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Making Your Creative Work a Priority (with Karen Briscoe) · The Daily Writer

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let's begin with a riddle.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: When is the perfect time to make your creative work a priority?
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Answer There is no perfect time.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Life is messy, and if we put off our important creative work until the right time, that time never comes.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Our guest today knows that dilemma very well, and as a successful realtor, mother, and wife, she still found time to pursue her creativity.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: As you hear her story, you'll also be inspired and equipped to make your creative work a priority as well.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: So stay tuned.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to the Born to Create podcast.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Ken Sanders, and I'm an author, professor, and creative coach.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and principles to help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm excited to share this interview with Karen Briscoe, who is a realtor, author, and entrepreneur.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: She is the creator of the Five Minute Success Concept, host of the Five Minute Success Podcast, and a regular speaker both nationally and locally.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Karen is also a frequent guest on other podcasts that focus on entrepreneurship, success, and motivation, as well as real estate-related topics.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, she is a contributing author to real estate media outlets, Inman, and Real Trend.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: In our conversation today, Karen goes into detail about her background behind the creation of her first book.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: You'll learn from her experience why there's no such thing as a perfect time to take action.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: You'll also learn how to increase the speed of your success by learning from other people's experience.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most insightful parts of our conversation is Karen's reflection on how real estate agents are actually change agents who help their clients navigate the enormous emotional changes they experienced in a move.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to love Karen's enthusiasm and her emphasis on taking action and executing your ideas.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to take a deeper dive after the episode's over, be sure to check out the show notes at KentStanders.net slash priority.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's KentSanders.net slash priority.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So let's dive into the conversation.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Karen, thanks so much for joining us on the show today.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I really appreciate you making time to be here.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome to the podcast.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: I am love the title, Born to Create.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: We chatted a little bit about this.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is really a message that people uh want to and need to hear.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you are a real estate agent and have a lot of experience in the area.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if you could take just a couple of minutes and share with our listeners your story of how you first got interested in real estate and what about real estate?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: What was it about that industry that you found interesting or appealing?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: So after college, which was actually in Missouri, I grew up in Columbia, Missouri.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: I went to Dallas, Texas, which was the thing to do because of the Dallas TV show.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I worked for a commercial real estate developer called Trammel Crow.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Met my husband there in Dallas.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: We had our children.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: I actually got my master's degree there at SMU.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then my husband's career moved us to the Washington, D.C.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: metro area.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: It was a very demanding career with a lot of travel.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I wanted to stay home with our children.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Although it was not really my gifts and talents, I really wasn't the kind of person who was led to being like the motherly type, what I visualized as being the motherly type.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: But I did want to be home with my children.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so we invested in that.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: And as they grew older, in our son was in middle school, daughter, late elementary school, I started to work part-time in residential real estate.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: And one of the benefits of residential real estate is it does have some flexibility with time schedule.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: My husband could be home in the evenings and on the weekends.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I made a pretty good business for myself pretty quickly, became successful pretty quickly starting in 2002.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: And one of actually somebody I knew from church, she was a top producer in the nation, number 10.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: Asked me to join her and become her partner.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: And then sadly, she passed away in 06.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: And she she passed away in 08.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: She we became partners in 06.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: She passed away in 08, which was the same month as the financial markets crashed.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure you remember what happened after that.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: It was the mortgage meltdown, and then the financial markets crashed.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was a challenging time to be a real estate, but I am a resilient person.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: I I had been in commercial real estate in the 80s in Texas, and I did see what happened with that period of time.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so I immediately was proactive in making changes to the team and our structure and got us profitable pretty quickly, and then worked my way out of the bottom and started producing, brought a business partner on in 09 because I realized I didn't want to do it alone.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: And we have a team now in the Washington, D.C.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: Northern Virginia metro area where we sell about 70 million in real estate every year, and have been named to the top realtor team list with the Wall Street Journal and those kind of accolades, which I just share because it just shows that we sell at a high level.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: But what happened was is when people are successful, people want to know how do you do it, right?