Why Creative People See The World Differently

Speaker A: Foreign. How's m it going, guys? Welcome back to the P mop podcast. Now, P Mob, for those of you who've forgotten, stands for Proven Methods of Production. Now, obviously, that is our tagline here at Film Lab, being a video production company that does commercial work for brands, podcasts, 3D animation, all the good stuff. Obviously, production is kind of our avenue for expressing our creativity, but there's a lot of different ways to be creative, and that's kind of what I want to talk about today. I think the act of creation and creating is one of the most human things we can possibly do. And that's not my own original thought. That is something from Rick Rubin. But I do kind of just want to talk to you guys a little bit and kind of just free flow, share some of the thoughts I have around why being creative is important, what creativity looks like, how you can develop greater creativity in yourself and hopefully more regularly enter that flow state more often. Before I like, dive into everything, I just want to preface this. I'm not an expert. Like, I don't have this all figured out because again, this podcast is meant to be me sharing what I'm learning along the way of building Film Lab. And more and more I come back to how important keeping creativity at the front and center of what we do is. Because at the end of the day, we are doing a creative act on behalf of our clients, for branding ourselves, all of that. And if we lose sight of that and we get too lost in the project management or the streamlining of this task, or making X more efficient, while, yes, that is important on the side of running a business and making sure we're profitable. But at the end of the day, our product is our creativity. And so if we don't foster that, if we don't create an environment where that really flourishes, then really we're shooting ourselves in the foot. Because at the end of the day, our clients and the brands and the people that we work with are looking for our unique take on things. They want to see how we are going to creatively solve their problems, how we want to visually represent them to the world, and we can't do that well if we're not taking the time to foster creativity as a team inside of our company and our spaces, and then also individually within ourselves. So that's what I want to talk about today is how to find that creative flow state. Now, when I talk about flow state, I think all of us have had experiences where maybe we just sit down and we start writing and it's just coming to us. In fact, it feels more like the ideas and the creativity is just flowing out from our minds through our hand and write directly onto the page. It's just coming easily. And maybe if it's not in writing, maybe you found that while you're taking photos of a subject and you just start getting this idea and you get a vision and it's just expressing itself so easily, you're not having to force it. It's just coming together beautifully. You know, golden hour happens. Your subject perfectly lines up in the shot the way you want it, and it just is all coming together. That feeling is called that flow state. That's what I'm referring to. And it's not something. It's not a science. It's not something that we can easily line up and say, okay, if I do X, Y, and Z, then I will be able to achieve this flow state on a regular basis. Or I can hit that flow state three hours a day on average. No, it's not something that works like that. It's something that is hard to catch, it's hard to find, and it's something kind of like a runner's high. You can go on a run and it's the most miserable experience of your life. But then five runs later, you're on a run. Every single one has been miserable. But for some reason, the stars align. Everything just hits, and you feel like you're glowing. You feel like the run is easy. You breathe easy, your heart slows down. Everything's good. It all comes together. That's what it can feel like. And that's what it's all about. So with that, I want to share this quote to kind of kick this off, which is a thought from Rick Rubin on the creative act. And he says the act of creation is an act of letting go. The best art is not made, it is revealed. And I think there are many times in my career where I've tried to force it. I've tried to force the creativity, I've tried to force the art when I'm not in the right headspace, I'm not in the right environment, I don't have the right idea. And again, he said, it's an act of letting go. It's removing the barriers and the friction and just letting it happen next naturally. So it's not something you can force, but I do believe it's something that you can cultivate at the same time. Um, now I wanted to spell the myth. I don't personally believe that creativity is directly tied to Just raw, pure talent. I don't think that's a thing. In fact, I think creativity is like a muscle. And the more you use it, the more you practice it, the more easily it will come to you. I have a friend who is just into music. He loves it so much. He's so talented. He's writing songs all the time, he's producing them. And he's the kind of guy who can sit down and just rhyme anything. He can immediately sit down and he can freestyle a rap verse and it just flows lyrically and smoothly. And it's not necessarily because he's smarter than I am or better than me in any way. It's because that is what he does day in and day out. And he loves it. And so his mind has been rewired and to reduce friction in expressing his creativity in that way. So is he more talented than me? Honestly, he is. His name's Brendan. Talented guy, look him up. But it's also something that he has practiced. And so if right now you don't feel like you're a creative person, you don't feel like you're the creative type, that can be changed with consistent effort and learning how to think in a creative way. The more you practice creativity, the more smoothly and effortlessly it will flow. Some of the most creative moments I've had on set is when we've been presented with a problem. Because I think creativity really is just incredible problem solving in many instances. To backtrack. It's not always about like what we think of as traditional art. It's not always about writing. It's not always about making music or