Ep #157: How to Work at Your Level of Genius

“Avoid putting a linear process on a piece of magic,” Ali Brown, I am freshly returned from a two-day conference run by Ali Brown, who is the founder and CEO of the women’s business empowerment company We Lead, and she is also one of the most recognized entrepreneur coaches in the world. And I am lit up. Talk about epiphanies.

And what I wanted to offer you over the next few weeks were some of my takeaways, not only from being in this room, which was mostly filled with seven to eight-figure women entrepreneurs in a variety of industries and genre, but also my own thought process about working at your level of genius and looking for your next epiphany, your breakthrough.

If you’ve been following my work, you know I am passionate about dreaming big, but according to your own internal metrics, your own value system; dreaming big as a way of unleashing the truth of who you are and living from that space, embodying that truth and energy in the world.

Ali Brown’s conference was called Iconic, and that spoke to me, not only for my own work, but because I know I have so many people in this audience – and I know this is true for my clients – who have iconic potential, energy, dreams, who are icons either already or in the making. And this episode is to give you maybe that little extra nudge, permission, inspiration, empowerment that you need to drop anything that is too small for you, including other people’s processes, old ways of doing things, the old status quo. So, let’s all drop putting a linear process on a piece of magic and instead be, embody, create the magic.

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, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Art School Podcast. So, as I mentioned in the intro, I am freshly home from sunny Arizona. It was incredible. It was just what I needed. I might go into more of that in upcoming episodes.

But I think a lot of the content that was covered, it was healing for me because it is the work I do. It is so much the underlying philosophy of the Art School, the explicit, the teachings, what we’re doing every week. But it was a gift to be on the receiving end and to be in a room with really big-thinking, magnificently spirited, generous, big-hearted women who are reshaping not only their industries, but the world.

It was electric. It was soulful. It was deeply nourishing and I felt nourished to immerse myself in these conversations from the perspective of receiving it, of being a client and taking it in and also just getting to relax into these new, organic conversations that were happening with new friendships.

I mean, I just felt so connected and so inspired by the women in these rooms. And it, for me too, it was energizing and affirming of the work that’s being done in the Art School.

Last week in the Art School, there were so many phenomenal breakthroughs, celebrations, accomplishments. I received private direct messages from people that were current clients and former clients. I don’t know what was in the air last week, but so many things people had been working for, they tipped the scale and broke through to that in the last few weeks.

And I, so often, think we move at a good pace. The transformation was happening. People are doing their work. And I don’t want to slow that roll at all. And the one thing I do want to find a way to do is to better collect the stories.

I mean, if I were more analytical – this seems way to sterile-a-way to describe it and not at all soulful, but other people would call it the data. Does the story – I don’t even want to say transformation when it’s people stepping into their own. And that’s such a cliché, stepping into your power, but I get to see it.

So, that’s why I wish there were a way that I could allow you all to be a fly on the wall, which I have done in some podcast interviews with Art Schoolers. But being in the community, if you could be in this room the way I just got to be in a room, as a participant myself, you would be changed. It would speak to parts of you that are beyond, below, above, transcending the linear. And I know it would have a healing, edifying effect for you too.

So, what I wanted to do through this medium of a podcast is do the best that the medium allows, to give you glimpses of the kind of thinking that is going on in these rooms, because I know, if you’re listening to this podcast, you are an iconic thinker. You are also fascinated by human potential and know that, within yourself, you’re barely scratching the surface, even if you’re doing, as many of you are, these epic, amazing things in the world from a place of curiosity and abundance.

And, yes, also sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes, there’s angst, thinking, “I’m bumping up against my upper limits here,” how to break free. And that is also what I want to offer always with every episode, like an opportunity to break free, an opportunity to liberate, an opportunity to step more fully into your truth, owning, embodying, flowing from your creative genius. And with these next few episodes, keeping them a bit shorter to give you these bite-sized things to contemplate, take for a walk, and, as I always do, integrate through the coach with me and work with me.

So, if there’s any place you find yourself bumping up against a wall, rest assured that’s because you know you can sense that there is a bigger world waiting for you. So, that’s what I’m going to be speaking to and about these next few weeks.

