The word “selling” comes with certain connotations these days. Wary buyers think of seeing the dreaded 800-number on caller I.D., knowing it’s a telemarketer; or they think of quick-talking car salesmen willing to say almost anything to close a deal. They think of the twenty-somethings populating kiosks at malls, interrupting shoppers’ walks to the food court with calls of, “Excuse me! Could you take a minute to—” And then, of course, are the ads. Buyers live surrounded by them. They’ve Read the rest of this entry »

Every week this book writing process takes on a new path towards living.  Last week I thought we had redefined the intention of the book.  We had gone out on a limb and found a delicious piece of fruit and suddenly I wondered if we were supposed to be writing the book from that limb throughout.  It felt exciting and dangerous.  This week, we brought that piece of delectable fruit back to the center of the tree.  I realized that my book is still very much about the creative process.  What we have done though is to start to bring in some very personal stories (the fruit) that reveal what I have been through on my creative journey and that exemplify how the process works and how it is changing me profoundly week to week.

One of the big discoveries we made this morning was that last week was a moment in my book writing process when I went from wanting to control and to “Show” or “Tell” people about the creative process and about myself, to starting to look at all I have experienced through the lens of truth and to reveal it in its gory detail.  Letting my story be what it is without trying to control it is a huge step in the paradigm shift that is necessary to create real change through a story.  I’m calling it, “Giving people the good stuff.”

Some of what I say is going to upset people I know and some of it is going to upset people I don’t know.  And I’m getting more and more comfortable with that. People are going to judge me.  People might even say nasty things as I bring up painful issues they might also be experiencing, yet not dealing with in their own lives.  My former self avoided conflict such as this at all costs.  Now I am finding that bringing my good stuff does disrupt people’s comfortability with their own stuff and I’m trying to poke them awake to that.  Resistance will come as I do that, but true listening will also be accomplished.  I’m excited to start seeing that in real time.

And I cannot wait to start sharing these stories with you all.  I hate that I cannot express them on this blog, but that would be robbing you (and me) of the experience of the book in its entirety.  And I wouldn’t want to rob either of us of “the good stuff.” So thanks for hanging in there!

If you have yet to hear it, you might listen in to the last round table interview I did with Annie Hart and Katie Gutierrez Painter, my collaborators where we discussed last week’s epiphany.  Enjoy!

Yes!

Whatever your artistic endeavor is, you’re probably already too close to the project to have any perspective. It’s natural: The more you read something, look at something, hear something, think about something, and dream about something, the less you’re able to see its potential for change. That something—whether it’s a novel, screenplay, painting, film, illustration, or song—becomes inevitable and immovable. In other words, stuck.

Your art is your business, and when smart businesspeople need a fresh perspective, they Read the rest of this entry »

You know the old adage, If you want a job done right you’ve got to do it yourself? Okay, in some cases it’s true. But you probably wouldn’t perform open-heart surgery on yourself no matter how fervently you buy into the idea. Instead, you’d search diligently until you found a surgeon whose hands you’d trust to touch your heart.

Hiring a storytelling partner is a bit like that (in the most metaphoric sense). You need someone with verifiable skill and experience, someone Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be on Annie Hart’s Radio show again tomorrow: www.blogtalkradio.com/inspiringchangethroughstory

When you have the courage to tell your story, it is a vulnerable journey but one filled with healing, epiphany and growth.  Join Annie Hart, Katie Gutierrez Painter and Corey Blake as they discuss the process of creating Corey’s book.   Corey, an expert in helping others to tell their stories, is stepping forth to tell his own for the first time.  You will be inspired by the magic and beauty that come from this healing journey.

Today, in speaking with Annie and Katie on our weekly call to develop my book we dove into some new waters. My book has started taking on the appearance of a memoir as I change through the process of putting it together.  It began as a book very much about the two sides of the brain and combining art and business.  But that is such safe territory for me.  It’s overly comfortable.

Thankfully, as we are putting this book together, I am also in pretty intense therapy and my aggressive therapist and Annie my aggressive storytelling guide are having an exponential effect on my growth.  I’m being challenged in new ways.  One of the new ways revolves around growing up.

I’m a 35 year old man who has been trapped in some very old behaviors.  The work I have been doing over the last few months really revolves around the process of recognizing those old behaviors, assessing where they came from and then breaking free from them to release myself from old bad habits that are inhibiting my own joy in life.

It feels like a very profound time as I redefine my relationships with my family, with my wife, with my business, with my self. As opposed to being a victim of my past, I am taking control for the first time and the impact has been tremendous.  This is the hardest work I have ever done, but I am finally letting go of an imprisoned version of myself and giving birth to a much more powerful me.

How this will affect the book?  I’m not sure we know yet.  But we have definitely seen and felt that this is a vital piece of my story…more to come.

In the creative world, there’s often a stigma against paying for help to build your dream. The art loses authenticity, some feel, or you’re simply less of an artist if you need to hire out to get a job done. Writers, for example, sometimes feel it’s “cheating” to hire a collaborator, or to pay a company to publish their book instead of struggling blindly through the murky channels of commercial publication. I can’t stress enough how counter-intuitive this is! In any creative endeavor, the odds are stacked against your success as it is and you have to be willing to constantly evolve and work hard to give your art every possible opportunity to find life in the world. And you can’t Read the rest of this entry »