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X is for Xerox - Excerpt from The Artist's Suitcase · The Daily Writer

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Daily Rider Podcast, where we bring you tips and inspiration each day to help you build habits for writing success.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: For more resources, including your free Daily Rider Starter Kit, visit DailyRiderLife.com.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: All this past week I've been sharing excerpts from a book that I published a few years ago.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's called The Artist Suitcase 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a short, fun read for all kinds of artists, especially for writers.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: So here's today's excerpt from the chapter called X is for Xerox.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Hope you enjoy it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Xerox is a term you don't hear much anymore.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: It originally referred to the company that pioneered the photocopier, but over time it came to refer to almost any kind of copying process.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Once in a while, you will still hear someone use the phrase make a Xerox or Xerox that document.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay for making copies, but not so good for making artists.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: As a kid growing up in the 1980s, I idolized Michael Jackson.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: I loved the red zipper jacket he wore in the thriller video and was jealous of the kids at school who had one.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I would try to channel the magic by putting a white marching band glove on my right hand and doing the moonwalk.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I promised not to subject you to the horror of watching me dance.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The problem was that I wasn't Michael Jackson.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have his talent.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I could try as hard as I wanted, but I could never be him.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: The world doesn't need another Michael Jackson, or Da Vinci or Miles Davis, or Pablo Picasso, Steven Spielberg, Harper Lee, Steve Jobs, Frank Lloyd Wright, or anyone else who has made great art.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: What the world needs is the one and only you.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite podcasts is The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: I love the phrase he uses at the end of each episode.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Cover bands don't change the world.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you keep from becoming an artist who's like a cover band that plays everyone else's hits but has none of their own?
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: How do you stay true to yourself and your gifts yet still learn from others?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: How do you stay authentic in a world that values conformity?
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: There are many possible answers to those questions, but I'll highlight four proven practices.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Look into the lives of all the great artists and you'll see these common threads.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing work that excites you, that's when you're the most authentic.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you love the work you're doing now?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Do you look forward to your work or do you feel it sucking the life out of you?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Two helpful ways to begin following your passion are learning about your personality and discovering your strengths.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: There are plenty of tests available, but here are free versions of two popular ones.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: The disc personality profile available at disc personality testing dot com slash free hyphen disc and a strengths assessment available at freestrengths test dot workuno dot com slash free hyphen strengths dot HTML.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, be true to yourself.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be a people pleaser.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Staying true to yourself means that you'll disappoint people sometimes.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your job is not to make everyone else happy, but rather to follow your God given creative calling.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: It may take some time to get there, but you must stay on the path that best matches your passion and gifts.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, take the road less traveled.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to take a risk when you see others falling in line and conforming to others' expectations at the expense of their calling.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: But don't be afraid to be your own person.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever you do in life, you will make mistakes, so you might as well be doing something you love.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: four, hang around with dreamers.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: The more you associate with successful people who believe in making dreams a reality, the more you will think like them.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's so important to get involved with people who are positive and forward thinking.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you, who is influencing your thinking these days?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: When I was a kid, my dad would sometimes tell this goofy joke.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: How do you catch a unique rabbit?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Easy.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Unique up on him.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: You, my friend, are unique.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's no one quite like you.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Never has been, never will be.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't do the creative work that only you can do, you're robbing the world of your unique gift.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that would be a tragedy.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Oscar Wilde said, Be yourself.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone else is already taken.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Don't let your life become a xerox of someone else's dreams.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I hope you enjoyed that short excerpt from the Artist Suitcase, 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can grab the book by going to KentSanders.net slash suitcase.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: A big thanks to today's sponsor, Write Your First Nonfiction Book, the brand new book from my friend and business coach Honore Corter.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you've always dreamed of writing a book but you're not sure how to get started, this guide is exactly what you need.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: In Write Your First Nonfiction Book, you'll learn the exact system that Honore has used to write many of her own books.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to guess what goes in each chapter because she lays it all out for you step by step.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're ready to stop dreaming and you want to learn from an author who sold millions of books, head on over to dailywriterlife.comslash nonfiction book to grab your copy today.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and I'll see you tomorrow.