Also, and this is a little bit of a sidenote, but not really. It’s germane to what we’re talking about. One of the most awesome things I think I witnessed and saw the last couple days that reassured parts of me on a primal level, that still get poked and triggered, were all of these amazing humans – this room in particular, women – who are going all out, unapologetically, having it all.

I met women who are not only killing it as seven figure and eight-figure earners, all with companies, missions, philosophies that they love that are meaningful, they know the impact that they’re making in the world is aligned with their values. They also are cultivating, enjoying, savoring deep relationships. They’re taking care of themselves. They have families that they love and are present for. And also providing for.

They have these amazing friendships, including amongst each other. And it was, again, I think there is still this – I know there is. I don’t think. I know – still this ongoing primal fear, particularly as women, but I know it’s true for men as well, that when we bump up against our upper limits, it’s usually like, “Well something’s got to give, right? If I’m going to do epically well in my business, then my family is going to suffer. Or if I’m taking care of my family, that means I don’t really have the capacity to create wealth or to contribute and make an impact, or to be fulfilled in my work.

And you can tell someone that that’s not the case. But when you are in a room of people who are living examples that that is most definitely not the case, it soothes your central nervous system. It quiets that fear. And that visceral energetic experience, I mean, I’m giving myself extra time and space to take it in, to imprint it, to let that settled, safe feeling become more naturally organically a part of who I am than the fear is.

That somehow me stepping into and owning everything that I love in life is somehow going to negatively impact the people that I love the most, that me somehow living my fullest expression, my fullest truth is somehow a detriment to my family, my children, my husband, my extended family, my community, or that it’s somehow selfish. And instead, really letting my mind, body, and spirit saturate in the truth that these other women were so generously, vibrantly, powerfully examples of.

Because you can work and work and have the biggest vision in the world, but if you are coming up against either unconscious, subconscious, or fairly conscious belief systems that say, “Well, if you fly too close to the sun, you know what happens,” you will unconsciously, subconsciously, but also consciously hold yourself back and keep yourself small.

I don’t want that for my life, for anyone I love, including my clients, or for anyone listening in this community. So, I wanted to offer that message of reassurance and safety and possibility going forward, that this is this new mythology story, guiding story of wisdom that we are crafting as we go.

And so, for me, there have been times where I’ve been frustrated that I haven’t moved faster. But I also know I’ve been doing my best to move gently and kindly and consciously, taking care of myself and these fears and healing these things as I go, and not just repressing them and running roughshod over them, but really having this be a journey of integration and wholeness.

And I may be too slow for some people. But for others of you, hopefully, it accelerates and speeds up your process as well. I hope, in some small way, that me figuring this out, like getting things dialed in tight and figuring it out and not just spiritually bypassing, I hope that does blaze some part of the trail and make it easier for people who are coming behind me, and allows you to then, the next breakthrough that you create, the next trail that you blaze for someone else, it allows you to do that.

So again, just specifically speaking, one way I integrate this, my own coach with me, work with me is not just to think, “Oh yeah, look at this, Leah, all of these amazing women you have just met who are killing it and they are awesome, going full out, so brilliant, so creative, so courageous, so generous, such big thinkers.” And listen to them talk about their families too, with love and candor, kindness, respect, being real too, talking about challenges and difficulties of that. Or if they don’t have families, relationships. But just really being real and experiencing them as warm, caring, loving humans who are also rich, highly successful, so smart. So ambitious.

It’s allowing your mind to embrace that as a worldview and a belief system, allowing your mind to embrace humanhood as being vast enough to encompass all of those things. Again, I grew up loving fairytales and mythology, and as I got older, revisiting the old, classic fairytales and reading more broadly, studying more broadly, mythology. And you can’t do that and not see so many – I mean, to call them cautionary tales is to put it mildly – tales that would condemn a woman who steps out of line and dares to have it all.

Man, the universe comes down on her with a heavy hand. And here’s what really gets us – comes down not only on her, but on her loved ones, on her children. And you don’t even need to have loved fairytales and mythology to have absorbed this. From the collective consciousness, it is permeated into our contemporary popular culture, pop culture. And we are conditioned by it from the time that we’re young.

