Ep #126: (Part 2) The Achievements that Change Us with My Linh Luu

My Linh Luu: Honestly, my method is to unchain myself from the desk. The more that I unchain myself from the desk, the better I can write. I don’t know that makes sense. But just liberate yourself from all that system or ideology that you have to do things a certain way. The more you can do that – I know I say this and it sounds kind of banal, but the more you can live your life, the easier it will be when you write because it will just flow out of you and it’s not something that you’re trying to squeeze out of you.

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That was a clip from my recent conversation with Vietnamese novelist, writer, and coach, My Linh Luu. My Linh is also one of my former private clients, and then later we got to continue our work together when she joined the Art School Mastermind. And that clip at the beginning was just part of what My Linh had to share when I asked her about her method for completing her book manuscript in six months.

And you heard her say, “Honestly, my method is to unchain myself from the desk. The more I unchained myself from the desk, the better I could write.” I love that. I thought many of you would as well. And that’s just one of the reasons that I’m so excited to share the second part of this conversation with My Linh with you today.

If you haven’t listened to part one yet, go back to episode 125 and then join us here again. Because if you dream of being prolific and moving with strength and confidence and joy from one creative work to the next, completing them with strength and ease and joy as you go, while also truly living a life that you love along the way, this episode is full of powerful insights, ideas, and practices. I hope you enjoy.

You are listening to The Art School Podcast; a show for artists and creatives who want to become the next greatest version of themselves. Learn how to cultivate an extraordinary way of being and take the mystery out of making money, and the struggle out of making art. Here is your host, master certified life coach, artist, and former lawyer, Leah Badertscher.

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Art School Podcast. How are you all out there? If you are in this Northern Hemisphere, maybe you are as excited as I am about the approach of spring. And then maybe as grumpy as I was this morning when it got cold again today. But I’ll make the most of it. And I was joking with my husband, however, that I might work from the Arizona office this week. To which he kind of paused and then there was nervous laughter, and he was like, “I’m trying to decide if you’re serious.”

Which to me, I posted about this on Instagram – I love that because when you’ve been married almost 20 years, that kind of response is as good as a high-five, “Can I pack your bags? Oh yeah, you had an Arizona office I didn’t know about? That’s cool. You must have figured that out and pulled that off in some way in the last week.”

But I think I will be sticking around this week. It got sunny again today. I’ve gotten some longer runs in, which feels amazing. And this weekend too, Brad and my daughter Blaise and I transplanted over 1000 daffodil bulbs onto our property.

So, we have found some that were growing, as they do volunteer, on a different section of the property, which was kind of hidden. And they spread. So, we’re not depriving that area of any. So, we dug some up and then planted a bunch around the house and were like, “Gosh, I wish we had more.” So, Brad drove his little Gator down the road to talk to a farmer neighbor friend of ours who had many, like thousands and thousands growing in the ditches along his pasture. And he said that we were more than welcome to dig up some of those.

So, like I said, a few hours later, I think we estimated – because they come in big clumps. So it’s not like we dug 1000 individual holes. So you can dig some bigger holes and transplant a bunch at a time. But we were kind of estimating in the clumps about how many there were. Yeah, so easily over 1000.

And then we, Blaise and I, picked and put all over the house all these little yellow bursts of sunshine and happiness. And they’re such a cheerful flower. So, that was part of our weekend fun. And it feels incredibly nourishing and grounding to me to be able to do that on the weekends.

And I’ve also been getting in longer studio time. So, I’ve heard from some of you that you are feeling a renewed studio energy and zest too and starting some new projects, which is always such a good feeling, especially after a winter, whether that is the weather, climate, environment kind of winter or whether it is an internal one, you know, when things go dormant, as they need to from time to time.

And I’ve been working on some new things too, which I’m very excited to be sharing with you later this month, so please stay tuned for that. In the meantime though, I can tell you about this pone piece I’m very excited about. It’s a secret commission, so I’m not breaking any secret by sharing this part. I’m keeping that identity in confidence. I’m not sharing the recipient’s identity and honoring their desire for privacy. But I got the go ahead to share the concept, because I came up with the concept and they were happy to let me replicate it and use it some more and share it with you.

