Creative Pep Talk – Episode 539

This Super Easy Thing Will Make A Massive Impact On Your Creative Practice
Host: Andy J. Pizza
Release Date: January 21, 2026

Overview

In this energizing episode, Andy J. Pizza explores the tension between creativity and discipline. As a new year begins, he urges listeners to stop pushing for overwhelming, result-oriented goals, and instead focus on planting "the seed"—simple, daily inputs that will have a long-lasting domino effect on their creative lives. Andy blends personal vulnerability, metaphors, and actionable frameworks to help creatives foster genuine, sustainable growth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Big Resolutions Often Fail (00:00–06:00)

• Andy opens by reflecting on the common struggle with making lasting changes, especially around New Year’s resolutions:
  • He likens it to "leveling up" like a character in Dragon Ball Z or evolving like a Pokémon—always chasing the next big breakthrough, often leading to burnout and disappointment.
  • Quote:

    "You become kind of like a bad boyfriend to yourself. The guy that's like, it's gonna be different this time, I promise. And then one week later, you're like, no, it's not. It's gonna be exactly like it was." (05:30, Andy)

• He emphasizes that relentless result chasing—“painting the roses red”—only brings surface-level change.

2. Planting the Right Seed: The Power of Small Daily Inputs (09:15–14:10)

• Andy recounts feeling stuck and burnt out after years of pushing hard without meaningful progress.
• He details his personal discovery that genuine transformation stems not from obsessing over outcomes or even process goals, but by focusing on daily "input"—the media, ideas, and stories you let into your mind.
  • Metaphor: Just as you need to plant a red rose seed to grow red roses (rather than painting white ones), you need to change what you’re feeding your creative mind.
  • Quote:

    "If you want to change the output, you got to think about the input." (13:02, Andy)

3. The Play-Doh Factory Analogy (14:10–15:26)

• Andy uses a playful metaphor: If you want the Play-Doh to come out red, you put red Play-Doh in the machine—not try to dye it afterward.
  • Quote:

    "We—I’ll speak for me—I want to change the output... But I don't think about, how am I tilling the field, how am I planting the seed, how am I watering it, how am I taking care of it, how am I putting the stuff in me that I want to grow, rather than the cover-up of the red roses?" (13:50, Andy)

4. Daily Practice: Simple but Profound (14:55–16:13)

• Andy stresses he’s not a super-reader but commits to a little reading daily, focusing on books that speak directly to the change he desires.
  • Quote:

    "I don't read a large quantity, but what I do is figure out what am I trying to implant in my life, what am I trying to see grow in my life? And can I, little by little, plant that seed every single day?" (14:55, Andy)

5. Creative Call to Adventure: “Select the Seed” (16:13–28:40)

• Andy presents a practical framework: Find the seed you want to plant—a book, podcast, or idea—that aligns with the change you crave.

• The Venn Diagram Method

  • Two circles: Ease (what fits you naturally and is manageable) and Impact (what will create meaningful change through a domino effect).
  • Where ease and impact overlap is your “seed”—the small, easy-to-maintain input that can trigger the biggest possible positive outcome.
  • Native vs. Invasive Ideas: Choose goals and habits that fit your unique “soil” (e.g., your neurotype or lifestyle).

• Snowball Effect: Start with the smallest change you can actually do, so that positive momentum and fulfillment build over time.

• Impact/One Thing Principle:

  • Inspired by the book The One Thing: Pick a change where, if achieved, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary. He illustrates this with his own focus on picture books, which created a cascade of creative opportunities.
  • Domino Metaphor: One small domino can eventually topple a skyscraper-sized domino if aligned properly.

6. Step-by-Step Exercise (28:40–32:00)

• Brainstorm goals in core life categories (health, relationships, finances, work, rest).
• For each, find the “seed” lying at the intersection of ease and impact:
  • What’s native (fits you)?
  • What’s the smallest action that could start a snowball?
  • What’s the change that would make other changes easier?
• Rather than focusing on output or even process first, start by intentionally changing your input.

7. Importance of Community & Normalizing Growth (32:00–34:48)

• Andy highlights the powerful effect of community: Surround yourself with people for whom your desired change is “normal.”
• He plugs the Creative Pep Rally virtual meetups, designed to foster an environment where creative wins and progress are standard.
  • Quote:

    "When we share that, we normalize that. This is what happens. Breakthroughs in your style, breakthroughs in your career, breakthroughs in your ideas, breakthrough in your discipline, in your practice, and your every day of showing up." (33:14, Andy)

8. Evolving the Podcast & Neurotype-centric Worldbuilding (34:48–37:57)

• Andy reflects on the podcast’s evolving purpose: It’s about helping listeners world-build around their unique neurotype—crafting creative practices and lives that allow for meaningful experiential contribution, not just creative careers.
  • Quote:

    "I feel honestly like we should be organizing our lives and our societies around meaningful experience and contribution. And so I really feel like that's the cornerstone of being a human..." (36:57, Andy)

• He’s committed to helping people live vibrantly and creatively, no matter their professional creative status.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You become kind of like a bad boyfriend to yourself... I have that urge to grow and change and evolve. And yet so much evidence that I am not, that I can't trust myself to make those resolutions or make those goals."
  – Andy (05:10)

• "If you want red roses, it starts at the seed level. You've got to find the right soil, and you've got to plant the right seed."
  – Andy (06:00)

• "If you want to change the output, you got to think about the input."
  – Andy (13:02)

• "Don't start with the outcome. Don't even start with the actions. Start with the input. Start by every day reading a little bit."
  – Andy (14:42)

• "Can you find what it is? What's the one thing that you could do that would have the biggest impact on your life? And how can you soak in that? How can you plant that mindset into the code of your brain and start getting that output change?"
  – Andy (19:22)

Key Timestamps

• 00:00–06:00 – Setting the stage: Why chasing big results often leads to burnout; the Dragon Ball Z and “bad boyfriend” metaphors.
• 09:15–14:10 – Shifting focus from results and process to daily input; Play-Doh and red rose analogies.
• 14:55–16:13 – The value of small, daily, focused input (reading, listening).
• 16:13–28:40 – “Select the Seed” framework; the Venn diagram of ease vs. impact; leveraging the domino effect.
• 28:40–32:00 – Step-by-step on creating your own daily input habit aligned with deep change.
• 32:00–34:48 – Community impact and the Creative Pep Rally.
• 34:48–37:57 – Discussion of podcast goals, neurotype-centric approaches, and focusing on meaningful contribution.

Action Steps: Your Creative Call to Adventure

1. List areas for change: Brainstorm goals in health, relationships, finances, work, and rest.
2. Ease vs. Impact: For each, ask which goals are both easy to start (native to your nature) and have the most potential to spark broader change.
3. Pick your “seed”: Select one daily input—book, podcast, audiobook, community—that will gently but persistently steer your life toward the change you want.
4. Immerse yourself: Spend time in spaces—virtual or real—where your desired change is the norm; let osmosis help you grow.

Final Notes

Andy wraps up by reaffirming the importance of customizing your creative practice to your own neurotype and season of life, and invites listeners to join the growing Creative Pep Talk community.

Stay pepped up!