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so I had started writing a blog in 09.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: That was the thing, right?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: To write a blog.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I had found that I had a voice and people were responding to that voice.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I people asked me to coach them and train them.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so I would share these what I call sticky stories, where there was a combination of information and inspiration, because information alone is kind of boring, it's kind of textbook-like.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and then inspiration alone sometimes can feel a little fluffy.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't have enough depth.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So when it's together, it's can be transformative.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: And people kept saying, I should write a book.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: And as often happens when people enter the middle years or even, well, it really can happen at any juncture, but for me, I had success and yet I felt like something was missing.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so I felt led to write a book, but I never felt like I had time to write a book.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: So you talk about that in your, you know, 21 time hacks for writers, because it really isn't about the time in most cases, right?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's very rarely about the time.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: So you talk about some of the hacks of how to quote unquote make time.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: And when I had the epiphany, and I still remember where I was, I was at a coaching retreat.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: When I had the epiphany that the person who was stopping me was me, I realized that's really good news because I can change me.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: I can't change other people, I can't change the market.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was very empowering.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: And yet I, you know, I'm a very busy person, and I still felt like I didn't have time.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was reading some books on habits and happiness, and Gretchen Rubin's book came to me called Better Than Before.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a it's a habits book because she had written a book called Happiness Project, and she asked people what would make them happy, and they all said they wanted to do certain things, and when they did those things, they'd be happy.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, Well, why don't you do them?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: If that's gonna make you happy, right?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's pretty obvious, yeah.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: She found that it was habits that could help people break the inertia, if you will.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so this one habit was at daylight savings time in the fall of the year when you fall back, your body clock is on that hour.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: And you so you really gained an hour.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh my gosh, that's brilliant.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I am not a morning person, had never been a morning person, even though that's one of the strategies and hacks that most people recommend for writing a book.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I was like, okay, I can do that.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: And then there was a point of urgency, which you also talk about in your 21 Time Hacts, which is that I was reading a book called The Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's a great one.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: She wrote Eat Pray Love.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_02: And she talked in in Big Magic about how there are ideas in the universe, and when those ideas time has come, they will, they will arrive at people's.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you think about, like, for example, I was reading a book about Einstein and Westinghouse and Tesla, they all kind of invented electricity at the same time, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they really didn't that idea's time had come.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like it then it's a matter of urgency first to market.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, my idea is time has come, and if I don't do it now, I will later regret.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: And when for me, when I passed the 50 mark, I was like, regrets are the things that I wanted to eliminate in my life.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to look back and go, I wish I would have done this.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: Why didn't I do that?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was like, okay, one person stopping me is me.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: I have figured out where the time's gonna come from, and I have to do it now.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: So that's when and how I wrote my book.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_02: It was actually a challenging time in the real estate market.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: The the Don Frank legislation had just been put into effect, which just totally shut down lending, which meant people weren't buying houses.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was not like this is ideal time.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like going, you know, that's the point, though, right?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Because people are often want to wait until the time is right to do these things.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: And that is where I believe for me, when I made the decision to put that first, put my creative endeavors first, uh, what I focused on expanded, and that created positive energy in other areas of my life.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that has led me to, you know, where I am now with a podcast and two books and another book coming out.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: So that is how that happened.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_02: And again, when I was reading your book, I was like going, oh my gosh, this was like my journey.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me dig into this a little bit.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Really, I've got a multitude of questions in my mind.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's the problem with being a detail person sometimes.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and you know what this is like.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you have your own show.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: You you know, your guests spark all these questions and and trains of thought.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: But let me dig into one thing really quick.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: What did you do differently in your life when you decided to write that book?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like in a really practical sense, did you stop doing some things?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Did you start getting up earlier?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Did you start staying up later?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: What did you do differently to allow you to write that first book?