filming something or doing something that we all consider creative. I believe at its core, it's being a able to look at something in a different way than everybody else looks at it and sees it, and then approach solving that problem or approach developing something in a different way. Now a really great example of this in a non traditional way is my business partner, Mike. Mike is one of the most creative people I know, but not in a, uh, video production sense or not in a writing sense. The guy is not somebody who's gonna go build out a script. He's not somebody who's gonna grab a camera and figure out how to light it beautifully. That's not him. But when he is presented with a problem, whether that be how do we get the Internet from this room to this room or what numbers do we need to crunch to be able to know how many products of this new dead last inventory we should order based off of what we've done before or how do we make it easier for our clients to be able to work with us and create with us? Those are all problems that he was present with and he was able to creatively problem solve. And he's able to go about it in a different way than I ever would. And that's a way that he's able to creatively express himself and he's solving problems for Film Lab all the time. So, again, let me stress it enough. You cannot be the guy who says, I'm just not creative. That is not true. The act of deciding what you're going to wear today is a creative choice. Are you going to wear a hat or are you going to wear a beanie? Do you want your shoes to match your shirt? Or how are you going to approach that? You deciding the route you're going to take to work when you're driving there? You deciding the types of words you want to use when describing something to a friend or telling a story. Even the clever comment or meme that you decide to send to a friend can be somewhat of an expression of your own creativity. So don't limit yourself to defining creativity as the process of the arts, because it is not exclusively that at all. So I want to give you guys a couple of tips or experiences that I've had and a perspective that I have that helps me cultivate and practice greater creativity in my own life. I don't know who told me this, I don't know where I heard it, but I heard once that a great creative exercise is taking two unrelated ideas or two unrelated things and then figuring out how to tie a common thread between the two. How do you bring them closer together? How do you tell a story with it? How do you. How do you pair it in a unique way? And some of the best art we've ever seen has been placed in spots where it doesn't belong. You know, Banksy will go do graffiti on the side of a building here in Park City, and it will just be stumbled on and discovered. And that's what's beautiful. He took something that was pretty much an actual crime and made it into something that's priceless art. How many times have we seen the music artist Post Malone jump from one genre to the other and to the next? And he's usually bringing in elements of his hip hop or R B background into country, into some of the soulful stuff he's doing. He's experimenting all the time, and he's bringing these two different genres or two different ideas. Or approaches together, which feels so fresh, it feels so new and creative. And there are endless iterations and possibilities when you're doing that, both in the way that you dress, in the businesses that you're able to create, in these stories you're able to tell. Now, I was able to take this idea and I'm like, okay, I am developing a, uh, love for running. And I also have this great love of film. And honestly, I love the idea of being able to film people running. I love filming things in the health and wellness space. Now, that's not necessarily novel, but to me it was unique, it was different. I have never done anything like that. So I said, what if I take my business building experience that I've gained from building Film Lab, this business, and try to apply it into brand building, community building over here in a new company? And I decided to go with running apparel called Dead Last. And the expression of that has been so refreshing for me. It's been so new because I'm not going down the same ruts and paths in my mind that I always have, that I've established over years of practice. I'm now having to look at it through a, uh, different lens because I brought a new element into it. When you talk about Film Lab, right, it's all about experimentation. It's trying to combine different substances, different ideas to make something new, to create a new element. So if you're wanting to practice this in your own life, take a moment to look at. If you are constantly going one route or one direction of work, how can you add a new stop along the way? How can you take a new route or a new path? Maybe instead of driving to work, you decide to take the train. Maybe you decide to bike. There's a. Or carpool with somebody else. What that's doing is giving you a new experience, taking a new path, a new approach. And now you're challenging your brain to not always go with the obvious thing, not always stick with the status quo. The more you switch it up, the more you add new elements, it's going to expand the way your mind thinks. How can you disrupt your routine and switch it up in a way that's meaningful, that makes life feel exciting and that you can practice some new creativity? On that same note, I found some of the greatest inspiration for me has come when I'm consuming content not from my field. I'm not at this point in my career. I'm very rarely looking at other filmmakers work. I'm very rarely looking at other video production companies and how they're building it and how they're going about it, because then I'm just going to rinse and repeat what they're always doing. When I'm finding inspiration from other brands, uh, like Christian Guzman or Nick Baer, uh, they both have developed athletics brands and companies. I'm able to take that and apply some of the culture things that I see from them, the way that they tell their stories. And I'm applying that to Film Lab. Like, how many brands do you know? I mean, how many production companies do you know that have a YouTube channel, that send out a newsletter regularly, that hosts community events, that