Tag: creative

What to do when things go wrong

This epside of the Getting to Work Podcast truly resonated with me. Chris Martin interviews Micah Godbolt, author of “Frontend Architecture for Design Systems, A Modern Blueprint for Scalable and Sustainable Websites” in this 30 minute podcast.

I can still remember the first time I met Micah Godbolt: We were at a coffee shop talking about the web and the struggles we were both going through at that time. Since then, Micah has consistently worked his way up from web newbie to writing a book about web development, Frontend Architecture for Design Systems.

In this special interview episode of Getting Work To Work, I spend some time with Micah talking about what to do when things go wrong. In Micah’s case, what he learned from getting fired from a job several years ago. We also talk about why you should have respect for the hard work that goes into something that may not be perfect, the importance of humility, and how to learn from your mistakes in a way that can springboard you into successful projects.

I look up to Micah in many ways and how he strives to move the development community forward is inspirational. I hope you enjoy this interview with Micah Godbolt.

 

Advertisement

I’m Too Old

A week or so ago, I was bantering over text messaging with Chris Martin about some blog posts I made. Chris suggested that I add to my posts how I felt about the topics. I replied “I’m too old. I’m done creating and enjoy consuming”. Man did that open a podcast of worms.

I’ll be the first to admit it, over the past few years I have been heavily focused on delivering exceptional class experiences for my students at the college. My “creative” work had been put on hold. As many of you know, it’s my creative work that created such things as OpenNTF.org, The Taking Notes Podcast, Elguji Software and IdeaJam and even this blog.

Well, Chris fired back with this “Getting Work to Work” podcast which stuck a chord with me and truly inspired me. I’m happy to report that I’m back to “creating”, while not at the same capacity I once was able to, I’m back and I’m typing. Thanks Chris for your motivation, friendship and “push”. Please listen to this inspirational 8-minute podcast entitled “I’m Too Old”.

Listen to “I’m Too Old” >

Getting Work to Work: Coming Up with Ideas

How do you come up with ideas? Do you just sit down and they magically appear? Do you have a ritual you go through in order to properly summon the muse? Do you copy, transform, or combine things that you come across? Perhaps you steal old ideas? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, Chris Martin shares some insight into the creative process from Austin Kleon and Kirby Ferguson, as well as seven ways you can come up with ideas.

Listen now >

Getting Work to Work: Results May Vary

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

Not all advice you will receive throughout your life and career will be good for you. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, Chris Martin shares the importance of developing and fine-tuning your filter of advice so that you are able to discount what is not helpful, think about what is useful, and apply what is important.

Listen now >

Create Your Own Resources

As a creative professional, creating your own resources and intellectual property is a great way of establishing yourself as an expert, learning to communicate what you do, and helping others. In this episode of the Getting Work To Work podcast, Chris Martin shares his journey of creating his own resources and the ways he has been building up his creative discipline. Finally, he talks about five questions to ask yourself as you begin to create your own resources.

Listen now >

Dream Big, Act Bigger

Do you know what the dreams for your life and business are? Are you daily acting to turn those dreams into reality? In this episode of the Getting Work To Work podcast, Chris Martin shares the importance of writing down your dreams for your business, why you should daily act to make them happen, and five ways you can dream big and act bigger.

Listen now >

Jealousy, Envy & Complacency

Being a creative professional is amazing, but there is a trio of deadly emotions that can cause you to doubt your abilities, spend more time obsessing over other people, and become lazy: jealousy, envy, and complacency. Chris Martin shares how he struggles with these emotions and five ways to fight them. The secret weapon? Gratitude.

Listen now to this episode of the Getting Work To Work Podcast >

What is the Value of Your Work?

As a creative professional, it can be hard to determine the value of your work, especially if your sense of worth is skewed from reality. In this episode, Chris Martin talks about how worth (internal barrier) affects our value (external barrier), how society views the value of creative work, and how we can change the ways we think, talk about, and communicate our value.

Listen now >

Feast and Famine

Most freelancers read the same information when researching how to run a business: plan for slow months by saving when the projects are plentiful, seemingly never-ending. While you may think of feasts and famines as a financial concept, Chris Martin talks about how your creativity follows the same peaks and valleys, often in the inverse direction to your finances. He shares five ways you can keep your focus on your goals during times of feast and famine.

Listen to this episode of the Getting Work to Work podcast >

Perfection is an Illusion: Fighting Perfectionism

For as long as Chris Martin can remember, he has fought with perfectionism. He has wanted his work to be perfect and over time, his productivity slowed down. He struggled getting ideas off the ground because he would evaluate the merit of the ideas before they were finished. In this episode, Chris shares a few ways perfectionism impacts creative professionals and six ways you can fight perfectionism today.

Listen now >