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: So I used that hour in the morning, first thing, and again, back to not being a morning person, and I did it first because what I found for me and a lot of people is that they wait until they have time to do things, and then life gets in the way.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I decided if it's a priority, I'm going to do that first, and then everything else will figure its way out.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_02: So that's actually what ended up happening.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: The other benefit to it is this idea of what I focused on expanded.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: So the positive energy of me finally doing what I said I wanted to do was carrying me through the challenges.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: So it it had, to me, it had an added benefit of I started doing, it started being in alignment with myself.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: Some people talk about that.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: It started being authentic to myself, what I wanted to do.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: And as I did that, everything else started to fall in place.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: Now, not fast and not easy, and it's still, I still have to realign every morning and go, okay, I said I wanted to do this.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: I said I want to be healthy and fit at 80.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: That means I'm going to work out with a personal trainer.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: That means I'm going to get up and go for a run.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Or so it yeah, I still have the resistance, if you will, but I'm faster at leaning into the resistance because I recognize it for what it is.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Boy, that makes a lot of sense.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: That really does.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, what would you say that writing a book has done for you in terms of reaching people, uh building a new audience, uh helping with your, you know, build a platform or reputation as an expert, because I believe a book can be really, really powerful and it gives you credibility and you know, respect and all those things, would you say that that's definitely done it in your case?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: I the reason why the root word of authority is author, there's already that component of being an author that gives you credibility.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: What it did for me, in addition to the fact that I was then in alignment with what I felt like I was created to be, started to be in alignment, it started to open up other possibilities that I was close to because every time I closed the book door, all the other doors, all the other opportunities didn't present themselves because it's like that was like one of the first domino, if you will, or snowball.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: It opened up.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: So podcasting, for example.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_02: I was invited to be a guest on a podcast.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Well, actually, what happened was I I interviewed or talked to everybody I knew that had written a book in the real estate business and space, and I was like, okay, how do you do this?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: And this one guy said, Well, I have a podcast, I want you to be on my podcast.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I absolutely froze.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: I had a speech impediment as a child, and I still have this, you know, vision of going back as a third grader where I don't speak clearly, and I'm like, oh, and I way overprepared, which is uh often how I respond under stress.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I I look back and I go, but it but I did it anyhow, right?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: Feel the fear and do it anyhow.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: I did it anyhow.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then that opened up, as often happens, other opportunities to podcast, speak, webinars.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw a correlation of book sales uh that along with when podcasting podcasts came out, okay, because I was reaching new audiences.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: And that led to me going, well, if I interviewed people on podcasts, then I could have these amazing conversations and their audiences then, right?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: Their spheres of influence, the people they are connected with will then also hear about five minutes success principles.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: So that is that's how the podcast came about.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: The again back to I started doing it faster.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: And when I had the idea, I recognized it immediately as a big magic idea.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I need to move into this quickly because otherwise life was gonna like take over that space, right?
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so that has led to the other thing I'll say that's been a huge transformation.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: I had been doing coaching in productivity areas, business coaching, which was very beneficial in the early years of my business and career.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: And yet this was like a going into the creative endeavors was going into another whole area of personal development.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so I joined a mastermind and started working with an executive coach that really was about me.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure you've heard the Jim Rohn quotes of, you know, you're only going to achieve at whatever level that you yourself are, you know, working on yourself.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Warren Buffett, uh, ultimately there's only one investment that supersedes all others, invest in yourself.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: I started investing in myself, and that has made another, it's just gone to another level doing that.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it all started with saying yes to the book.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: It said yes to the book.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: It said yes to myself.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because it doesn't, it's really not about the book.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's whatever is what you're being called to do.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, different people have different passions.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: It could be music.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: I have this friend of mine I was telling you that was is getting just retired as a litigating attorney, and I was like, what are you gonna do?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: And he goes, I'm going to finally play the piano.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's been putting this off.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, you know what, Dave, you could have always played the piano.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: He said, Nope, I couldn't.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: Every time I'd take up the piano, then life would get in the way, and I'd have to go on a trip to Japan or whatever, and I couldn't play the piano.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I think that's a limiting belief.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm just sharing, I think you could have figured out how to play the piano.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but we do that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we put the resistance comes up, we figure out all the ways we can't do it.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: And instead of figuring it out, gosh, just when I put that energy in and figure out how I can do it.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Now, sometimes they don't work out.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like I had an idea that I pursued for a while and I sending out a daily message.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: And the more I kind of worked on that and we invested time and resources, and I was like going, This is this is a great idea, and it may have a time at some point, but this is not the idea for right now.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: But I learned it quicker because I was pushing through it.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this, and this is going a little bit off of off of track of the questions that I sent you, which is totally okay, because you're sparking a lot of ideas in my mind.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of people listening are people who are sort of I would say at the beginning stages of of what I would call the creative entrepreneur journey.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: People who want to write a book for the first time, people who are are trying to figure out how to how to build a business based on their creativity.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we do have a lot of listeners who are, you know, more experienced and more seasoned and so forth.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, it's like any show, we have people at on the whole spectrum of where they are.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: But for those who are sort of at the beginning stages, uh what advice would you give them?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm putting myself in this category in terms of learning about business, um, having lots of different options out there.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: When you see all the options like writing, podcasting, coaching, consulting, um you know, doing freelance work, all these kinds of things, how do you know what direction to go?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how in your life have you made decisions at key points where you're faced with a lot of options, but then you've got to pick something or you're gonna just be paralyzed?
