’re tempted to go to a real life in person event.
In this week's episode of the Creative Introvert Podcast, I'm helping you answer that age-old introvert question: Should I stay or should I go?
I discuss:In this week’s episode of the Creative Introvert podcast I talk to my good friend and fellow introvert in business, Sarah Santacroce. We talk about introvert retreats, masterminds, why it is introverts find it so hard to ask for help and I talk about the bridging process and making things a habit as a way to conquer anything that scares you. On that note it was this call with Sarah that actually prompted my to take on a 30 day challenge to make a FB live video every day! So as I record this intro I’m halfway through the challenge and so far so good - the LEague of Creative Introverts have been subjected to seeing my mug pop up every week day for the last fortnight in the private Facebook group. Honestly? I’m kind of almost enjoying it now, now that I’ve made it a habit. You can find the shownotes to this episode at thecreativeintrovert.com/024 Also just wanted to let you know I’ve made a 6-week step-by-step guide to basically jumpstart or reboot your social media promo efforts. This is specifically for creative introverts and it is specifically for people who want someone to tell them exactly what to do every day, every week on social media. They don’t want the theory they don’t want principles - they want a step-by-step guide and they want measurable results. Ok so currently this is only going to be going out to members of the League of Creative Introverts, which is my private community - members get access to an online library of resources which I add to every month. And for the next 6 weeks beginning the 3rd July 2017 I will be rolling out this 6 week social media plan in real time. So what does this mean for you if you aren’t in the League? Well I thought I might reopen it for one week starting today (so from the 19th to the 26th of June 2017) My aim isn’t to ram as many people as I can inside the LCI - because I do spend a lot of 1-1 time helping individuals and literally cannot cope if it grows too big - hence why it’s usually closed. But for this week, I’m opening doors because I really feel like this is a super valuable resource IF you do it. By going through it in real time with Leaguers I figure we have the best chance in encouraging those who will actually do the stuff and therefore will get some real results. I’m not just making this shit for fun - I really do want to see creative introverts get their art out there - whatever it is, whatever you sell or do - I want stuff to start working for you. This is the plan for anyone who wants that too. So. You want it? Then just follow the sign up form on thecreativeintrovert.com/lci you can join for as little as $19 and you will have access to the 6-week social media plan as soon as we start at the beginning of July.
In this episode of The Creative Introvert podcast I’m talking all about motivation - what it really is, how it’s different for introverts and extroverts and how to make your own motivation if you’re a creative introvert.
I’ve also made a free downloadable checklist - a guide that accompanies this episode - so that you can have that at the ready whenever you feel the slump, the lack of motivation and need something to get you going again.
According to a Google search, the term ‘motivation’ is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is the spark that causes us to act, whether it is getting up for a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.
Motivation can be either intrinsic - ie. coming from within - or extrinsic - you guessed it - coming from outside of us.
Intrinsic motivation means that the reward we get for doing the behaviour is something like enjoyment, achievement, a sense of competence - things we feel inside.
External motivation rewards are things like money, awards and praise from others.
Now, there is a theory that suggests introverts on the whole need less external motivation than extroverts to stimulate a response. It’s kind of like the lemon juice test.
It’s been proven - with science! - that introverts salivate MORE when given a few drops of lemon juice to the tongue, than extroverts.
Nice to know I can save money on my lemons…
So while we need less of the external triggers - we’re not off the hook.
We still require motivation to get stuff done - but in our case, it is the internal motivation that gives us the kick up the bum we need.
The problems I’ve found in harnessing this intrinsic motivation is that on some days - some months or years - it just doesn’t seem to be there.
We wake up and we go throught the motions - but we aren’t really sure why.
This does not feel good. It makes doing anything a lot harder. Even when the external motivation triggers are there - our insides just aren’t responding.
That’s because we aren’t intrinsically motivated.
So.. how does one conjure up this intrinsic motivation?
It isn’t quite as easy as using an app or getting a reminder on our phone or even getting a bonus at work.
Now I can’t promise you I have a scientifically proven formula for getting yourself intrinsically motivated again - but I have got 7 things I’ve done on those days when I feel like even getting out of bed is a mammoth task.
They’ve become my go-to checklist for those times, that again and again, steer me in the right direction and get my mojo back.
So if you’re feeling like you can’t seem to get something done and you don’t know why, it might be worth trying out at least one of the following exercises to spark that fire again.
Links mentioned: Lemon juice test Decision fatigue My morning routine Using buckets Value setting Walking vs. Sitting for creativity patreon.com/creativeintroToday’s interview is with someone who I truly admire - Mitch Bowler who founded the online creative training site Pencil Kings.
We talk about his dreams as a kid to be a video game designer to his vision to offer affordable art training to everyone - what has ultimately led to Pencil Kings.
Mitch drops a lot of valuable advice for any creative who is striving for perfection but as a result ends up getting discouraged and giving up.
What we discuss:One of the many joys of being an introvert is having access to a world of ideas, musings and dreams that live inside our infinitely imaginative minds. Whilst some day dreams are pleasant and constructive - for example the numerous studies that show the usefulness of envisioning things for top athletes. In one study an exercise psychologist from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation compared people who went to the gym with people who just carried out virtual workouts in their heads. Whilst there was an expected 30% muscle increase in the group who went to the gym, the crazy part is that the group who did only the mental exercises of the weight training ALSO increased muscle strength by 13.5% - nearly half the amount for arguably a lot less effort. However, that’s focussed thought. Most of the time our minds are not focussed - they wander around getting into all sorts of trouble. The part of the brain called the DMN - the default mode network - is responsible for this. Some choice neighbourhoods the DMN likes to wander to are: - unpaid bills - arguments - shopping lists - future plans - and - a favourite of mine - what I want to eat for lunch. Anyway, for introverts in particular, a tendency to overanalyse, get lost in the recesses of memory and wander too far into the uncertain future is all the more… a pain in the arse. Being fully present in what we’re doing, who we’re with and how we’re feeling - is key to boosting happiness and all round contentedness. I’ll admit - I’m recording this episode a wee bit selfishly. Honestly, it’s something I’ve been really trying to focus on - ha the irony - to focus on for the last few months and while I’m definitely getting better at quietening the monkey mind I know it’s a long process. Oh and I should underline that I have no intention of changing my brain wiring entirely - I LOVE my daydreams and really believe in daydreaming for creative idea generation - but I would like to be able to drop into the present moment and appreciate the here and the now to it’s fullest. So if you want to do the same, this episode is for you and I’d love to share the 10 things I’ve been practising to switch from overthinking, overanalysing and overfretting into a much more peaceful, contented introvert. Links mentioned: The value of daydreaming A wandering mind is an unhappy mind Gretchen Rubin Worry Time Insight Timer Breathing techniques patreon.com/creativeintro
Today's guest is someone who has proved that introversion - as well as age and being a full-time student - are no excuses to being a success and creating a business you love.
At a young age Trevor always knew that he was going to be an entrepreneur. Whether he is going door to door selling lemonade at the young age of seven or starting his own lawn care company at age thirteen. As the years passed by, Trevor and his love of entrepreneurship grew exponentially.
We discuss:
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