has their own podcast, that created their own merch line? And yes, there are a handful who've done some of those things. But I've been able to draw so much that inspiration and our team has from outside sources and people outside of our field. So we're breaking the rules and we're doing it differently. We're creating a video production company that actually has a brand when normally a video production company is just creating a bunch of other people's brands. And that's where we're trying to be a little bit unique. And I believe that does give us an unfair advantage. So figure out how can, if you're in a certain space, if you're a realtor, how can you consume content or things and draw inspiration from people who are not other real estate agents? How can you bring something fresh? How can you take inspiration from a chef or restaurateur, uh, or a gardener? How can you take what they're doing, the way they're telling their stories, the things that they showcase, and apply that to you as a real estate agent. Now, I don't know if those things will actually come together, but it's a question worth asking because you don't want to blend in with everybody else. Middle of the road thinking is going to get just average results. So switch it up and consume outside of your field. Steve Jobs idea around the ipod was people want to be able to listen to music and they want to be able to listen to it wherever they go. How do I bring these two ideas together and connect them in a way that's meaningful? Well, okay, they already have CDs and discs where they can listen to maybe 20 songs. How can I digitize that and make it so you can fit a thousand songs in your pocket? And he continued to iterate on idea after idea and connecting these needs and these wants that people have and coming up with those creative solutions. So I'm going to get off my high horse. But I'm a big believer in trying to take two different ideas, two different things, and figure out how can you connect them and bring them together. And that is such a wonderful creative exercise. A suggestion number two would be move your body so that you can kind of still your own mind. If you're like me, your mind is always going. You're. You're thinking about the next thing. You're thinking about what you can create, how you can push things forward. And if you want to be able to slow down and remove yourself from the overstimulation that a phone can give you, then maybe you just need to put away the screens, put down the phone and go on a walk, go to the gym, go touch grass, and sit outside, disconnect and take time to move your body to be in nature. I cannot tell you what an obvious hack this is, but it's something that I didn't do for so long. But I started noticing in myself. Every time I was on the phone with a client and they were maybe arguing with me about something, or it was a very complicated conversation, or I was having to really pitch an idea and, and explain it well, I started finding myself pacing. I was pacing on the phone. And yes, maybe that's partially a nervous tick, but I think it was also a way for my body to start moving and releasing endorphins that was able to help bring clarity to my mind. So don't be stagnant in your body. The more you're able to move. Take yourself out of your current environment, go into nature, whatever it is that is going to help still your mind and let the creative ideas come. A creative idea or a good thought cannot come into a crowded mind. So do whatever you can to dispel that. Which leads me to kind of my third tip or third approach that I don't practice often enough, but when I do, it makes all the difference, is taking the time to write. Because my mind moves really fast, but my hand can only write as slow as it does. It really forces me, as I'm writing, to channel in. What am I trying to say? What am I thinking? I'm putting the effort into crafting one singular, strong idea. And I can do that while I'm writing, by hand, while I'm typing. Sometimes I'll even do it where I'm just, like, talking in a, uh, notes app to my phone or voice to text so that I can start getting some of my ideas down. Once I get that idea down, I'm able to look at it Edit it, refine it, and iterate on it. But the biggest thing is for me, getting the thought outside of my head and down on paper, down on a place where I can see it from a different perspective and say, okay, that idea really does not make sense at all. Or this idea actually has legs and there's something here. Let's iterate on that, let's explore that, let's keep flushing it out. So for me, that has been an absolute game changer. And it's something you've probably heard me talk about before now to kind of continue this thought again. I think the act of creation is deeply human. It's something that we inherently were born with when we were kids. Everything was wonderful, everything was awe inspiring. I mean, I remember the first time my kid saw a potato bug, a roly poly on the ground. It was just crawling. And she thought it was the most amazing thing because when she'd touch it, it'd roll up in a ball and she could push it along and it would roll. Or sometimes she'd hold it in her hand and start crawling around. And that was so shocking to her when most of the time I'm like not even aware that it's on the ground existing yet. She was so enamored with this idea that there was life down there, right below her feet. And that was just so amazing to her the first time she saw snow. When they see birds or animals, when they discover a new idea or, or sound or thing that is exciting to them. Now as adults, we've obviously labeled things inside of our mind. We've looked at that and say, I recognize that that is a bug on the ground, or that is a plane in the sky, or that sound is thunder that comes after lightning. And we have to label things so we can understand them and move on, because we wouldn't be able to get anything done otherwise. But I think it is a beautiful thought to slow down and have that childlike wonder about everything around you. Which brings me to this really quote, cool quote by Rick Rubin. Can you tell? He's a hero of mine. And he said, the artist's job is not to invent, but to recognize, to notice what's already there. I think some of the most creative geniuses are not the ones who are pulling something