And so, what you and I and my clients in the Art School and women like the one I met these last few days, what we get to do is write new stories, to claim our authority, our authorship, our agency. And I think it is vivifying that it gives power and life and force to recognize that as a meaning and as an intention of what we are doing, that this is part of who we are, writing this new mythology for what it means to be not only women, also men, but also creatives, also humans.

So, one way I take this philosophy and perhaps higher perspective and ground it in my day to day, I come back – I got back from Phoenix yesterday and I got back in time for my son’s – to celebrate my son’s 11^th birthday, and really grounding in the fact that being an entrepreneur, having carved out my own life and schedule has given me the resources and the ability to create a schedule where I can do that.

Being a coach and also an entrepreneur has greatly informed my marriage dynamic too, where my husband and I communicate on a completely different level and parent together, raise our family together on a completely different level. And so, taking in then last night too at our family dinner, my son Sammy has been for, probably a year now, talking about a trumpet, wanting a trumpet.

He brought home this journal from school where the journal prompt for the week is, “My passion is…” and he wrote, “The trumpet.” And he’s been asking me about it too for months. And so, I found a trumpet. I found a great refurbished one, perfect for where he is starting and from a family music store.

And just to be able to see him open that and light up and connect the dots with – you know, part of what I do is recognize a potential and passion in others and find ways to nurture that. And then I’m thinking to myself and seeing, “See, this is your life’s work and you also do it everywhere you turn. You also do it with your son and also fortunate enough to have the resources to provide him with that.”

And so, it’s being intentional and making my own narrative audible in my mind because that is a necessary part of rewriting it. You know, right now, the fall colors here are amazing. And as a family, we’ve been going out to take hikes or drive to different parts of the state to take it in. And it is there too then my own coach with me, my way of integrating, because my brain wants to go to the negative and discount everything I’m doing, whether it’s as a mother or as a creative, and always tell me I’m not doing a good enough job or something’s dropping.

And instead, it’s catching that and then, in moments, doing what we call in the Art School a period pause, taking in and savoring the freedom I’ve created, the agency, the atmosphere my husband and I have created to cultivate the kind of family experience and really spend the kind of time and quality time together and with our children that we want to.

And then this, once I feel safe this way, then I am allowed to relax deeper. And what opens up for me is my ability to think bigger. What opens up for me then is my imagination.

So, I told you this wasn’t just a random tangent, but it’s an early example of coach with me, of how doing this work in your own life, because in order to create at your deepest most powerful level, you want to cultivate a deep sense of safety within yourself and in your life. And then people say, “Great, how to do that…” I just gave you one example of one way of doing that.

And it’s not too small. It is absolutely a place. It’s why I offered the example, because it’s a place everyone can begin. So, what I want to offer you now are some thoughts, some takeaways from these last two days in Phoenix at Ali Brown’s Iconic. And some of these things are direct quotes and others are from my thoughts and reflections.

So, one that I want to begin with is what I shared in the intro. And that is when she said, “Avoid putting a linear process on a piece of magic.” Cleary that is the kind of statement that Leah would love. And I really loved it coming from a woman like this, who works not only with – I don’t think many of her client base are artists or creatives. She has people in the sciences, in tech, other coaches.

There were neurosurgeons at this conference. There were business owners. There were people with environmental cleanup companies. It really was this wonderful diversity of industry and work background. And she is a coach and a consultant to women making seven figures, eight figures. There was a woman who was a gust speaker who has done over $2 Billion worth of deals and mergers and acquisitions. And so, for her to use a line lie this – I would love a line like that coming from anyone, so I just wanted to also give you a little bit of context why I was so excited about hearing that particular line come from a woman like Ali Brown, “Avoid putting a linear process on a piece of magic.”

So, now as well, before I go on to the second point, I wanted to say something that I’m going to tell my Art Schoolers and my Art School alumni in the upcoming 10X Any Investment workshop that I’m doing for them. And that is to have this orientation that when you are in the room gaining access to someone else’s brain who is performing at an incredible level, don’t throw anything away.

If it’s three words, if it’s one word, treat it like a gem, like the piece of gold that it is. Treat that as something that you can tale and run with. You don’t need any more. Don’t dismiss it as empty words of a pretty phrase. But if you learn how these people think, then you can learn how to think like that. And it’s how they’re thinking that is creating their results.

