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Daring Creativity
Five minute magic pt.67 - The headwind is always guaranteed (END OF SEASON 2)
00:07:49
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- [00:01]
A
Hey, this is the last five minute magic episode from Mindful Creative Podcast. We are finishing the season with a reminder that a headwind is always guaranteed. And the reason why is that phrase and wrote this subsection is that as any fellow cyclist or runner or climber or skier or whatever, the headwind is inevitable. A headwind always happens. And it's never fun. You want to avoid it. You want to go in the opposite direction and you can't. Well, you can make a choice of going with the tailwind and make you make it easier for yourself. But I've been thinking about it recently. Would you rather run a downhill easy and not learn or get stronger? Or would you rather run into the headwind, which is annoying, or cycle into the headwind and get stronger Learn. We call it character building. When things are really hard, you know, like you really want to give up. But headwinds always guaranteed. It's always going to be there. And actually, what could be a freewheeling down a hill with a tailwind in your back, it's growth, it's pushing, it's learning, it's strengthening, it's overcoming adversity. Because once you get up on that hill, once you get through the passage full of headwind, then you can enjoy looking forward going. It'll be easier from now. It will actually get better. So I want to thank you for following this podcast season, for getting a copy of the book, for listening to these episodes, because it means a lot to me. It's been amazing to see how many people have resonated with this season, with the book, with the content, and I greatly thank you for being here and I'll see you with the next season very soon.
- [01:55]
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A headwind is always guaranteed. As creatives, we're always going to spend at least half of our journey cycling into a headwind. We're always going to face challenges. And although some challenges can be more testing than others, that's ultimately a good thing. We're hardwired to need challenges. If we're never challenged, we never learn, and we settle down in our comfortable little rut. We get bored and resentful and we fall into bad habits. We need to be inspired to take action, because no action equals no reward. Nothing comes of nothing. It can also be beneficial for us to challenge ourselves from time to time. And please note that there's a difference between challenging yourself and shoving a stick into your own spokes. There's also a difference between challenging yourself to raise your game and judging yourself against impossibly high standards. The healthy kinds of growth oriented habit building challenges you can set yourself include challenging yourself to perform a certain task, such as journaling or exercise or meditation every day for a set period of time, even if it means waking up a little earlier. You might challenge yourself to start learning something new, such as a language or an instrument or a craft like woodwork or crochet. You might push yourself out of your comfort zone by joining a local group of some kind, sports, amateur, dramatics, etc. Or if you're a musician performing at an open mic night. Whichever way you challenge yourself, it'll likely feel a little uncomfortable. But that's good because if it feels totally comfortable, then you're definitely not learning anything. Of course, there are those magic moments when you challenge yourself to do something new and you instantly feel as though you've been doing it all your life. But generally your feet will have to leave the ground for you to step up. Don't give up we can all think of times in our lives when we've just wanted to give up and go home to take the easy route. There are times when it's been because we're in totally the wrong situation for us, and there are times when we've walked away and regretted it. There are also doubtless times when we persisted and ended up glad we did. I was once cycling up a mountain on the Greek island of Rhodes, already tired from a lack of sleep the night before. I was falling behind the group I was with and my legs were screaming at me to stop, turn around and roll back down. But my curiosity as to what was on the other side of the mountain kept me going. It took longer than I would have liked, but I got there and as I sailed down the other side, the endorphins kicked in and I realized just how hard I'd worked to get up that mountain. The sense of achievement after was worth the pain of the climb. It also reminded me about being a parent to young children who never sleep through the night. Sometimes we can think we have everything in place and things still won't add up. It'll feel like we're on a false flat, a path that appears level but is actually slightly uphill. And those are times when we might end up questioning ourselves and wondering whether the problem lies with us, whether we're strong enough. But the more you do the habits outlined in this book, the stronger and better prepared you will be to identify those kinds of challenges and rise to them. You will know yourself and your capabilities better. You will accept where you're at, but remain excited about what's on the other side of the mountain. You and your creativity are worth investing your time, energy and love in. You might not yet have reached the heights you dreamed of reaching when you first started. You might not have built the audience, reputation or financial stability that your peers built in a seemingly very short space of time. But you can only be where you are, and you can only be you with your unique talents and ideas. The reason this book exists is because I don't want you to give up on your growth as a creative. You might fall off every now and again, but you can always get back on the bike and start pedaling again. That extra little push to keep going and to try again might be the one that ends up changing your life in ways you never dreamed of. I believe we don't have to ponder whether the glass is half full or half empty. We can celebrate the fact we have a glass in the first place. Fill it up to where it makes you enjoy what's inside. Bonus content visit brandnewbooks.co.uk resources to access mindful creative bonuses content including audio meditation files, suggested reading list, image downloads, playlist links, and more. Also available by Radim Malinich Book of Ideas Volume 1 & 2 A Journal of Creative Direction and Graphic Design Book of A Guide to Creating Brand Identity for Startups and Beyond Pause, Breathe and Grow Notes on Mindful Creative Life. All titles are available in paperback and Kindle formats.