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: What has helped you to get through those hurdles and pick a direction when you have a multitude of options?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's the entrepreneurs and creative and de um dilemma, because I I was reading this book about Tesla and Westinghouse and and um Edison.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, poor Tesla, really he did not get a fair shake.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: He did not, he had all these ideas, and as soon as he had an idea, you go, okay, next.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so he really didn't figure out how to execute the idea.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: So that is that is the his challenge, where other people picked up the opportunity.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: Westinghouse and Edison figured out more how to execute and implement.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: So the uh that is common in the creative endeavors and in entrepreneurs.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: So what I found for me, and I I think I can share this perspective from a lot of people that have are on this journey.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: One is I really talk with a lot of people who have done it before.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: So success leaves clues.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm like, okay, what did you do first?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: And how did that work for you?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_02: And anything you can share that you would say, okay, don't don't do that next.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: This is a better because you can you can do you know what's called slipstreaming and time hacking.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can move faster by using other people's knowledge.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so reading is a great way to do that too.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: Faster is either masterminding, coaching, mentoring, because you're gonna learn off of them.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: And I I've done that in almost every endeavor of my life.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: I started it with real estate, I did it with the book, I have done it with podcasting, I've done it with a lot of um endeavors.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: So I would say that's the first thing because you'll you'll probably get a lot of clues as to where the next, we I call it the next, what's next, because uh otherwise you could get paralyzed.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing I will say is, well, where is your passion?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Because I have a lot of book ideas that come out of real estate success in five minutes a day.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I had originally visualized it being like the chicken soup for the soul and and the dummy series and having, you know, not just real estate success in five minutes a day, but you know, mortgage lending success in five minutes a day.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we you could have um almost like the miracle morning kind of appeal.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, yes, like Hellorod.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I am part of Halo Rod's community.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I had talked to Hal about it.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you could have I could have salesperson success, network marketing success.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: All of these are possibilities.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: The book itself is already can be chunked down into four books because I could create 66-day challenges, which I've already done once.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I have all this opportunity out of that one book, which is great, except it doesn't like wake me up in the morning going, that's what I want to do.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was in this coaching um executive coaching program.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: We were at a retreat this summer and we were all talking about our next.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I don't know what my next is.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: I just really can't get excited about this, well, what the next things are, or creating online courses around it.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: And this lady said to me, Well, I think you should do a TEDx.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's not gonna be the next.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, I'm not a speaker.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: I I I got voted off the island.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Of young, and I had actually presented in a group and gotten voted off the island as not being the one to proceed to speak to Hallorod's group actually in in December.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, nope, that's not me.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: And she goes, Yeah, that's just sounds like resistance.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so I came back and I was like, you know what?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: You're right.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's the thing I need to do because I'm resisting it, because it's where I really were where I need to go.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so I I got a speaking coach and wrote the talk, and I did a TEDx open mic, and I did all this preparation work and not knowing, but the week before the best year ever blueprint for Hallowrod in in December in San Diego, I was selected to be one of the five speakers.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: I've been voted on the island in August.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: So the incredible thing about it was first of all, I was prepared.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: Even though I did not know I was going to be one of them, I was prepared.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: But the other thing about it, when I was working with a speaking coach, she goes, That's a book.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, Oh my gosh, you're right, it is.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: Flip time, love life is a book.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so I came back from that going, I'm writing a book.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: So when you just get that like light bulb, whatever you want to call it, that epiphany, that message, you're like, this is yours to do and it's yours to do right now, then that's where I have found when I pursue those, not saying there won't be resistance around it, but when I pursue it, that's where the most comes out of it, the growth, the the opportunity, the connections, the learning.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: So when you wait too long in those moments, that can be really paralyzing for those of us who are detailed-oriented people or sort of analytical personalities, you know.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you're saying you have these things, they're light bulb moments.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh in Elizabeth Gilbert's terminology, maybe it's you know, the big magic is happening, these ideas come to you, or opportunities.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you got to jump on them and not sit around and do analysis about it for for five years.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I don't know how familiar you are with the the disk behavioral profiling.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: Very, yeah, I'm a IC.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, I'm a DC.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: So D is very driven, do it now, and a C is do it right, very, you know, analytical.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, I am schizophrenic.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: I have both do it right and do it now, all at the same time.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: And my my team and my staff, they all have learned that, you know, when Carrie comes back from something, it's like, okay, watch out.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: Where is where are we going with this?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so but I've learned to like peanut butter and chocolate, it's better, right?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Because if you look at it that way, it it can be very transformative because I can get to details really fast, but I have such a drive to make things happen that I'll power through the fact that I don't know everything and and move forward.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: So that has been to so you can you can make it your to your benefit.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_02: I would just also say when your why is so big that that makes the how happen, right?