So, I just wanted to prime you with that orientation. If you can learn how they think, you can learn how they’re creating their results, and then you can literally pick that up, adapt that, integrate that, make that your own, and then create your own version of the results.

Again, it’s not just a copy and paste process. There is an art to it. But part of that art is an orientation that these thoughts are highly creative. They are highly valuable.

So, now, the second point that I wanted to share with you – and I actually had to stop the recording and go and relocate said son with new trumpet to another room, maybe not so close to where mom is recording the podcast for right now. But I’m glad he’s diligent and practicing.

So, the second item – and again, it is a quote from Ali, she was talking about how we can become trapped in working in our zone of excellence rather than our zone of genius. And then she said this. Most of the pain and problems she has witnessed in her clients come from working beneath their genius. That most of their pain and problems come from thinking too small.

So, I was taking notes fast and furious while also listening and absorbing the entire two days, and particularly in this session because, as I am taking time, creating space to revision, call my vision back for the future of my work and specifically thinking about the upcoming year with a mastermind and later an Art School, what I really want to facilitate is, one after another, breakthroughs to genius, creative breakthroughs.

I’ve said it before and doubling down on we are a movement, a creative movement, normalizing extraordinary creativity, extraordinary success, extraordinary wealth, extraordinary health. We are normalizing this extraordinary creative way of being that makes these extraordinary results inevitable.

We are normalizing living extraordinary, creative, full, fulfilling, beautiful lives. And absolutely, this is what I have seen in my own life and in the work that I do with clients, that yes, most of our pain and problems are not because we are not good enough, but it is because we get trapped in these zones of – for most of my clients, it’s not trapped in the competence; it’s trapped in the excellence, the things that they are really good at.

And then, it’s giving ourselves permission and also betting on ourselves, doubling down on ourselves to step into that zone of genius and focus exclusively on that.

And part of what that then requires is leaving behind old rules about the way things are done, including the way we have usually done things or allowed ourselves to do things.

Another line that she said that I’ll quote directly here was that “A breakthrough demands a radical, a radical departure from some of your habits,” and I would say those habits include habitual ways of thinking about yourself and who you are and what you are allowed to do in the world and who you are allowed to be.

Also, genius creativity requires extreme courage, which requires extreme self-love, that you cultivate a sense of safety from a place of compassion, from a place of compassion and love within yourself. Because you are going to have to break with known ways of doing things.

So, you are going to have to break with processes that look more linear. As she said again, “Avoid putting a linear process on a piece of magic.” And having that courage and then also that skillset to navigate that emotional terrain, that inner terrain when we make a break for it.

We make a break for our creative liberation. We make a break for living in our zone of genius. And then, things get really messy and chaotic. And having the ability to move through that, not with a grit your teeth and bear it, but with love and with compassion and knowing how to access your own resources, but also ask for help and set yourself up for success. That, to me, is part of one of the gifts of a program like the Art School or a community like the Art School Mastermind is giving people a space in which to move through that aspect of the creative journey, that aspect of creative breakthrough process.

Because that’s usually where people, if they’re all on their own and they don’t have this knowing that they can tap into this emotional skillset and develop it, this ability to navigate, this kind of feels like treacherous terrain when you’re on your own, they take it as a sign that the chaos and things falling apart mean that things are never coming back together and that they aren’t just reorganizing themselves in a way that supports this new way of life where you are living and flowing from your genius.

And the next item that I wanted to share with you today was regarding this concept, the phenomenon of flipping the switch, which gave me goosebumps as a sat in that room and listened. Because if you’ve been listening to the podcast, if you receive my newsletters, you know that very imagery has been one that I have been talking about.

If you’re in the Art School, we’ve talked about it in depth; having all the pieces in place. And you’ve entered that dark room, considering it a sacred room, and knowing that you’re in the process that fumbling in the dark, being able to navigate that, and that you’re going to find that switch, just keep working at it, expect to find the switch. Expect you will find the switch and everything will change, that it can change like that.

This has been a theme in the podcast I recently recorded on epiphanies, on what does it take to create that thrilling, that spine-chilling level of art? It’s been in podcasts where I referenced creating, living not just from that personality level energy, which Marion Woodman called the ducking’s quack, but opening up, allowing yourself to tap into, to channel, to reach for, to connect with that thunderbolt level of energy, that lightning strike, flipping that switch and allowing that greater currency, that flood of light to come into the room.