So, I was so excited when I thought of this idea. It’s kind of a riff, jazzing off previous works that I’ve done. And I was so excited when I thought of it. and then, they were just as excited as I was, so that’s always great. But if you’ve seen the series I’ve done before, which in the past I’ve called the Victory series. I think it may be renamed but we’ll see. But essentially, it was a series I wanted to be very vibrant works that were really about that Kahlil Gibran line, “Work is love made visible.”

So, they’re very vibrant, very colorful, and I wanted them to be at this intersection of painting and sculpture, so like a 3D painting. And most at this point have wings on them, some with a heart at the center with these radiating lights around, and there are many layers below that.

And within the layers below that, I always write intentions, blessings, as well as incorporate different images, and then you get to see what shows through. And oftentimes, if it’s a commission, then I will write in the intention or the blessing that was written and scripted by the person who requested the commission. And sometimes, they’ll write it in their own handwriting. And then I adhere it to the surface and it becomes part of the painting, like an artifact of the experience. So, their energy is bound in it too.

Because if you’ve heard me talk about my own artwork before, I do begin from a very energetic place. And to me, the energy matters. And some people might not resonate with that. But even the people I’ve told this to who are doubters and I give this example of, like, well would you want a piece of art in which somebody had scripted all sorts of hateful things and mal-wishes, curses against you, would you want that in your home?

And most people are like, even if they lean towards the very skeptical, very analytical side but they’re still people that want art, so they’re not completely over there in not believing that art is priceless land, they’re like, “Okay, now I get that.”

So, if we think that we’re willing to acknowledge the power of negative intentions and energy in a piece, why not fully embrace and allow for the positive energy embedded in a piece. So, that’s really part of my process is that the energy with which I create anything is the energy that is put out into the world. And then, for a painting, it’s the energy that is received by the person who purchases it and has it in their home. And it’s very important to me to contribute the energy that I value and want to see more of in the world to be that change first. And that’s part of a way of doing that, with my art.

So, anyway, back to the paintings. So, that little nuance idea that I love and will be doing more of now is I created a little secret pocket or compartment as part of the sculpture so that the person who is already doing incredible, beautiful, big, amazing things in the world also has this sacred beautiful place that will literally hold their intention, that they can slip into this pocket. And every time they walk by this piece of art, which is going to be in their office, they will know that that sacred intention, that big moonshot goal of theirs is being held in this sacred piece of art.

And again, along the lines of seeing that every day and 1000 times a day, you know, just what kind of energy does that bring to you and imbue in your environment and how does that elevate your consciousness and the environment. So, it just gave me goosebumps when I came up with the idea and they were equally as stoked about it.

So, that’s going on in my own studio. And then also, we are celebrating approaching our fifth week of this session of the Art School. And the celebrations continue in abound.

And I am so in love with this group and so incredibly proud of them. There was just a number of posts this last week that I just paused to take in the thoughtfulness with which people are embracing this work and the changes they are making in their lives and in their art and in their bank accounts. Just on all levels they are bringing it and taking it to the next level.

And there is this line that I wanted to share with you – I won’t share the person’s name – that was on one of the forums this week. She was responding to some written coaching that I had given her on the forum and she had this incredible mind-blowing post where she took the coaching I gave her and she really took it and took it in. And then she wrote, “Just seeing it in this way was so powerful. The awareness of what I had been doing to myself, well that alone has been worth the price of Art School.”

And the, she goes on to just lay out so eloquently and beautifully the path forward and these changes that she has already made. So, for her out there listening, cowbell, snaps, amazing job. And also, to everyone in the Art School right now, you guys seriously up-level it every single time. And I am so grateful to be working with all of you and so proud to be working with just humans living their lives this beautifully and at this caliber and committed to their big goals and dreams.

I know it may sound corny and that is unfortunate because it is just the unvarnished truth. But today, I happened to see the news for 10 or 15 minutes or so. And it’s so easy to watch that and be sent down into spirals of despair.

And I am not discounting the very real challenges in the world today, nor advising putting your head in the sand like an ostrich. I also know though how powerful it would be if we could give equal, at least equal airtime, to the extraordinary things that are happening in communities and in people’s private lives right now and the change that’s happening.