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'd like you to share, if you will, a little bit more about your book, uh Flip Time, Love Life, which I know is focused on making creative work a priority in your life.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know this is a big passion of yours.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: What's what's the the general idea of the book and how would it benefit the people who read it?
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as we talked about with what happened with me and in your 21 Time Hacks for Writers, is that many people say they're busy.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: And what busy is, is it really is well, it's kind of a competitive arena.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_02: We all say we don't have enough time to do the things that we want to do.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: And yet we fill up our days and hours with things that don't really matter.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: So the idea is in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the basic needs of food, shelter, safety, material goods, and so on, steam needs, self-actualization's at the top.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: What happens with many people is they run out of time.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: They don't get to self-actualization.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: So the flip time is to focus on self-actualization, meaningful work, creative work first.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that actually can have a the positive impact.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: I've talked about that for me in the sense that once I started being true to myself, then everything else started to be better.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: The positive ripple effect, you know, of the pebble that's thrown into the pond, the concentric circles, that as well is what I have found when people put meaningful creative work, whatever it is that's calling them first, everything else seems to um fall into place.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so the idea of loving the life you have while you create and co-create the life of your dreams.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's um, I think that part of kind of the entrepreneur's dilemma also is as we a creative person's dilemma is we all want to do it right now, right?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: We all want it to happen right now.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's the the both and it's the the flipping the time and putting it first, that will in effect give you the energy because you'll be focusing on things that you love that will expand, and then you will also have the um the the added benefit of being true to yourself, being true to what you're called, what you're created, born to create.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, in practical terminology, for most people, does this look like you know, setting aside an hour in the morning, uh getting it on your calendar and making sure you don't have any distractions during that time to focus?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_02: So that's actually where the five-minute success came about, because I had so many people tell me they didn't have time, and I'm like, okay, so do you have five minutes?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: And everybody says they have five minutes.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so the idea is uh follows Parkinson's law.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you're familiar with Parkinson's law, but when you limit and restrict time, it can actually make you more efficient and effective.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: So so start small and build up is a proven method for habit formation.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it really is a habit, it's a commitment to the habit, commitment to yourself.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: And as many people that have started that way, even Hal Elrod, when you talked about the miracle morning, he's he could get resistance from people like, well, I don't have an hour to do a miracle morning in the morning.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: He goes, Okay, well, just do one, each one one minute.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: So that's seven minutes.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: So everybody can do seven minutes to get your mind, body, spirit in line for the day, and as the morning goes and the rest of the day.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so getting back into alignment, I started with the five minutes, but what I found is is with many people, and I'm, you know, in time hacks and everything, I've read as well is that what often happens is once you get started, it's like putting on your tennis shoes for going for a run, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: You're gonna you're gonna go for a run.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: So it it's the getting started that paralyzes, stops most people.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is so true.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I I go out and I run every night.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: And last night, it's so funny you mentioned this.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was so frustrated because I couldn't find my shoes.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I almost thought, um, it's you know, it's really cold outside.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Why mess with it?