And so, here’s one thing Ali Brown said in particular regarding this light switch, flipping the switch concept that I wanted to share with you. She said, “Create the thing that you are here to create. Don’t procrastinate.”

So, there is overlap here with the first item, the previous one I just shared about moving into your zone of genius rather than hanging out and being trapped by and limited by your zone of excellence.

If you keep finding that you’re bumping up against something, things are good, life is good, but you are bumping up against something, look for the places where you are using your recurring habitual ways of creating success, to create a success that now feels limiting to you and that maybe the success that you are perpetuating, that level of excellence that you’re staying in is actually procrastinating from what you know your really want to do, are even meant to do, being called to do next.

I’ve talked to my Art Schoolers always and it’s come up in this last one too, about becoming conscious of the ways where we hold out, like keep the success and the life that is available to us, we keep it at arm’s length and we create all of these intermediary incremental steps that we put, this big long list of hows, a linear process that we tell ourselves we need to move through.

Whereas, what if it’s not like that? What if it’s just like we flip a switch, we skip the queue, and we go right to creating what we want to create, right to doing what we want to do? So, don’t procrastinate by hanging out in your zone of excellence. Don’t procrastinate by keeping that thing at artificial arm’s length, creating this long list of who you have to become first and all the steps you have to fill or how you’ve got to stay in line.

Think about this; what if you just flipped the switch and created the thing that you’re here to create? Instead of moving from A to Z, starting at Z? And that was another question that she shared with the group.

And on the topic of questions, I think this is a power habit of great thinkers, great creators, to not need the right answers, but to know the importance of asking the right questions.

And something I heard in that room over and over again is that it’s more important to ask the right questions than to get the right answers. Because you can always hire people for that right answer part. And that, again, for some of you, you will hear that – and don’t let that shut you down if you’re not in that part yet.

Don’t let that shut you down if you’re like, “Well, I can’t afford to hire the right person.” Let yourself act as if for a while. Learn to think how these powerful creators are thinking and learn how that can help you in skipping some of these steps so that you’re not unnecessarily creating a longer process, so that you’re not unconsciously, subconsciously procrastinating and not allowing yourself to just do the thing.

So, one of the questions, one of the power questions she shared, if you want to not move from A to Z, you want to play with starting at Z, being at Z, ask yourself, what will my business, my career, my life look like in three years? And then, what if you did that now?

So, that again is not a new concept for you seasoned Art Schoolers. You’ve heard me talk over and over again about be her now, for my male listeners, my wonderful male listeners, be him now. Think of your future self. Do future pacing. Use that wisdom, that insight, and then do it now to the best of your ability, do it now.

And if you find your brain saying, “But I can’t do it now.” Turn that part off for a while and just let this be free-wheeling, open, growth mindset, a place to gather in, “If I had to do it now, how would I do it now? If I had to…” or, “If I got to do it now…”

And then let yourself imagine also – I mean, I had the good luck of sitting at the table with our guest speaker, who was Dana Jacoby, who is the one who has done these massive deals. She was brilliant and so generous and she said that, at one point in her own career, she had a mentor ask her, when she was bumping up against the same obstacle over and over again, he cut through so much for her, she said, with the following question.

He said, “Dana, how would you do this if you had a billion dollars?” And then suddenly, she didn’t have a billion dollars. But she had clear answers, clear possibilities, even if they weren’t the right answer, about the next steps, things that could be tried.

So, within this topic of creating the thing that you’re here to create now, flipping the switch, not procrastinating, beginning at Z, I know because this is my brain, and I know it comes up for my clients and our work is continually to move it over to this, we call it the right-hand side of the column, the creative, the imaginal that creates possibility, pathways of possibility.

It’s to remember things like this; that there is too much how-to and not enough what-if. If you find yourself getting shut down by the how-to, that negative inflection of how, like, “How am I going to do this?” Rather than, “How might I do this?” Then ask yourself, “What if?”