It’s something that I feel like our society needs to see more of, our collective health and individual mental health and also the collective mental health would benefit tremendously from this. If I could show just snapshots of what goes in even in our growing but relatively small community. And within that community and each individual’s lives, if I could do a feature on every single person, you’d see that there is so much good going on in the world and there’s so much that we have to look forward to. And I think we would have this really true sense of, you know, we are moving forward and we are evolving.

And from that place, we would desire to evolve and grow and become the next greatest version of ourselves as a society. And so, there are many reasons why I want to share stories like the conversation with My Linh today and the just abridged versions of celebrations that I share from the Art School.

I want you to see – clearly you will see why I love working with people like My Linh and like my other Art School clients and why I’m so grateful and appreciate it when they can come on and are able to share their lives, their creative process, their stories, and their success stories, particularly success that doesn’t look like your normal traditional either narrative of success or role, person filling a role in success.

People are defying the odds and blazing their own trails. And the thing about this that is a paradox, which I embrace and am thrilled about, I have so many clients blazing their own trails, pioneering their own paths to success. And this is why this is so profound to do it in community.

Because even if everyone is striking out their own way, it is incredibly empowering to be doing that in a community of others, doing that as well, it’s not a comparison or a zero-sum game. It is the rising tide lifts all ships.

It’s where one of my intentional core creative beliefs for the Art School that success, extraordinary success and extraordinary creativity and extraordinary thriving are contagious, where that meets one of my core creative intentions for the Art School.

And that intention is by investing in and building and joining in this positive, powerful collective rising creative energy, that in this community and movement, altogether we are normalizing the extraordinary and inviting others to up-level, to match the height of their own biggest goals and dreams, to up-level their way of being to match the level of their biggest dreams.

Creating that dream requires up-leveling the thinking, the state of being, the creating, all of these things that we’re referring to when we use the shorthand way of being. And that when you do that, you will see that mirrored back in your results as well. And there’s something about doing it in a place where you witness other people doing it and you are also able to have others witness you doing it that is incredibly empowering.

So, in this episode, My Linh shares some wonderful insights into her process of cultivating her own unique extraordinary way of being and she shares how cultivating thar way of being allowed her to cross some really big creative finish lines by writing a book in less than six months, in launching a business.

Buts he also shares about how it up-levelled her commitment to her overall quality of life and just the way that she knows she’s committing and committed to living her life from here on out. Also, I want you to write down this name, My Minh Luu, and bookmark this episode. Because in the coming years, you will see her name on bestseller lists and you’ll be like, “Wait, was that the same woman that I heard on the Art School Podcast?” And sure enough it will be. And I just got whole-body goosebumps saying that.

And here’s the other thing, there is an amazing opportunity. She is brilliant and the way that she marries the left brain, the analytical with the intuitive and the creative and the way she embraced and took in my work, I’m so proud of her and so impressed by her. And then, she launched her own coaching practice this year. And she has worked and mentored others along the way, but this is really her going all in and she has an incredible mastermind.

It’s a year-long write your book mastermind. It’s a very intimate, powerful, close group. And this is one of those things that if you wait until she’s on the bestseller list and you had been wanting a mentor to finish a book in a year, you will lament that you didn’t work with her way back when you could. So, we will include that link for her mastermind in the- show notes as well. And so, now, please enjoy this second part of my conversation with My Minh Luu.

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Leah: That miraculous thing that happens when you do experience your creativity flowing and in a way that’s satisfying to you and in a way where the completion isn’t just about check achievement, did it, onto the next hungry ghost kind of thing. But there is something about being in that creative process and having a completion of something, like a book in a year, that is so solid and satisfying to your soul. That’s life-changing and life-giving. So, I am super-stoked, yes for you, and then also for the people that will be in your group.

And so, can you share about too your own process, like a peek into your own process this last year of moving from, you know, what does it take to move from zero pages to a complete novel? Because I know these are the sort of thing I love, if I could be a fly on the wall inside people’s minds as they move through their creative process, and especially someone – I got to witness the way that you did it and it was very strong and very, very awake and you were very intentional and grace-filled and then also having this unfolding of joy. So, can you tell the listeners about what that, no words, zero pages to completion, what did that look like? What did you learn?

My Linh Luu: Yeah, I’m just got to go back in time a little bit. So, basically, I was living in New York at that point. My mom calls me a roamer. I was roaming New York apparently because I didn’t have grad school lined up. I had done some publishing work in the publishing industry but that felt not satisfying to me.

