Multipotentialites… may I introduce you to this week’s fucked up paradox?

Creativity.…Yah!

It’s all about external expression.

But it’s really an inner game.

It doesn’t matter how naturally talented we are. If we are blocked by perfectionism, fear of failure, overthinking and procrastination we will remain stuck.

Indefinitely.

We are highly creative and emotional people. And everything is on a spectrum.

The opposite of expression is depression.

We need to process our emotions and express ourselves.

This is why suppressing our creativity is negatively impactful on our emotional regulation and our quality of life.

We just don’t realise.

Creativity is connecting with others which is part of our spirituality.

When we get stuck in our heads, we’re not in flow with life.

We’re blocking ourselves by trying to think our way out of overthinking.

The Divergent Thinking Paradox is our greatest enemy against our creativity, spirituality and financial security

• We have lots of business and creative ideas
• We get overwhelmed by the paradox of choice
• We get stuck
• Then we procrastinate
• And beat ourselves up for not being productive
• Then we lose our confidence
• Rinse and repeat

It literally paralyses us with our own fucking potential.

This is the real kicker to our self-esteem. Our egos (perfectionism, fear of failure etc) are the architects of our own creative and business dismantling.

We know we have the potential to have an impact but we don’t know how to channel it.

I have researched several hundred multipotentialites via my 1:1 sessions. There are multiple reasons why we don’t make decisions.

These are the most common ones 👇

Time anxiety —we’re scared of picking the wrong idea and wasting our time

FOBO — fear of a better option

Perfectionism — we are seeking the perfect idea

Overwhelm — the paradox of choice

These are all manifestations of our:

• Fear of failure 👆

So what can we do about it?

Tiny Experiments

I have written about the power of experiments before.

I have two sections in my digital course about how critical experiments are to our creativity, businesses and financial security/ independence.

Experimentation is the most powerful tool for getting people unstuck.

Tiny experiments remove the pressure. We don’t overthink the shit out of it. And we take action.

Reframing big scary projects into tiny experiments is creative liberation because it allows us to remove our identity from the outcomes.

It creates the space and freedom to explore our creative curiosity.

They’re just tiny experiments. Some experiments work, and some don’t — that’s what experiments do.

It’s the experiment that succeeds or fails and not us. This is the game-changing distinction that will set you free from the shackles of your fear of failure.

“ I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” — Thomas Edison

David Bowie is one of the greatest artists in history.

But it took him 9 years of experimenting with different sounds, looks and characters before he created global stardom with Ziggy Stardust.

Any multipotentialite who has had an impact has done so through a series of experiments.

Why?

Because it takes us longer to find our way.

We are multifaceted, we must stack our skills, values and interests in unique ways to have an impact.

This takes time to distil.

Intellectually getting unstuck is simple.

Just take action.

Taking action is the opposite of being stuck. We all know that but it's the fear of failure combined with the lack of clarity that stops us from taking action.

Therefore to be successful and have an impact we need to bridge the gap between being stuck and taking action.

Tiny experiments are not a new concept.

Tim Ferris — The Four Hour Work Week is the bible on experimentation, reinvention, escaping the 9-5 and starting online businesses.

He coined (or maybe popularised) the term Lifestyle design

That book is nearly 20 years old. A lot of the concepts are outdated but experimentation remains sound.

What is lifestyle design?

“Lifestyle design is the process of designing your life aligned with your nature, strengths, values, passions, and purpose to have an impact.

It’s the freedom to design your life the way you want.”

It’s creating your ‘why.’

Tim Ferris is a multipotentialite with bipolar disorder. He’s a divergent thinker.

I love this quote from him regarding his divergent thinking 👇

“It isn’t enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.” — Tim Ferris

Sage advice.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans are professors at Stanford. They created Stanford’s Life Design lab.

They use design thinking which is both a process and a mindset to help students design their lives and careers.

Students prototype and test different career trajectories which they call Odyssey planning.

They are experiments.

They wrote a New York Times Bestselling book called “Design Your Life” about it.

In the indie hacker startup space there is a community called Small Bets where they do weekend hackathons and encourage founders to experiment with multiple apps/ tech/ ideas.

If you’re into tech you should definitely check it out.

The reality is success is a numbers game. Most ideas simply don’t work. It requires a number of experiments to create something that works.

However most multipotentialites are consumed by their fear of failure, they lose confidence and don’t experiment enough to create their why.

Coaching vs Artist Management

I used to resist being a coach. There are so many bad ones out there, but it was an ego thing.

A successful artist manager is a fairly prestigious position in the music industry. The more successful the artists you manage, the more prestigious the role.

