• November 7, 2016

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HERO OF {your own} STORY

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[TID-BITS] : HERO OF {your own} STORY

One night I found myself emotionally drained and needing to veg out watching a mindless comedy movie and just put my life on hold for a few hours. We rented Central Intelligence which, given the trailers, seemed to fit the bill. What I hadn’t expected (and was a little disappointed) to discover is that it actually made me think about some fairly deep subjects. The protagonist (Kevin Hart) is faced with trying to find meaning in his adult life after being voted “most likely to succeed” in high school. Despite being good as his job as an accountant, he didn’t want to attend his high school reunion because he was embarrassed by his current situation. (SPOILER ALERT). Long story short, his accomplice (Dwayne Johnson) helps him realize his worth throughout the movie, and by the end, Hart does attend the reunion at which Johnson gives a speech about “being the hero of your own story” saying that “no one else is going to fulfill that role.”

Great, something to reflect on, remember I’m exhausted. But the reality is that nothing could be more true – and to truly live is to, every day, strive to find ways in which we are the heroes of our own stories. Since then I’ve been thinking about what this means, and I’ve come up with two things I want to keep more top of mind in order to achieve* this:

  1. Don’t be afraid to fail. Let failures make me stronger and wiser.
  2. Have dreams and crazy ideas, and find a way to make the most appealing ones a reality.
  3. Be less judgmental, both of myself and others – replace judgment with curiosity.

Casting myself as the heroine.

Starting a co-op of creatives is part of my five-year plan. I don’t want employees, but I would like to build the “junebird creative network” which will include individuals from many creative and digital specialties which will refer business and work together (as independents) for shared clients. I see starting my own business as the “birth” of my hero (or one of them), so growing and expanding the company is the continuation of heroism.

Staying committed to being a “one-man band” is going to mean I might have to get creative in growing financially; there are so many hours in a day, and I have to make sure I’m remaining competitive. This is where the cooperative comes in, and also possibly consulting, or having clients pay on the value they get from what I do, rather than the time it takes. That (crazy) idea I think it actually becoming more common among independents.

Being less judgmental is going to be a challenge, especially being 100% guilty of the “Minnesota interesting” – which is a nice way of judging something. I plan to start by separating thoughts from feelings, which I know are innately different but often present identically.

So while I didn’t get what I expected, I am pleased with the turn of events in what was supposed to be a mindless evening.

*I realize that this endeavor can’t really be assessed until “the end” so it’s more a consistent check in of how and whether I’m continuing in the “right” direction.


Thoughts from reading (Cracking Creativity, pp 227-253)

  • Evolution of intent – the journey we follow when doing something and landing somewhere else
  • Creative opportunities – “failures” are opportunities to be creative
  • PMI (plus/minus/interesting) – “Interesting” – noting without judgement – thoughts not feelings
  • Recycling ideas
  • Forcing abstraction to eliminate conventional barriers
    • Crazy ideas / blue sky / fantasy à reality