I think people who are writers will relate to this because when you’re a writer, being in the publishing world does not cut it because you’re supposed to write, you’re not supposed to push numbers and whatever else. So, I dropped out of publishing. I was just roaming the streets of New York.

And then, it happened that my visa ended so I had to leave the country. And at that point, I still had a lot of attachment to different ideas of success. So, when I left the states, it felt like, there you go, the American dream that you were building up and working hard for just goes out the window. So, that’s the ceiling. Just go home and be happy with a nine to five kind of narrative.

But the great thing about going home and starting from scratch, kind of, is that there’s so much space. There’s space for you to do whatever you want with your life. And at that point I think, even within my family, I was a black sheep, you know, like my dad is a Ph.D. in geology and studies science. My brother works in IT at a hospital. My mom is a very successful entrepreneur. And I was just like, this roaming writer.

But something told me that I could take this seriously. So then, when I started working with you, something that I learned and practiced consistently was commitment. And doing so not because I wanted to prove to anyone, because there was nothing else to prove. I was out of the states. I wasn’t in school. Literally, there was no one else that I could prove this to. And that became something I would do for myself.

And so, it was a combination of commitment and this word I used to be afraid of using, but I’ve used it recently with other people in my circle, and the word obsession. So, I had this idea for my novel that I was obsessed with and this is why I love your podcast with Erica, because she talked about being intense and her internal complicated feelings about being intense. And I have the exact same thing.

When I’m obsessed with an idea, especially when it’s my writing, I can be obsessive. But people might take it to mean something pejorative because the culture, yes, the culture that we live in is very hustle-based. But there’s a different kind of obsession in which it actually fuels you and the more you tune into that obsession, the more you’re actually living your life and that is your life’s force.

So, I listened to the obsession and I listened to my commitment and it was done before I knew it.

Leah: Oh my gosh, I had chills while you were talking about obsession and the difference between the pejorative kind of obsession that has connotations of hustle and not – I don’t even want to use the word healthy, but maybe a helpful mindset or way of being, but absolutely the way you described obsession, when you plug into it it’s an idea that takes hold of you. It’s inspiration, like being possessed by the spirit of an idea and it does then take on a life of its own, which is amazing because it takes a lot of energy to complete a big creative project. It takes a lot of creative energy to write a novel.

And allowing yourself that, in a way, it’s its own sacred twin intention of I am doing this, and then that allowing you, giving you permission to allow the obsession, plug into the obsession, and the life force that that gives you.

Because you just plugged away. Plugged away is not even the right word. We’d have a conversation and you’re like, “I’m up to chapter five… Up to chapter 10…” And it was really incredible. And maybe around chapter 18 we had some conversations and you just kept going though.

So, what about habits, like writing habits – the other thing I want to say about obsession too is it’s like allowing yourself… I remember the conversation with Erica about intensity and I for sure have struggled with that at different times in my life, being a closet intense person and deciding it’s just not useful. Like, it’s a superpower of you can plug into it in the right way. And so, I’ve been thinking a lot about what we deny ourselves and deprive ourselves of when we don’t allow ourselves to think of ourselves as a creative genius, that you are a novelist, that you are a writer, and allowing yourself that.

Because once you’re there, those people are allowed their obsession. And we don’t question their quirks and idiosyncrasies or eccentricities or maybe extremes that allow them to channel the kind of intense creative energy, the massive creative energy that’s required to complete big ideas and bring big work into the world.

So, I’d love to hear for you, what unfolded as the best way to work and did you have any voices in your brain about, “Oh, you should be seated by eight and write four hours…” or did you just have a completely internal self-organizing process when you went to write?

My Linh Luu: To be honest, my process is very much disorganized.

Leah: I love that.

My Linh Luu: Like, I knew that if I just kept writing, it will get there. And I used your concept if it’s already done, so I could not care less if I had like five pages today. I kid you not, sometimes I would take two weeks off, even more, to do other things in my life; hang out with friends, take vacations. Because I knew, I’m so obsessed and committed to this that it will get done no matter what I do. And it was that confidence as well that allowed me to be super-flexible with my schedule. And this is something that I teach my people now because they would ask me those questions, like do you have a formula? What do we do? And I’m just saying no, you just work backwards.