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just catch up tomorrow.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: But but then, you know, once you get going, then you're really glad that you did it.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's that getting started part that's really, really difficult.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and that's why I really believe it's a commitment.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's a commitment to yourself.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: So when you make that commitment to yourself, the other aspect I find with a lot of people, and when I was a mom at home, I felt like it was selfish when I focused on myself.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people feel that way.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that many people are felt like you're you're supposed to put others first, right?
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we're taught.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_02: What I found is that the other people in my life, their lives improved as my life improved.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: Not just from a business perspective, from just family and and friendships and relationships.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: Because when when I'm happy, well, I mean, you know, when mom's happy, everybody's happy.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: But when I'm happy, it really is has a much more positive impact.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: So the idea of thinking that you're being selfish by putting yourself first is really actually not true.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: What's good for me can actually be better.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: And and I've seen that in my business.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: The more I invest in myself, the more I create opportunities for people.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_02: I have the resources and the creative work for them too, because that's what I've discovered about a lot of the people I work with.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like going, well, they had creative ideas too, and they weren't using them to their highest and best best self.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_02: So when I started doing, yeah, they they would do it.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's like that old analogy about you know, if you're in an airplane and it's crashing, put your own mask on first.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: So then you can help other people.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that that is a I think that's true.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_02: It sometimes that feels like though you're doing it as an obligation.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so I'm saying creative work is actually a benefit for the people around me.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: I am doing they by by me focusing on myself, I am creating a benefit for them.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: It will be better for them.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Would you describe being in real estate as a creative industry?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: So one of the reasons why I was attracted to real estate is you and I chatted about this a little bit, that I did in my master's degree, had thought I was called to go to seminary, and I was pursuing a degree, a theological degree, and found that that wasn't my calling because I went and worked at the church, and I was like, I'm a better lay leader than I am a church uh um employee or staff or ministry um head.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I finished my degree in in um in business.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I have this kind of like my schizophrenic uh DC, I have a the hard side or the business side or the side of finance and negotiations and strategy, but I also have this hard side, this soft side, this compelling to help people.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Because really, if you think about it in real estate, most people are going through more than one life event at the time that real estate is transaction is occurring.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, some of them are positive, you know, marriage, having babies, uh children leaving home and the right sizing, downsizing, or a career enhancement or bump in income.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_02: But we also see that the challenging sides, the death, the divorce, the um the other aspect, even children, young children diapers can be challenging, right?
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I found that having that as my ministry, we have our mission to impact and improve people's lives, has been part of my calling.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it was and still is one of my huge aspects to calling.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: I I find, as often happens with a lot of professions, after you do it a dozen, you know, 15, 20 years, and this is where a lot of midlife crises happen, right?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is it kind of like I needed something more.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_02: I was very good at being productive.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: What was missing was the creative endeavor.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: So the creative endeavors have actually enhanced my business for several reasons.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: One, it's turned into an opportunity to network with a whole group of people that I hadn't ever anticipated connecting with, and which has led to business, but also because I am operating at a higher level myself, a higher frequency, if you will, then that is has been beneficial for not just my clients, but also the people I work with.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's it is the the profession, if you think about it, also there, there's a you know, the medical professional, obviously, the ministry, you're dealing with people and oftentimes when they're in challenging situations.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you you get very close to people in a very sh uh period of time where sometimes that just after the transaction ends, it ends.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: But sometimes those relationships uh really stay and you recognize how much you really are impacting and and influencing their lives.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that relational element of being a real estate agent, I've always, of course, I'm not in real estate, but having used realtors before, that relational element is so important.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: It is, because it back to the fact that it usually has several elements going on with it, but also it's most people's largest financial transaction.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: And home has, oh my gosh, just watch The Wizard of Oz.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, home is yeah, exactly.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Home is a what you know, very meaningful, and even people that are in commercial real estate or attorneys or people that you know you would think would be really high level could separate their emotional aspect to it.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't, very rare.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's very rare.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: The people that can, it seems like, are military and the people that are really transferred a lot.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm talking about like they're in a corporate setting and they like they know they're moving every two years or whatever.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: So they they're less likely to get as emotionally attached, um, but just about everybody else.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's it that's the really it's not really as much about the structure of the contract and the negotiations and the marketing, all that, even though that's important.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_02: It really is about how you can help people through that transition.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: I had never really thought about that before.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: About, I mean, moving in itself, you know, buying and selling a home, that's that's a big deal in and of itself, but there's usually something going on in their lives that precipitates that.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because people don't just move for no reason.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I I never thought about that.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_00: So most of the time you have two major life things happening at once.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that so you would almost say there there is kind of a pastoral function in being a real estate agent.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: I would say that that is the biggest function is helping people through change.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because we're really change agents, is what we are.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: They'll say they want to move for whatever reason.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now, some of it's time it's thrust on them, right?
