Pandemic Passion Project

Hi there!

My most recent creative pursuit began with an earnest conversation I had with my friend Robbe Richman. What was his best tip for facilitating meetings on video? “Humor,” he said. I was not expecting that! “When people are laughing they are more creative, more playful, and more open to learning.”

Playful! Gosh, that sounded good to me! One thing led to another, and now here I am unveiling my Playful Pandemic Passion Project. I hope you enjoy this rap video I created entitled: The Work Is In You (For best results, view with a glass of wine or scotch.) Thank you to my friend Douglas Widick who wrote the rap and produced the video for me.

Yes, this was a push for me, to say the least. But isn’t everything creative risky? It made me think about what helps us take risks:

You need confidence. Confidence comes from accomplishment. It comes from an attitude of “try try try again.” And it comes from your self-talk. I profiled Rana el Kaliouby, who opens up about her own “imposter syndrome” in her book Girl Decoded. 

If you want your team to take more risks, you have to help them build their organizational confidence, which I wrote about for Forbes. 

You need to re-think your identity. Maria Konnikova was a successful writer with a Ph.D. in psychology. But she didn’t let that stop her from deciding to 1) Quit her job at the New Yorker; 2) Learn to play poker from scratch and 3) Become a professional poker player. I wrote about her and fabulous book, The Biggest Bluff, in this Forbes article.

You might not do anything as drastic as all that, but what are some identities that you need to reconsider? A hint is to look for times that you say “I would never…” Why not? Try it and you may open up a new channel. Asking yourself new questions will get you new answers!

If you're looking for some new questions to consider, get my list of questions to spark conversation here to kickstart some inspiration and deep discussion!

You need inspiration. Where do you find inspiration? I sure find inspiration from my friend Dorie Clark. Her books can help you reflect on the steps you can take to reinvent yourself. Two of my favorites are Reinventing You and Entrepreneurial You (the fact that I’m featured in them both has nothing to do with it.)

I’d love to hear what you’re working on and how you’re exercising your creativity these days! Reach out if I can help in any way!