In Episode 17 of The Mindful Creator, I chat with my friend Tom Morkes about winning the inner creative battle. Tom is an author, instigator, startup consultant and the CEO and Founder of Insurgent Publishing.
In this episode, Tom and I dissect the creative process and the struggle that comes with it to discuss what it takes to start, ship and sustain long-term projects with more confidence.

Link Love
High Speed Elite – Business Mastermind for Veterans (Tom Morkes, Antonio Centeno and John Lee Dumas)
Smart Passive Income – Pat Flynn
Jeff Goins
Entrepreneur on Fire – John Lee Dumas
In this Episode

* Tom takes us through his journey from the military to entrepreneurism.
* Tom’s early writing days and the blog 20-year/40-year initial plan for his blog .
* How Tom’s experience at a Seth Godin conference pushed him to create his first product.
* Tom talks about his creative process day to day.
* Tom: “What we do is evolutionary.”
* Tom’s simple approach to all creative projects: What skills do I have right now, who do I know, and how I can make something happen?
* Tom’s ability to remain agile and flexible and constantly leverage what he learns/does into the next project.
* Tom talks about singular focus on a specific calling vs. diversity in what we create, and why there is a power in the ability to focus on one thing (although that is not Tom’s bag).
* The importance of alignment through self awareness: To understand what kind of work is best for you.
* The weird good/bad nature of comparison: Part learning and growth by watching others; part insidious.
* How Tom looks at the intersection of market need and financial viability with his desire to work on a particular project.
* Why building your process from the ground up in a way that resonates with you is critical to short and long-term success.
* Tom and Brett talk about the dynamic of doing work that you may not love to support the work that you do (Tim Ferris calls a “muse business”). Note – NEITHER of us agree with this approach, but to each his own.
* The difficulty of applying some of these newer, more agile business models to art.
* Why we compartmentalize success and the creative journey a bit too much.
* The “tough” dynamic of creating for the love vs. creating to sustain and why it’s important to understand what works best for you without all the noise influencing your decision.
* Tom’s challenge to anyone creative that is struggling with the pressure to take an idea and make it profitable vs. honor the craft: “Maybe there’s a faster way. Maybe there’s a better way.”
* The misconception of how difficult it is to marry traditional art and commerce, and why we’ve got to approach it differently.
* The advantage of early validation in determining whether a creative project is financially viable.
* Why we struggle so much to start, sustain and ship projects.
* Tom: “Nobody is going to give you directions. At the end of the day, you’re the only one who is going to deeply care about it.”
* Brett: “There is no blueprint for this process. Nobody hands you a roadmap in the beginning and says ‘welcome to the creative journey, here’s what you need to do.’”
* The importance of taking full ownership of every aspect of your creative journey – no one else can give you that power...