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously when the financial markets reversed, people had it thrust on them.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um death and divorce, oftentimes that's thrust on people.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: But most of the time it's there's some element of choice to it.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so you have to help people, you know, when are they gonna do it if they don't do it now?
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's one of my big things is you know if you don't move now, when are you gonna move?
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: Because you came and said you wanted to move for these reasons.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_02: So what has changed about that?
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: And and if you because that is the paralysis of analysis, people get paralyzed about, okay, well, it's not the perfect time.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah, that doesn't happen.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it really perfection is very overrated.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect timing is it doesn't happen, right?
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, so you have to look, you know, you have to help them project forward what it will look like, even if it's that's why we made our motto impact and improve people's lives, because we found that we can't always improve their life.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: We we can impact their life.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: Um, some of it is helping people move on, move forward, going to the next chapter.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: Boy, that's a that's a great perspective.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we we really I would say we spend more time counseling people than counselors do, uh, because we're helping them through these decisions that they're making.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes they don't understand what is in and because we've seen it so many times, just like in pastoral counseling, um you you see the resistance, you see what's holding people back, and you help them hopefully help them see it.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's really an there's really an element of of letting go, of letting go of sometimes relationships, of baggage, of old ways of doing things, old habits.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I never really thought about what you're doing in those terms, but it it does occur to me that, you know, real estate obviously is connected with that, but your writing is connected with that also.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, trying to move up to a higher level of success is not just about obtaining something and getting something, it's also about letting go of some things.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, in and one of the biggest struggles that people have is letting go of possessions.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: And one thing that we share with them is that you you still can have the memories.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the memories are not going anywhere.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: One thing we encourage people is to take pictures, right?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: So, like, particularly if they're going to assisted living or uh that many times they elderly people or people that have had health or death events, they they really struggle with that.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, you get to keep the memory.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody's telling you we're erasing your memories.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you just have gonna remember them in a different way, in a new way, and helping them see that the new way, and then also helping them see if you don't do it now, when will you do it?
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes people they well, okay, like writing the book.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: So if you don't write the book now, when will you write it?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: Because what would happen if somebody else came out with your book idea, and then you you later have regret, which I I I mentioned that would you study.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: There's a book um The Regrets of the Dying, right?
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: And regret is one of the biggest things that has an impact on people's lives when they regret that is very weighing on them.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Karen, I appreciate you sharing all this great perspective and information that I think and I truly believe is going to help people to reduce their share of regrets in life by prompting us all to move up to higher levels of success, to finish that book, to do that creative work, to do that thing that we're called to do.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I really appreciate you taking time to do this today.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this has been a great conversation.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: I I really enjoy the idea of talking about create creativity and and thank you for having me.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, one more quick question.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_00: How can our listeners connect with you and your work?
