But sometimes more is not better, and simple systems and processes can be the most liberating adjustments to your creative endeavors you will ever make.
Simplify To Multiply – Growing Your Creative Business The Minimalist Way
TRANSCRIPT
Please note: this transcript is auto-generated so forgive any (or many) errors 😲 – click the timestamps to play that section directly in the audio.
00:00:03.420]
So today, I want to talk about simplifying in order that you might multiply, really growing your creative business in a minimalist way. You know, creative projects, I think sometimes have a tendency to balloon. We can very easily over complicate and accumulate rather than slim down and simplify and creative nature. Really is resplendent with ideas. And projects can sometimes take on a pretty wild life all of their own. And this happens in life and family. It happens in business.
00:00:41.820]
And things do tend to kind of run astray if energy is not applied to keep them very, very slim and streamlined. Yeah, and sometimes more is not always the better avenue to take. Sometimes we think more content, more of this, more of the other. But really I found that less. And this is kind of a phrase that’s a little tired now, but less often is more. And by applying simple systems and processes, you can enjoy some of the most liberating adjustments to your creative Devers endeavours that you’ll ever really experience.
00:01:33.090]
And, you know, although something like systems and processes may seem like it may sound like an expletive to many creatives who prefer the language of spontaneity, I’ve actually discovered and I’m a spontaneous, spontaneous, spontaneous, loving, creative myself. So, you know, I’m in that company. But I found that systems lead to freedoms and that fortuitous accidents never did. Yeah, that actually applying myself to understand the processes through which my creative output actually is delivered to the audience that I’m seeking to benefit and bless him has been so helpful.
00:02:24.300]
You know, rather than remaining a mystery, really paring the whole thing back and looking what exactly is taking place here. And there’s a reason to do that. You know, often as creatives, I’m a writer. So certainly as a writer, I actually enjoy my own company. You know, I find, you know, the solitude that we crave is often necessary for us to produce our best work. But the problem is when that when that individuality, when that solitude crosses over into the other side of what we do as creatives, it can really hamper us.
00:03:07.440]
You know, maybe there are certain things in your creative business that only you can do. You know, it’s this is your this is where your unique contribution to the world is manifest. But when we want to couple our art with business, when we want to take our passion and turn it into profit, it’s important that we kind of are able to extricate those two things, the art side of things and the business side of things. And really, when I talk about systems and processes, I’m very much talking about how our work gets out to the world.
00:03:51.750]
And again, I can only really give examples most clearly from my own life as a writer. But, you know, there was one time when there was like the clear and present danger of me being the writer, the editor, the cover creator, the the the one who sorted all the advertising out, the one he posted to all of the social platforms, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And all of that can so deplete your energy and so kind of spread your focus.
00:04:25.950]
And I’m not saying that we should not learn the ways of those things, but we should learn the ways in them in a manner that gives us an understanding of the processes involved so we can then hand those processes on to someone else to take care of for us. Certainly as our business grows and set to grow often we need to let go and to let go. Oftentimes we have to simplify, you know, one of the one of the most productive things I ever did in my business, my creative.
00:05:03.030]
This was to press the pause button on production and just take some time to consider my process is getting really granular with the kind of the profit producing activities in my business and my life and my creativity and in documenting those really carefully and really clearly. And I did this with a view to discovering ways in which they could be done by someone else and in a way that that someone else didn’t need all of the kind of particular skills that I have, you know.
00:05:41.340]
How do you get someone to do some of the tasks that you’re so used to doing? If those tasks involve, like years of training in some special kind of software, how can you simplify that? How can you use kind of the bog standard every day, software, platforms, etc, to produce an equally good result? But have someone else produced that result for you? And in the development of it, it and in the scrutiny of what I was doing, I actually found myself discovering new ways to do the same thing in a much easier, much less complex manner, you know, and it’s really wiping away all of those complicated frills and making a pathway that can be duplicated.
00:06:40.830]
Yeah. So it can move from just your heart and head to the hands of another person who can then take on some of those tasks and those responsibilities, thus freeing you up to really engage more fully with just the creativity side of things, the things that only you can bring to the table for your particular creative business, whatever it is, whatever it may be. And so these these quicker, more intuitive paths often require less effort to fulfil some of the core components in in the process of you getting your work out to the world.
00:07:21.870]
And and so it’s really moving away from the me factor, you know, really looking for ways to extract yourself from the business side of things. So you yourself are then free to concentrate more fully on creating unhindered from all of the frustrations that come with the machinery that go along with balancing art and business, passion and profit. And so today, I just want to you know, if you’re a fellow Christian creative and you’ve got a business that is working, you know, and there’s machinery involved in that and there are processes and systems that you are currently taking care of yourself, it may be time to just hit that pause button, even for a short time, and look at ways in which you might be able to simplify and look at ways in which you can make them as seamless as they can possibly be.
00:08:27.600]
And once you’ve determined what they are, document them and look for ways in maybe that maybe you can outsource that work to someone else to take care of for you. Now, some things can be automated, but others really will need to be delegated. But, you know, between between eliminated elimination, getting rid of things that are unnecessary automation, allowing software and services, online services to take care of some of the items for you automatically and then delegation, it really does serve it right down.
00:09:08.730]
So the things that drop into your palm that you need to do far less than maybe they presently are right now. And so, yeah, at the outset, this kind of process can seem a little burdensome. You know, it takes time to do this. It takes a lot of energy and concentration and focus to really make this work. So you don’t just slip back into the kind of me, myself and I doing all of the various tasks within your business.
00:09:39.000]
But the fruits of it, you know, if you will apply yourself diligently to this, really will just lead to a just a greater liberation to pursue your practice, to pursue your passions and to live the liberated creative life that you always dreamed was possible. So simplify to multiply. It’s as simple as that. Thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today, if you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at DavidLeemartin.com.
00:10:12.200]
Have a great day.