Something that you think is important that you helped me pin down is to have a deadline. And that deadline can be angels and your friendly helpers and not the devil. So, the deadline helped me.

Leah: Yeah, this is done, we talked a lot about that and that’s part of the commitment process. And you just mentioned, “This is done,” and that being commitment, when we talk about it being Creative with a capital C, that kind of commitment of, “Oh no, I decided it’s done and there’s no other option…” And then, what that does to liberate your inner process of you don’t need to chain yourself to the desk and adhere to some externally imposed structure. And I love hearing you tell that story because it’s just a testament to you really did the inner work and simultaneously the outer work flowed from that.

And I think that that too will be that example, but also that energy that’s established within yourself will also be so powerful for your clients. That will help liberate them to trust their own way. And I think that there’s a shift that happens too when you go to having done and you take off, you’re no longer plagued by the, “Is this going to happen? Is this not going to happen? Is this going to happen? Is this not going to happen?”

And another thing you pointed out which is so worth mentioning again for anyone listening, it is not only possible, but so desirable and so empowering to turn a deadline into something that liberates you and that you can do that. And it felt like the way you described it; you can feel the energy of that as well. Because I remember too, you went to some beautiful looking resorts in Vietnam during the course of this and kindly sent us pictures.

My Linh Luu: Yes, and I love everything that you just said. And I think honestly my method is to unchain myself from the desk. The more that I unchain myself from the desk, the better I can write. I don’t know that makes sense. But just liberate yourself from all that system or ideology that you have to do things a certain way. The more you can do that – I know I say this and it sounds kind of banal, but the more you can live your life, the easier it will be when you write because it will just flow out of you and it’s not something that you’re trying to squeeze out of you.

Leah: I love that, unchain yourself. Because otherwise it’s like trying to get blood from a stone. Whereas if you’re going out and you are full of life and full of inspiration and also knowing that’s who you are, a creator, and again, it’s something that I know can sound so cliché to talk about, which is why I wanted – one of the reasons I wanted to have this conversation with you. Because it is not just, “Oh, that’s a nice theory, but now let’s get back to chaining ourselves to the desk and beating ourselves up.”

It works and it’s powerful. And it reminds me too, I was thinking of you recently because you know Zoe. And she had said something recently about she was working on a project and on a deadline and her affirmation was, “The more nourished I am, the better off I am. The more nourished I am, the more successful I am. The more nourished I am, the more productive I am.” I just love that you all are living testaments to that.

So, do you have anything that has come across your world in the last year that you feel called or compelled to share with listeners? I for sure want, because I selfishly want to talk to you again in a few months, but I’d also love to talk to you when you are back in the states and beginning at Columbia and to hear how that transition is. Because that’s an entirely different conversation, to talk about how exciting that is to move into that realm but with this self-possession and being a leader, a creative leader in your own life. But for this conversation, for anyone listening, is there anything that you feel compelled or called to say or share?

My Linh Luu: Yes, and I think tying it back to what Zoe said, it was so beautiful. But I know this for myself, so it’s not so much as like an advice for other people. It’s just something that feels true to me and I will keep repeating this to myself probably until the day I die.

Let me tell you a backdrop story first. So, because I was so much ingrained in the literary culture and had been reading serious writers and books and literary fiction from a younger age, I was very much bought into that suffering artist paradigm. You know, my heroes were writers who would write, most of them were men as well who would write these big chunky novels. And some of them, you could tell, weren’t happy. David Foster Wallace killed himself.

And again, what I say might be a bit controversial, but there’s a purpose to what I’m saying. And when I was younger, subconsciously – it’s shocking thinking back that I would think this. and actually, it was an ingrained subconscious thing that I picked up on and just carried myself was I used to think to myself that if I wrote a book and published it and it was sort of my life’s golden masterpiece, then I would be fine with dying at that point because I was so much bought into that folklore of the artist and the finale of that big work. And if your life is over then it makes sense kind of.

Now, a long way from that stretch – and this sounds again very much pedantic, but I care more right now about being alive as well than I care about my writing. And then, paradoxically, that allows me to write because I’m letting myself live at the same time, if that makes sense.