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: So the easiest way is the website, which is the number five minute success.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: Also, Facebook have a group, the number five minute success.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: And really, actually, you could pretty much Google Kara Briscoe and you'll find me pretty quickly because I think I have the first couple of pages.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so we'd love to have also people tune in to the Five Minute Success podcast.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that's where, you know, any wherever you listen to your podcasts.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much, and uh, I really appreciate you again making time to do this.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your enthusiasm and your inspiration and all the great stuff that you're doing.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Karen Briscoe.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_00: I want to share three takeaways that I learned from Karen, and these are things that you can put into practice as well in your life to start making a bigger impact in your creative work.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Takeaway number one, writing a book opens up a multitude of opportunities.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: Karen talked about how a book opens up opportunities that she would not have had otherwise.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, the same thing is true for podcasting.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: She noted that the root word of authority is the word author, which I confess I had never considered before.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: But that absolutely rings true since writing a book automatically positions you as an authority on your topic.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: Despite all of our electronic gadgets today and the ability to do almost anything digitally, there's still something magical and impressive about handing somebody a print copy of your book.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: It instantly communicates that you've taken the time and effort to create something valuable.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: But also shows that you have the confidence to put your words out there and that you had the persistence to finish a big project.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_00: So a seemingly small thing like writing a book actually is a very big thing.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: So if you haven't written that first book yet, I want you to get to work writing it.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know how I can help you with it, because I I love talking with people about writing their first book.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've written books before, then get to work writing that next one.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Books are so important in the world today to establish your authority and your credibility.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: And plus, it's just a really satisfying experience to have written a book.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: Takeaway number two, say yes to yourself.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: So often we feel it's kind of selfish to take time for ourselves, but it's not selfish at all.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot be at your best unless you're refilling your spiritual, emotional, mental, social, and physical tanks on a regular basis.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: As Karen mentioned, other people's lives will improve when your life improves.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: And in the end, anything that we can do to improve ourselves will also filter down to the other people in our lives.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: Karen took the first hour of the morning to focus on writing.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: And your time doesn't have to be in the morning, but it is important to find a good, consistent time to work on your craft and do things that renew your spirit.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_00: When you put the big rocks into your schedule, those important things that really move the needle on everything else, those other items on our schedules will fall into place, the less important things.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's simply a matter of focusing on the big rocks and getting those big rocks on our calendar as the first things.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: I know this is easier said than done.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a big challenge to do all this, but it's an area where we all can improve.
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_00: Takeaway number three, figure out how to execute and implement an idea.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this is honestly a huge problem for artists and creative types.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: We have lots of grand ideas, lots of creative ideas, but we often fail to execute those ideas and bring them into reality.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why it's important to learn from successful people, particularly those in the business community, because they're very used to executing on ideas.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: They have to get things done.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: They've got to produce, or they don't get paid.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: They don't, you know, they don't get to work with that client.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: They don't have the end result of keeping a job or landing a deal or closing that deal.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: So there's definitely something that all of us creative types can learn from the business community.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: This interview was very helpful to me because I've struggled with executing on ideas in the past, and I still do sometimes.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: I have several books on my hard drive that I've written drafts of, but I haven't done anything else with them.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're just kind of sitting there.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have the same issue of going 90% of the way or even 95% of the way on an idea, but then you stop before the project is actually finished.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: So let's commit together to doing a better job on following through on our best ideas and seeing things through to completion.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: After all, a book or a project that was almost finished will not have the opportunity to change anybody's life because we haven't put it into a form, a finished form, that they can then consume or read or digest.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now let me share one more takeaway here, and this is a bonus one because I couldn't help myself.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: The bonus takeaway is avoid the regrets of the dying.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: Karen mentioned a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be checking out this book.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: I looked at a brief on Amazon and it looks really, really interesting.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: The title of the book alone is compelling.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a reminder that we must strive to live with no regrets.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_00: So take a risk.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: Put your art out there.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: Make that apology to a loved one.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: Stop destroying your life with that bad habit or that addiction that you know you need to kick to the curb.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you and I only get one life.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got to use it wisely and with purpose.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: There will come a time, eventually, when our days on this earth come to an end.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: So let's try and live the best possible life that we can.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let's love deeply, let's create with passion and with drive and with curiosity and with abandon.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_00: Man, we only get one life and it goes by so fast.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I would hate for us all to come to the end of our days and live with all these regrets that we don't have to live with if we simply live the right kind of a life that we know that we're meant to live.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess that's my sermon for the day.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't intend for this to be a sermon, but this episode really brought out a lot of deep feelings within me and a lot of ideas that are really important to me.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to thank Karen for taking the time out to be on the show and to share some thoughts that really have made an impact on me and I know will make an impact on you as well.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Well, friends, that wraps up this episode.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the show notes at KentSanders.net slash priority.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like a great free resource to help you save time and be more productive, you can download my short guide, 21 Time Hacks for Writers, by visiting KentSanders.net slash subscribe.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_00: By the way, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave a rating and a review on Apple Podcast and subscribe while you're there.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: It only takes a couple seconds and it helps other people to discover the show.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can subscribe and leave a rating and a review for the show by visiting KentSanders.net slash Apple.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or a family member who you think would enjoy it as well.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can find lots more resources to help you unlock your creative potential at KentSanders.net.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now go create something awesome.