And then also, to allow there to be many answers. This was something that I underlined, highlighted, circled, that we are in an epidemic of one right answer. And I know that resonated with me, not only because it speaks to the great importance of creativity of all humans embracing that they are capital-C Creative.

But because – also because – I see it as being this way that we are stunting our potential as individuals, as cultures, as a society. When we start to think there is one process, there is one answer and that we have to follow a template, we have to follow a way, believing that keeps us from moving into, I think, this divine, this supernatural – even if you’re not onboard with that, you have to agree with me, that it is epic, this ability of humans to ask questions and access many ranges of answers, to access this creativity that can change and shape the way we think and move in the world and live.

So, remember that, that we are in an epidemic of one right answer. I do think that’s what keeps too many of us also living in that zone of excellence, is that we think, “Well who am I to come up with new answers?” And I think it keeps too many of us searching in this prolonged purgatory of searching for a right answer.

No, that also just is hard for me to watch. And if I could eliminate that from my clients’ process and for all of you, that’s one of the first places I would begin, is with the assumption of one right answer, one right process, and then all of the energy and effort and angst that goes into searching for that, all of the creativity that is put off, the living that is put off in this wild goose chase, quest, for some one right answer or one right way of doing things. Or the energy and wasted effort in trying to replicate someone else’s process and just cut and paste it on your own, and then feeling terrible that it doesn’t feel right.

Like, “It looks amazing. Look at how they’re doing it. It looks amazing.” And then, you try to do it, and you try to ignore all of those sensations of discomfort rising in you. It’s not that we can’t learn from one another. But in the process, we keep an open mind, but not so open that all of your brains fall out. Keep an open heart, but not so open that who you really are in your own truth falls out.

You can be nuanced. You can learn and then also access your own deep wisdom, learn and make things your own. Because I also don’t want to go the other way and I’m not at all suggesting not learning from other people. Clearly, I just spent, invested two days, a lot of time, worthy, a significant financial investment, absolutely worth it to be in the presence of other people and to learn from them energetically, to learn from them how they think, and then also do this work of making it my own.

What do I think about this? how do I apply this to my life? How can I take this, integrate it, and make it my own? Which is a good segue to this next 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, let’s take one item I talked about. Trying to apply a linear process to a piece of magic, if you think about your own life, is there anywhere where you are perhaps creating unnecessary frustration or suffering for yourself or not being able to learn, glean wisdom for your own process because you are trying to apply a linear process to a piece of magic?

And how might you change your orientation to your process that would free you up, that would liberate you? And then, this brings me to my second question, which may be something many of you have thought about before. But it is a great time and place to revisit it, especially if maybe you’ve already stepped out and created a new paradigm. You left one set of rules to create this whole new paradigm, and now you find yourself bumping up against your own established status quo, your own set of rules.

And so, where might you be trapped in your zone of excellence and not allowing yourself to live more fully from your zone of genius? And can you identify, what for you do you think is zone of excellence, and what for you do you think is zone of genius?

And then here is a really powerful exercise. Can you identify – and get into the nitty-gritty granular here. Do a time study if you need to. I know some of you are cringing when I say this. Part of me cringes too when people say time studies. But I have done them and they are powerful awareness tools. So, I cringe no longer if I feel like it’s an area I need to investigate.

Really, if you identify and document, how many hours of the day do you spend in your zone of excellence? How many hours of your work life, anyway, or all of life, do you spend in your zone of excellence versus time in your zone of genius? Write that out. Do the math.

And then, answer this; why? Why do those numbers not look more heavily skewed to your zone of genius? And I’m just going to assume that they are not already skewed toward your zone of genius. That’s a good thing. There’s so much opportunity there. Your life can take off like a rocket the more and more you allow yourself to move and embrace that zone of genius and living and creating from that place.

Final and related question. For you, how many of your problems, how much of your pain do you really think stems from living in that zone of excellence versus letting yourself, giving yourself permission to live and create, dream from, and then create from your zone of genius? And what if most of your pain and problems are not because that thing you want to do is so far off and so hard to create, but it is because you’ve been thinking too small? Where might that be true for you?

Next power question. This is a meaty coach with me this week. Make time for this. Journal about this. Get someone to talk to you about this, whether it’s your coach, a therapist, a great friend who loves this kind of conversation, geeks out about this mastermind colleague, journal, asking yourself, what will your business, your life, your career look like in three years? And how could you do that now?

