4 Ways Creative Expression Changes Your Life

Hey everybody, it's Brendan. In this episode, I'd like to share with you one of the number one secrets to increasing your happiness, your fulfillment, your satisfaction with life. And I would even argue your success materially in life. You know, people often ask, you know, Brendan, you get to work with all these amazing people. What's the difference between those who are striving and succeeding at the toppest levels, but also fulfilled in and happy? Because you and I both know successful people who are miserable, right? They just, they're not doing things that they care about or they are, but they're burning themselves to the ground or not finding themselves in their work. And they're just frustrated and they're disappointed even though they're working really hard. So as a high performance coach, I've had the blessing to work with so many extraordinarily top level world class experts and thought leaders. The people who really succeed at the top levels of all their industries. And here's a secret that I have found about them. They have a consistent application of what I would call creative expression in their life. What do I mean? What I mean by that is, you know, they're people who really bring their full personality and focus into their work, into their life. And you can see it, you can feel it, it's palpable. They're people you would describe and say like, you know what? She's so unique. That person is so themselves. It seems like they're really true to themselves. It feels like their spirit is so al something about them. And I call that creative expression. They're expressing who they truly are in a creative and consistent way. Matter of fact, if you read my book the Charge, it's a book about the 10 human drives that make us feel alive. And there's five baseline drives and five sort of forward drives or more advanced conscious drives. And one of them is this aspect of creative expression. We all have the drive as human beings to express who we truly are and to pursue things we that we truly find passion for and enjoyment of. But when we stop doing either those two things, we're not ourselves and we're not expressing who we are in our work to achieve who we want to become and achieve what we want to have in life, then we start to struggle. So let's assess this in your life. Let's just work through a couple areas of your life to see are you really creatively expressing who you really are? Is you coming out in your daily life? So let's look at your relationships and your conversations specifically, if you Thought about the conversations you have with people in the last couple weeks? Do you feel like when you're having those conversations, the real you is showing up and you're creatively expressing yourself? You're sharing your thoughts, your ideas, your dreams, your goals, your vision for who you are, for what life could be, for where you could go? Or do you feel like in your conversations you're just like, nah, you're going through the motions. You're not bringing any vitality, enthusiasm, joy, spirit into those conversations. Do you just sit there like a bump on the log? Or are you really engaged in those conversations, in sharing your ideas, your thoughts, your feedback? Now, believe it or not, this has nothing to do with your whether you're an introvert or an extrovert. Because that personality, sort of, I would say, almost myth, where people say, oh, I'm always an introvert, I'm always an extrovert. It's not necessarily true. We found, if anything in psychology, that context matters. An introvert can become an extrovert in certain situations. I become an extrovert when I'm on stage in front of a lot of people, but then I have to retract afterwards and recover. So I'm riding that line between extrovert and introvert. So it's not a conversation about personality style, it's a conversation about will. Are you willing your true self to show up on a continual basis in your conversations? Or is somebody else showing up? I mean, are you putting on a face and being who you think you're supposed to be in your conversations, to being appropriate, to being professional, to be buttoned up? Or is it you that is showing up in your meetings? Is it you who's showing up at lunch? Are people looking around saying, you know what? She's really herself? Are people seeing you and watching you say, you know what? That person is really unique, whether they like it or not? It's you. Ask yourself that and start challenging yourself, willing yourself into that next level of creative expression in all your communications. I mean, I have to challenge myself in these videos to be fully me, because it's easy to get trapped into a pattern or rhythm that isn't me. Because I see so many other videos, I watch so many other things, I meet so many people. It's easy to gobble up everybody and conform to who they are. But as John F. Kennedy said, conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. Be you. Be yourself and really bring that into your conversations on a consistent basis. Will yourself to do that, and you'll be happier. Secondly, let's look at your house. Like if I walked around your house with you, does that house feel like you? I mean, does the furniture, the things on the wall, the order of the house, does it feel like you have you put your unique touches to your house? If you have not yet, you're not living a creatively expressed life yet. And some people say, well, Brendan, I'm just not into interior design or something like that. It's nothing to do with that. Your home is somewhere where you spend most of your life. And if it's not a reflection of you, don't blame finances, don't blame the structure of the house. Blame that you have not taken the time to put your fingerprints around that house. Blame that you just