Work That Matters

Reasons You’re Not Doing Creative Work That Matters

Garth Beyer
  • Your boss says no
  • You think you need more information, more knowledge, more experience
  • You have no time
  • There’s no step-by-step guide
  • It’s a low priority
  • You need more sleep
  • You’re unsure what your passion is
  • Work comes first
  • You work all day and want to relax in the evening
  • No clue where to start

All the above are real because they are my reasons for not doing creative work.

Interestingly enough, I write this to remind us we are in control of changing any one of these, but we’re afraid. The list above is a list of excuses.

The real reason for not being creative, not doing work that matters, not building something remarkable is fear.

 

Stay Positive & Where Will You Put The Fear?

Invested Time

Garth Beyer

I don’t tell people “thank you for your time.”

Instead I say, “thank you for investing the time in me/with me.”

Are you using people’s time to get off the hook? To make your life easier? Or are you using their time to learn, to give back 10-fold, to help you do the work in a new way?

It’s not just wording something differently, it’s thinking about things differently.

When you acknowledge someone is investing in you, you’re bound to do work that matters.

 

Stay Positive & It Also Makes Them Feel Good About How They Spent Their Time

Solve The Big Problems Better

Solve The Big Problems Better

Garth Beyer

Often times we dig to find a new problem, an issue someone else missed. If our business or product isn’t getting talked about, if our profits aren’t rising, then there’s a problem we’re just not seeing. Right?

Perhaps we see it that way because it’s easier to turn rocks over, searching for little issues than it is to tackle a current problem in a new way. Why? Because trying something new, doing things differently is risky, especially when it comes to existing problems.

What if the solution you try worsens the brand experience? What if you execute it poorly and lose customers? What if you’re unable to fulfill your new promise? Risky. Risky.

But worth it.

You can keep searching for small problems and come up with simple solutions or you can get innovative with the solutions for problems you’re already facing, the problems that matter, the problems that convert.

 

Stay Positive & Focus On The Work That Matters

How To Guarantee Your Product Will Be A Hit

How To Guarantee Your Product Will Be A Hit

Garth Beyer

Inventor At Work / Product Hit Guarantee

In the old days (I’m referring to just a few years ago) we would create a project or service and then try to sell it. We would develop a product and try to convince people they had the problem our product was the solution for.

Now we have to create a remarkable product or service that solves an existing problem.

The first step in any marketing or creation plan (after seeking out an existing problem, of course) is to not just write why our product is the remarkable solution, but show that it is.

In the past we could stay in our dark rooms, write a book, give it to a publisher, and then rely on the publisher to market the book and hope it hits the NYT bestseller list.

In the past we could dream up an awesome product at our desks, contact manufacturers in China, have them build it, send it to us and then hope people would buy it.

Now the publisher doesn’t do the marketing. Now few go knocking on doors.

We can’t stay in our quiet dark room anymore.

Now books gets sold before their written. Now we have a preorder list of 1,200 before we build the product.

The way to guarantee your product will be a hit once it reaches the market is to guarantee your product will be a hit before you build it. You do that by building a tribe of believers, of backers, of supporters.

Instead of putting a book out there and hoping people bite, you can blog about the book before it’s written, create a network centered around the message of your book, then you get a book proposal based on the feedback and impact you already have. You are able to show it will be a bestseller.

Kickstarter works because people have a tribe of supporters that will pay to have them build their inventions because one of their perks is that they will get weekly updates, exclusive promos, and special thank-yous. Not to mention, they simply believe in the maker, the artist, (you?). But those artists have worked hard for their trust, not just hard on the product.

We’re no longer in an age when we can rely on others to sell what we create. Sure, create for the sake of creating, because it’s fun, because there’s no better opportunity we have in life. But if you are looking to make an income off your creation,  doesn’t it make sense to guarantee your product will be a hit before you create it?

 

Stay Positive & We Have The Tools, Now Use’m

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Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Meditate On Doing The Work That Matters

Garth Beyer

Meditate On That

 

It’s probably time for a sexy website revamp, right?

And you ought to post to Twitter more often.

And don’t you think you need to publish more Instagram photos?

And your profile picture seems kind of old, doesn’t it?

