🎁 Pain is a Gift + CreativeMorning’s Brian Thompson

Brian Thompson is the Content Manager at CreativeMornings HQ. He loves connecting dots and people. In his career as a copywriter and creative director, on both the agency and client side, he has helped create brand campaigns for organizations ranging from non-profits to the Fortune 500. His purpose in life is to amplify joy and creativity. He writes the weekly CreativeMornings Global newsletter, which reaches 230,000+ readers worldwide.

When you feel that breaking point or that discomfort, that pain, that's when you know you're on to something. Because to grow your creative muscle, you have to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Like your body’s muscles, your creative muscle grows by ripping and then you heal and it’s rebuilt stronger.

I think podcasting is much more powerful than just the written word because you can create whole worlds between someone's ears.

Creativity really comes down to connecting the dots. You come up with new ideas by taking something old or taking something you're interested in, and then putting your own spin on it. And that can come from anywhere. That’s the beauty of CreativeMornings, you never know what that talk is going to be about.

We try to find the golden nuggets of the internet for our Fun Stuff to Click On section in the newsletter. [Editor’s note: I’ve lost countless hours to those dastardly, fascinating links.] Interesting, fun, or inspiring—the sweet spot is all three. You may click through to see a post on Colossal that has some super interesting artwork. But then three links down, you click on something that takes you to photographs from the Hubble telescope, and your brain cross-pollinates that stuff and you don't know where it's going to lead or what it's going to spark.

When I'm looking for inspiration, the first rule is to have a routine, your rituals, and you follow the process.

Inspiration and procrastination often go hand in hand. And that's the magic of it. You never know where those distractions are going to take you in your own work. 

The only cure for writer's block is to just put your butt in the chair. Keep showing up.

The podcasting structure that comes from the ancient radio days of intros and outros and stingers gives you the ability to tell interesting stories, but to also share things that may surprise and delight someone by deviating from that expected norm.

Do not be afraid of self-promotion. Creating something and bringing it into the world is a huge accomplishment, something to be proud of. Take pride in putting a spotlight on that stuff, because you truly are bringing some goodness into a world that really needs it.

There’s a podcast I love called The One You Feed. The name comes from a parable about a grandfather who tells his grandson, “There are two wolves inside you, a good wolf and a bad wolf.” The grandson asks, “Who will win?” And the grandfather says, “The one you feed.”