ArtSpirit7 - Part 26

Creating a Smooshing Business Plan

February 3, 2015 by Mary Gow

“Real Artists Ship” Quote by Steve Jobs, Drawing by Mary Gow

Did you ever think drawing stick figures could help your career?

It wouldn’t hurt if you’re trying to draw out instead of write out what you want.

It was a profession I’ve been researching called “graphic facilitation,” also known as “sketch notes,” and “graphic recording.”

What I find fascinating about graphic facilitation is it’s like visual transcribing. And there’s some places you can learn this skill. Two that come to mind are The Grove Consultants International in San Francisco, and Alphachimp Studio online.

There’s a terrific book called The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, by Dan Roam. You learn how to scribe meetings with a blend of drawings with words which can engage your audience more than PowerPoint would.

I could go on about graphic facilitation but it was in researching that obsession that I found a highly useful book called “Business Model You,” by Tim Clark.

In a previous post I mentioned Emilie Wapnick (puttylike.com) who coaches people on how to smoosh their many talents into a career path.

I like her idea and there’s one page business plan in Business Model You that can help you map out a way to utilize your talents.

Check out Business Model You’s business plan form. There’s three different versions of the one page plan you can download here.

Happy Smooshing.

The Super Bowl and Timing

January 30, 2015 by Mary Gow

Venus Time, painting by Mary Gow

A workshop scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Sunday was just cancelled. I wonder if it was because of the Super Bowl.

At the grocery store today several people in front and behind me had shopping carts full of party snacks, bottles of wine and cartons of beer. I wonder if it was because of the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday is becoming more and more like a holiday in the U.S.A.

Magic Time

In Russell Bishop and David Allen‘s “Managing Accelerated Productivity” course, Allen says he gets more done on Friday and Saturday nights and on holidays than any other time.

But some part of me finds it so “counter” to be at home when the social norm is to be out at those times.

Would you feel comfortable having your Friday night on a Wednesday night?

Sounds do-able doesn’t it? Why go along with the crowd?

Which leads me to knowing and honoring the times you know you’re at your best. When do you do your most creative work? It’s what Craig Ballantyne, Editor of Early to Rise, calls the “Magic Time.”

Through experimentation I’ve found my magic time is before 2:00 p.m. So I try to work on my most challenging projects early in the day.

I think it’s ideal to get grocery shopping done by Thursday for the upcoming weekend. Avoid weekends at the grocery story, especially after 3:00 p.m. on Sundays which is what I call the end-of-the-weekend-rush-to-get-the-groceries time.

Except this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time), when Super Bowl XLIX begins. That might be the best time to go grocery shopping. Or to work on your next painting.

True Friends

January 28, 2015 by Mary Gow

Tree No. 19, by Digital Drawing by Mary Gow

Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher. – Oprah Winfrey

“At the end of your life, count yourself lucky if you have more TRUE friends than you have fingers.” -Thomas J. Hayman

A true friend is a rare jewel to be treasured.

A Little “Aggravational” Inspiration

January 27, 2015 by Mary Gow

“What’s Your Mindset?” Drawing by Mary Gow

Recently I attended a motivational workshop. Here’s some of my favorite lines from the trainer’s script:

“People change when it’s too painful not to.”

“Life is the best game ever created!”

“No thought in your head lives rent-free!”

“Every cell thinks.” – Thomas Edison

“Every master was once a disaster.” – T. Harv Eker

“I’m my own coach, referee, and executioner.”

The last quote stuck because of the impact of the word “executioner.” Ouch! To me being this equates to being what Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way, calls a “Shadow Artist” – an artist whose creative spirit was not nurtured nor encouraged in their native family. Unfortunately the shadow artist may never know they are an artist.

Cameron goes on to say, “Very often, audacity, not talent, makes one person an artist and another a shadow artist – hiding in the shadows, afraid to step out and expose the dream to the light, fearful that it will disintegrate to the touch.”

How to be kinder to yourself? I agree with Cameron, “In order to move from the realm of the shadows into the light of creativity, shadow artists must learn to take themselves seriously.”

Shadow artists can and do emerge. They begin with baby steps. The executioner within is our own core negative beliefs. Which brings me to another quote:

“Beliefs are based on evidence and are subject to change with new evidence.”

The trainer, Eric Frady, said “I’m an aggravational speaker if I’m doing my job.”

Thank you Mr. Frady.