With the new year comes the feeling of needing to update, to design a new book cover for your life, to work on that index, to focus on the prologue. In doing so, we miss out on the chance to write the book, to focus on moving forward, and to do the work that matters.

When it comes to tasks you think need to be completed, a simple reality check is to ask if it is for your inside success or out?

 

Stay Positive & Meditate On That

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10 Principles For Creating Remarkable Work

10 Principles For Creating Remarkable Work

Garth Beyer

Creating Remarkable Work

 

1) You’ve got to give yourself time. For some that means working a job they don’t love because it affords them a few hours at night they can work and not worry about paying the bills. For others this may mean living in an area that is cheap, quiet, far from distractions. It may mean a hiatus from family and friends or it might just mean waking up an extra hour earlier. Without time, you won’t be able to do work that matters.

2) Get funded in odd ways. You’re fortunate enough to be creating in an age where crowdfunding is a popular method of supporting your art, your project. But don’t neglect the opportunities that don’t require a healthy network of supporters. A simple grant here, a one-day-a-week job there can do the trick. And remember, you don’t need a mass of supporters, you only need a few people who already value your work, who are your core tribe.

3) Write out your story. If you have to force it to be interesting, then change your story. Go restart your pursuit in a way that is whole-heatedly interesting. You can own a motto and a personal statement, but keep it to yourself. Let it inspire you and only you. People want to hear your interesting story, not the four word motto that only breaths life for you or the promise you made yourself at the start of the new year.

4) Declutter. Destroy. Decrease your inventory. Purge your inbox, your Evernote, your journals. When going through your collections, either find a way to use what you’ve planned, written, drawn immediately or toss it. Don’t think of incomplete projects and musings you see as failures to launch, see them as ideas that never had life in them to begin with. It’s okay. Let them go. It will be weight off your shoulders now and save you time later.

5) You don’t need regular input and feedback when you’re in the creating phase. Create in privacy. Fail in privacy. Closing your door means you shut out criticism that cripples your momentum, it means shunning the naysayers that drain your motivation, it means giving nothing for others to judge you by.

6) This tip and what prompted me to write this list comes from Teresita Fernandez’s commencement address: when someone compliments your work, don’t believe them unless they can convince you why they believe it’s good. “If they can’t convince you (and most people can’t) dismiss it as superficial and recognize that most bad consensus is made by people simply repeating that they ‘like’ something.”

7) Other than bad habits, you don’t have to give up anything you love or want to do in life in order to create remarkable work. You can travel to all the countries you want, have as many babies as you want or go to school for five more degrees. You can create remarkable work all the while. You don’t have to forfeit your dreams to do work that matters.

8) Don’t believe you need a mass following to fuel your work. A few people who support you, who care about you, who believe in you is all you need. Don’t tell yourself otherwise.

9) Be nice to everyone. Be gracious. Be thankful. Be sincere. Be personal. Be human. Be likable rather than interesting.

10) When you face fear, troubles, setbacks in life–be it with your fitness, family, finances, faith, friends–fall back on your work, your art to hold you up, not drugs, not alcohol, not other miserable people. Remember that the work you create to help others, can also help you.

 

Stay Positive & Any Other Principles You Think Are Essential? Tweet at me: @thegarthbox

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Let Your Work Speak For You

Let Your Work Speak For You

Garth Beyer

Boats in a row at sunset.

I’ve made the mistake a few times of talking about being confident. It’s never taken very well.

The solution was and is simple. I shut my mouth and let my work speak instead. The solution solves a lot of other issues as well. Instead of saying a task done one way is better than another. Just do it. Show it. Prove it.

Instead of delegating difficult work or simply assigning something you can do better to someone else, switch it up. Take on the work that matters and hand over  the work that doesn’t speak much for you.

Do it your way when work is assigned to you. If you’re concerned that your way will be too off what is expected, make both creations and see which sells better. The best way to let your work speak for itself, after all, is to put it side-by-side with a second option.

It’s just a fact people will listen to your work more than they will listen to you talk about it.

 

Stay Positive & Accept It And Leverage The Knowledge

Photo credit to friend, Kirby Wright, whose work speaks for him