Leah: It makes so much sense. It makes a world of sense, like a brand-new world of sense. Which I feel like is one of the reasons we were meant to meet and one of the reasons it’s been such a joy and honor to work with you and witness your progress. Not progress. Oh my gosh, like, it was just incredible. And I mentioned to you earlier before we started, I’m so excited to watch what’s next and what you build next.

Because from this place, where it matters more to be alive, you know, to live well and to love well, and that from that, we do create well too. It’s one thing to say that and then it’s another thing to do it. And it’s another thing to do it in the true spirit of doing it like you are.

So, I just want to applaud you and celebrate that and again, thank you so much for sharing your journey and sharing your brilliance with us today and I can’t wait to have you back on.

My Linh Luu: Thank you so much, Leah.

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So this brings me to the part of the podcast where I want you to do more than just listen. I want you to lean in and really work with me, coach with me. So in the first part of this conversation with My Linh, for that coach with me, I focused again on her statement that when she completed her book, she was changed.

And this I know to be a universal phenomenon. Completing a creative work that has been a dream of yours is absolutely transformational. So I’d asked you in the previous episode what is the creative project that for you, once completed, that you just know will change you, that it will transform your life.

So this week’s coach with me builds on that. You heard My Linh talk about how much we focused on commitment. It is a principle that we come back to in my coaching work and in the Art School over and over again because once you really know what I mean by creative commitment, then you know how liberating this is.

This really is a master key for liberating, unleashing your creative genius, and also your ability to sink back into your innate natural power and to enjoy the process and enjoy the experience so much more. Because once you have really learned what that shift is and it’s a shift in your body, it’s a shift in your mind, it’s a shift in your spirit into committed.

This kind of creative committed, the way I talk about it, it means it is done. It is as much done as something that you ate for breakfast yesterday morning. So done that it can’t be undone. And once you really get that, once you really move and have done the work to move into that place and understand that, then you are liberated from all sorts of mental and emotional distractions that are very energetically and creatively, mentally, emotionally, psychically, spiritually expensive, that drag you down.

You are liberated from things like I have to make this happen. When you’re committed, it’s done. You just know you’re going to do it. There is not any of that energy of I must or I have to make this happen. It’s a completely different frequency and energetic quality in your body.

When you shift into committed, then it goes into that place that I’ve talked about before, where there’s no way you’re not doing it. And it would be harder not to do it than to surrender to the process that inevitably leads to completion.

So once you’re there, you’re also liberated from all this minutia that have in the past derailed you. You move into a place where nothing is going to stop you, including your own moods, bad days, doubts of yourself or others, or other curveballs that life might throw at you.

So the creative mindset rests on commitment and this commitment that I’m talking about is not just an idea like yeah, I’m committed. No, this is a fully body, full being, energetic shift. And it’s choosing commitment that helps you shift from victim mindset to creative mindset.

In creative mindset, we are taking full responsibility for what we create. Even if there are things that are out of your control, you still know that what you’re creating is within your control. You continue to live and act, even if there are things against you, you are still going to be the dominant creative energy in your life.

Whereas victim mindset will often say well, I’ve done everything but it hasn’t happened yet, or it doesn’t feel like it’s happening, or things are going so well but now they’re not going well. You see how once we’re in victim mindset we sort of disassociate and even our language and how we’re thinking about things.

So you want to be in a creative mindset. One of the ways of cultivating a creative mindset, the mindset of a creative powerhouse is to really understand what the power of commitment is and to do that work to make that whole being shift.

And so here is the way that you must begin. You make a decision. What is the goal? For example, in My Linh’s case, it was a book. And then you say when. Six months. This is making the deadline your friend. This is using the deadline as a creative constraint to focus your energy and liberate you from indecision.

Because once you’ve decided the what, the book for example, and the when, the timeline, then you are liberated from this back and forth, well, am I doing it? What am I doing? Maybe I should instead do illustration or filmmaking or go get a job at the coffee bar. And also, when you say when, it’s like, oh, maybe next year, maybe when Corona is over it would be a better time.

So two components that will move you so far along in learning what it is to be truly creatively committed and move into that creative mindset. Decide what is the goal, state it unequivocally, be specific, and say when.

So once decided, again, you’ll be liberated from the ups and down, from the maybe this won’t happen, maybe this is a bad time, and you return back into this process of along the way coaching your way back into taking full responsibility that I’m figuring this out, I am making the way. Of course there’s a way, I decided, it’s inevitable, I set that powerful commitment intention, now it’s unfolding, and then you surrender to the process of creating.