Coaching felt lame tbh. I’m ashamed to say that now.

Because this is my why!

I fucking love doing this.

But I was scared of what my former colleagues thought. Many of them follow me both here and on TikTok —👋 folks…

But, now, not a single fuck is given...

And what amuses me the most is I now realise I have always been a coach.

Managers create opportunities for their multipotentialite artists.

They negotiate deals, etc etc.  

But the most time is spent helping artists overcome perfectionism, procrastination, overthinking, and the creative burnout that stops them from fulfilling their creative potential.

• I helped artists get unstuck. Which is problem-solving
• I removed the creative blocks that were holding them back
• I supported them through their perfectionism and fear of failure
• I held them accountable to overcome procrastination
• I simplified things to prevent them from overthinking
• I helped them start and finish large creative business projects.
• I help them monetise their creativity.
• I used strategy so they could stand out and build engaged audiences etc etc

These are all things I coach clients on now 👆

If you want to get optimum results with me —or any good coach— the best thing is to hire us medium to long term but that can be expensive.

The second best way is to book a single 1:1 session to get clarity and a plan going forward.

But then what?

What happens if you can’t afford long-term 1:1 coaching and strategic support to achieve your creative and or business goals?

This is the question I have been asking myself.

So next week I’m going to announce a community membership.

It’s going to be called

Creative Hackers Lab

I’m going to focus on Multipotentialite Lifestyle Design.

This is my initial bumph I suppose…

• Join Your Tribe
• Do Tiny Experiments
• Create Your Why
• Collaborate With Your Tribe
• Post Content And Build Businesses
• Get Accountability and Support From Your Tribe
• And Discover Your True Creative Self

Full details announced next week but cohort # 1 is only going to cost $25 per month — cancel any time.

It’s an experiment.

It’s not a tiny experiment but it’s an experiment.

I’m going to build this out and launch it in the next 6 weeks

( By 6 weeks… that probably means 8 weeks +)

Regular readers know I grossly underestimate the amount of work involved with my creative projects!!!! 😬 But I will do my best 😀👍

And here’s my why behind Creative Hackers Lab

👇

In the UK in the 1930s, there was an 8-year girl called Gillian Lynn. She was always fidgeting, not paying attention, losing her homework, and being late for class.

Today she would be diagnosed with ADHD.

Her teachers wanted to put her in a special needs school but her Mother fought them. The school relented on the condition she saw a Doctor.

Fortunately, for Gillian, this Doctor was well-versed in the talents of divergent thinkers.

After listening intently to Mrs Lynn’s concerns for her daughter he told Gillian he was going to speak with her Mother privately.

As they left the room the Doctor turned on the radio on his desk.

The Doctor held Mrs Lynn back so they could watch Gillian through a gap in the door.

As soon as they left the room Gillian got on her feet and started dancing.

The Doctor turned to Gillian’s Mum and said “ Mrs Lynn, Gillian isn’t mentally ill, she’s a dancer. Enrol her in a dancing school.”

Which she did.  Gillian was super talented. She eventually auditioned and was accepted into the Royal Ballet School.

She became a famous Soloist. She had a remarkable career at the Royal Ballet.  

She then founded her own dance company.

She was responsible for the choreography of both Cats and Phantom of the Opera, among scores of other west end and broadway shows as well as many Hollywood movies.

She won multiple Emmys and Tonys for her choreography skills.

She is the only non-Royal to have a West End London Theatre named after her.

Gillian Lynn discovered her why. She became her true creative self.

And all because someone spotted and encouraged her talent.

You don’t have to be 8 years old.

Part of my neurodivergent spiciness is I’m mildly dyslexic. I was told by my English teacher at 13 that I would never be a writer.

I believed her.  

I didn’t publish my first article until I was 49 years old. I have now published hundreds, and one day I’m going to write a successful book and dedicate it to my old English teacher.

You’re a multipotentialite. You’re a generalist.

This means you’re a divergent thinker. We all have different blends of neurodivergent spiciness which means we all think differently.

This means you have lots of knowledge and creative and or academic talents.

You are curious about lots of things.

But you have been conditioned into believing you can only do one thing by the neurotypical society.

This is not true.

You don’t have to squeeze yourself into a tiny little box.

Creative Hackers Lab is a safe, judgement-free place to follow your curiosity and experiment with lots of different creative platforms and share ideas with others to create your why.

A place to start creative businesses and monetise your knowledge, creativity and or academic talents so you can help others and have an impact.

A place where you can fit in without trying.

(although we won’t be doing any fucking dancing. Sorry 👿)

Thanks for reading.

Peace out ✌️

I would love to hear your thoughts on this

‍