haven't given attention to expressing yourself through the material things around you in life. Look, your house and your work area should be a reflection of yourself. Like this place that we're in right now, this is a reflection of me. I said, you know what? I want a place that's, that's open, that's bright, that's buoyant, that generates creativity and joy for me. So I hunted this place I'm shooting this video at. I looked and I looked and I looked and I looked and I looked all these different areas until I found this one. I walked in and said, this could be me right here. And then I started designing it. So it could be me. Even though I have no idea about design, I know nothing about any of that. I just thought it needs to be a reflection of me. I need to make that happen in my life. Otherwise, where's the evidence I ever showed up? Next, I really want you think about your mission, your work, how much creative expression is showing in your work. So if you created a PowerPoint or a keynote presentation lately, how creative was that presentation? And don't give me oh, I just slapped it together because I was. I'm always busy and I'm under a lot of stress and I. My timelines are short. No, that could be true for one project or two. But over the span of your work, how creative expressed have you been? And if you haven't been, don't blame your boss. Don't blame your work. Don't blame anything other than your inability to have the will to do it. And I really mean that with true respect to you. A lot of people fool themselves and they take the victim role in life. Well, you don't understand my boss, Brendon. No, I've had bad bosses too. Your boss has nothing to do with how much you creatively express yourself. And if you believe it's true, then you're just living in fear. He's like, well, I can't. If I created express myself, I'll be fired. Then you know what? Go get your ass fired. It will be the best thing that will ever happen in your entire life, because you know what? Then you'll say, okay, well, what's true for me if I. If you're getting rejected because you're being who you truly are and adding the value you know you creatively can do, then guess what? That's just a divine indication that you need to go find another level of community. If you're being rejected for being creative, then you're in the wrong place. You need to find a new community, a new job, a new role. Do it responsibly, but start seeking right now a place where you can truly express your art, your ideas, your mind, your vision. Otherwise, you know what you'll feel like at the end of your life. Cog you feel like you just went with the flow. You did what everybody else expected of you. You never brought your mind, your spirit, your genius, that divine spark that says, you know, I'm unique. You never brought that into your work, and you will regret it. And I say that with respect, because I've sat with people at the end of their lives who look back and thought, I wish I brought more of me to life. You know, there's 7 billion people on the planet here. You are just you. There's only one of you. Your ideas are unique. Even if you don't feel like they are, they are. The way that you express them, the way that you believe in them, the way that you pursue them, that's gonna be unique than anybody else. So bring more creative expression to your work, and then you get to experience a little bit more of those joys of life. And then last piece is be creative about how you are role modeling and leaving a legacy. What? I mean, look, each of us shows up in a certain way, and we have to think about how we show up and the legacy that we leave. When I started this show, you know, I want to do something different. Everybody else was interviewing a bunch of people, but they weren't really ever sharing their heart, their soul, what they thought about life. They were looking for wisdom outside themselves. And I think that's fine. I think those formats are great. But I said, want to leave something different? I didn't know what it was, but I said, well, I'll just try to think of what would be the best of what I could share about life and about myself. And I challenged myself to make that part of this show. And I hope you enjoy it. But, you know, I know a lot of people who go through their whole lives, they're always interviewing, talking to other people, but they've never got articulate about sharing what they feel about life. They weren't creative in thinking about. The real legacy you're going to leave is your words, your thoughts, your relationships, your unique contributions. So pursue those things boldly. Pursue those things with consistency. Pursue those things in a way that you'll be happy. At the end of your life, you can look back and say, you know what? I was creative. I brought the best of me. I expressed my thoughts, my feelings, my needs, my desires, my vision for life. If you'll do that, you'll feel a new, renewed energy come into your life. You'll feel what we call the charged light. Hey guys, it's Brendan. Did you like this episode? If you did, you can do three things right now to continue your journey. First, you can subscribe right here to my channel, which I hope you will, so I can keep sending you videos on a weekly basis to change your life. Second, you can get my brand new book for free by clicking the link right here. And third, you can also go to my website, sign up for my newsletter so that I can send you free offers, free products, free programs, updates on my events, new podcasts, and everything else that we don't do on this channel here. If you'd like to do that, just go ahead and click any of these buttons you see right here. Look forward to seeing it on the next video. Until then, go out there every single day of your life. Live fully, love openly, and make your difference today.