And also, every bit is as important as you heard My Linh talk about today. You live your life, you live well, you love well, you love on yourself along the way. That’s the beauty of choosing commitment and using this process that I’ve called the sacred twin intention.

You know it’s done, you know you’re going to create it, so then what’s left to you along the way is what do you want your process to be like? What do you want your quality of life to be like from the inside out?

Once you know it’s done, once you’ve made that commitment, you can then work on, coach yourself on, get coached on everything that comes up along the way. The mental and emotional ups and downs, the drama. But it is working through all of that. It’s not in spite of that. It is because all of that, it’s because you’ve chosen to do this creative project and commit to this creative dream that will transform you and it’s moving through these things and learning to move beyond your limiting states of being and thoughts and your limiting feelings.

It’s this process that make completing a creative work transformational. And I promise you, this is not just for an elite few. This kind of transformation is available to each and every one of you out there listening.

So in summary, what is that creative dream or goal that’s calling you that you know would change your life? Next steps, once you’ve identified it, state it clearly, specifically, to give yourself a timeline, and then it’s this delicious dance, this two-part dance. Part let it come to you, and part go get it. But as long as you’re dancing, here’s the best part. You will feel so alive.

Thank you for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. I wanted to give a shout-out to a listener, Creative Adventurer, who left this five-start review. “The Art School. This podcast is full of priceless gems to light a fire in the creative soul. Leah pours her heart into each episode.” That’s true.

“And gives the audience a chance to pause and think of the ways we hold ourselves back and block our creative power. She is uplifting, encouraging, and astute at putting her finger on what will help us make our progress in our life endeavors. Thank you for the love you put into your work.”

Thank you so much, Creative Adventurer, and to anyone who has taken the time to leave a review. Thank you so much. I do pour my heart into these episodes and it means the world to me to hear from you. It also means so much to me and helps me move the work forward when you do take the time to leave reviews like this.

And then also, sharing. Sharing could be just mentioning to someone, “Hey, I’m listening to this podcast.” That, I know it seems like a negligible thing but that is huge. That is really what keeps this movement going forward and fuels the momentum.

And when you’re ready to take this work deeper, when you’re ready for your own personal transformation, whether that be completing a dream creative work, whether that be taking your career or your life to the next level while also up-leveling all of your life, I would love to work with you.

To find out about all the ways you can work with me, you can visit my website, www.leahcb.com. You can learn about the Art School, you can learn about the mastermind, and also later this year, I will be opening up just a couple spaces to work with me privately.

You can also email our team, support@leahcb.com and just write exploratory call in the subject line if you would like to talk with one of our amazing team members. A real living, breathing, caring, beautiful human being who will listen to what your goals and dreams are and then see if we are a great match.

Because I certainly invest a lot in my clients, and I also want to make sure that this is the right match for you, that this is the best thing to help you move your life forward. So you can begin that a number of ways. Visiting my website, www.leahcb.com, sign up for my newsletter, follow me on Instagram, @leahcb1 at Instagram and emailing us, support@leahcb.com to learn more.

In closing, I just wanted to thank My Linh Luu once again for being on the episode, sharing her experience and her process and her natural wisdom. And to close today then, I was reflecting on my work with her and my work with others in the Art School who have found the work of completing a work to also be transformational when you apply this process of the sacred twin intention, of creating commitment, and you learn not only what that means but you also learn how to shift and how to move through it, you learn what that change means from the inside out.

You learn how to create transformation in your own life. When I think back to, again, what is one of the most important things that you can take away from this and from clients and stories like My Linh’s, it is to develop that completion muscle within yourself. It is to develop this knowing about yourself that once you decide something, because you have learned what full embodied creative commitment means, that it is as good as done.

That feels like the best kind of self-love. I mean, maybe is it the best kind? I don’t know. Maybe that shouldn’t be a superlative statement. But that’s how amazing it feels. That’s how transformational it feels to be able to move into that place of I’m someone who once is decided, I move through life and I love my life along the way and massive magic happens inevitably.

Wishing you all copious amounts of massive magic. That’s not superlative. That’s just abundant. Massive magic. Wishing that for all you. Have a beautiful week and I look forward to talking with you next time.