And then, apply this framework. See where your brain goes to too much how-to and how can you give at least equal if not double the time? I would recommend doubling down on the what-if. And if you had to do it now, if you could do it now, what would that look like?

So much of this comes back to, who do we think we are? And I want to ask you that in the most constructive, green-light sense. Who do you think you are? Be the author. Be the agent. Be him or her now. Don’t procrastinate on that thing that you know you’re here to create. Don’t procrastinate on who you are meant to be. Be him or her now. Create it now.

That’s your power move. That’s your breakthrough to creative genius. Not a linear path, but an utterly magical, human, messy, and let me say again, because messy and human, magical process.

Thank you for listening to another episode of The Art School Podcast. If you have enjoyed this podcast, if these episodes have been uplifting, useful, meaningful to you, I am so grateful. And I would love your help in reaching one of my big, audacious goals. And that is to help this podcast move over the million downloads mark.

That milestone, why that milestone? Well, part of it because it’s there. and then also part, if I think about doing that on my own in a linear fashion, I kind of want to curl up and cry. But if I ask myself, apply this process of not how-to, but instead what if, and what if it could be fun, what if it could be joyful, what if it could feel like magic? And then I think about what would make it feel that way, all of you come to mind; not doing it on my own, but having this be more than just something I create, but a movement, and a movement that empowers more and more humans to embrace their capital-C Creativity, to know that if they have a goal or a dream, that goal or dream is choosing them.

If they have a sense of this potential of which they’re only scratching the surface, that they know that that’s right and this gives them permission and tools to go for it. If they’re fascinated, as I am, with creative genius and with human potential, to think about it as letting git catch up with you, surrendering to it, and thinking about how those ripple effects of one human stepping courageously, more fully into their truth, thinking of those ripple effects moving out in endless, infinite, currently even unthinkable, unimaginable ways.

That is part of what this revolutionizing creativity movement is for me. And it’s not just me. It also, I hope, is for you or resonates with you. And so, if that’s the case, I would love your help. You can share, subscribe, leave a review. And then also, you can be an amplifier. You can work the magic of the exponential effects by sending this podcast to five, to 10, to 20. Some of you are super popular. You could send it to 50 of your closest friends. I would really appreciate that and thank you in advance for any help, support, encouragement that you also generous give.

Also, be in touch. I’m on Instagram, @leahcb1. But the best way to be in touch is through my newsletter. Because I am thinking, dreaming, doing, creating bigger than ever. And coming off the heels of these last couple days, there’s going to be some exciting news coming down the pipeline. And the best way to be the first to know about that is by signing up for the newsletter. And I’d love to connect with you there. You can do that by going to my website; www.leahcb.com.

So, to close – this is a very action-oriented podcast episode, which should not surprise anyone because it’s about creativity. And creativity isn’t just thinking about it, talking about it. It’s doing it. We are makers. We are made to make. And I want to bookend this podcast by returning to that line, “Avoid putting a linear process on a piece of magic.”

So, I want to challenge, invite all of you to consider a part of your life where you keep procrastinating on that thing that you’re going to create by putting all of these steps in front of you, where you’re keeping it at arm’s length. Even if it seems like that’s just the logical scenario, I want to invite you, give you permission to be highly illogical, be so unreasonable, go against convention here. Be a creative genius. How would a creative genius think? And then, what would that look like for you?

What if you cut out the linear process and flipped the switch and moved to Z? And so, because I said this isn’t just a thought experiment, this is an invitation and a challenge, do that this week. If this sends chills up and down your spine, this is meant for you.

There is something right now in your life that could change everything, if you allowed yourself to be someone who skips other people’s old linear processes and instead flips the switch. This is your call. This is your week. This is your time. And I’d love to hear about it. Have an amazing week, everyone. If you do this, it will be extraordinary. And that’s what we’re all about. That’s what this creative movement, revolution – and I mean that in a kind, loving way – that’s what we’re doing here; normalizing extraordinary creativity, extraordinary acts of creativity, extraordinary courage, extraordinary results, extraordinary lives.

So, again, have an extraordinary week, everyone. And I look forward to talking with you next time.