out of thin air, but are able to, to show us something that we've all seen a, uh, thousand times, but just with a slightly different perspective, with a new insight, with a greater appreciation than we've been able to give that thing, that feeling, that sound that experience before. So try to slow down and develop the art of noticing. Because when you start noticing the things around you, you can start appreciating them greater. You start appreciating the ability to be able to go outside and experience nature. You start appreciating the quiet moments where you can hear the sound of your kids laughing or a, uh, conversation of somebody going by, or the sound of an ocean wave on the beach. When you can notice that you can appreciate it. And when you can appreciate it, you will take the time to understand it greater. And when you understand it, you're able to then start looking at it in a different way and you can articulate that to somebody else. Now, I know I'm getting kind of deep. I'm getting very philosophical here. But it's something that whenever I delve deep into it, uh, I can start feeling that creativity flow through me because I'm noticing, I'm feeling this energy around me. Now, I'm somebody who has a deep and abiding faith in God. I truly believe that God is the ultimate creator. He created this earth, he created me. He created this universe and everything in it. And when I understand that he created it, I have to start slowing down and looking at the intention with how he designed everything. Not only nature and the things that you think are obvious, but the personality of other people. Language, ideas, philosophy, what, whatever it is. You know, some of these things, you know, obviously they. They come from men, too, but many times they are inspired by God and the things that he created. And so I believe that when we are practicing the art of creation, when we are trying to put ourselves in a creative mindset, we're going to be more pure, we're going to be more wholesome. We're going to appreciate the human next to us because we understand and appreciate that they are an individual, that God loves them just as much as he loves you. And when you have that kind of mindset shift, it really puts a lot of things into perspective. The more I try to reflect that same creativity in my life, I do feel closer to God himself and feel just a little bit more divine. That being said, I'm imperfect, and I'm still trying to figure it out. But I think it's something that we all should commission ourselves to practice and to continue to develop. Because it is a deeply satisfying feeling to create and craft an idea, a thought, a moment, an outfit, a poem, an experience, and just appreciate that. And to know that you had a part in tying that idea or that feeling together. So, like I said, there's a lot of ways you can approach this creativity, and it can manifest in your life. You can creatively practice parenting and the way that you're communicating with your child or in a relationship with the words that you use, the way that you apologize or try to bridge a gap with a spouse or a friend that you've had a disagreement with with, uh, the way that you decide to cook a meal or plate a dinner or wrap a gift or a present for somebody, the way you decide to mow your lawn, that makes it feel pristine and intentional. There's so many ways to be creative. And once you start noticing them, you start practicing them, it just comes that much more easily. That being said, we do not need to chase creativity. We just need to remove the things that can distract us, remove the things that can block us from that. And as we remove those distractions, whether it be your phone, which for me, my phone, my email, the idea of constantly needing to build a business, if I'm not constantly working, then I'm letting my family down, my friends down, the people who work here down, my clients down, you know, that. That I'm just talking about something that's obviously deeper. But, uh, I feel like if I'm not always working, then I'm not progressing. And I have this thing inside of me that feels like if I'm not pushing things forward, then I'm stagnant and I'm falling behind. And that's something that I'm having to work on. But that busyness in my mind, the craziness that happens, can really block creativity. It can lead to a lot of dissatisfaction in my own life, which is hilarious, because five years ago, if I could see where I was at now, I would be ecstatic and thinking, wow, it really worked out. The thing I was going for actually happened. But right now, with all the craziness in my mind, I'm thinking about where I need to be in five years from now, rather than appreciating and slowing down and seeing where I'm at now. And when I can slow down and remove those distractions, I feel more creative. I feel like being a better human. And I feel so much more satisfaction inside of my own life. So that is why I believe creativity is important. Not just for the thing that you ultimately create or craft, but the state that you have to put yourself in leads to so many other benefits. To be creative, I have to be still to be creative. I need to be aware and connected. So the act of creating actually puts me in that State where overall, I'm just a better human being. And I think that's what we're all trying to do at the end of the day. Now, obviously, to tie all this back in, yes, at Film Lab, we are a business. At the end of the day, we need to make money. That and those of you who are listening to this podcast is probably the same for you. You probably offer creative services, ideas, uh, problem solving, whatever it is, to a client, to the people you work with, to your potential customer, through a product, through a service, whatever it is, you are practicing and monetizing creativity in some form. So one of the best things you can do and investing in your own self, in your own business, is developing a greater and stronger creative taste, creative awareness, and a, uh, creative state of mind. Because when that happens and you're able to achieve that flow state more often, ideas are going to flow, opportunities are going to come, and you're going to be ready to meet the challenges that are surely ahead, because you're going to be able to navigate through them and find the most seamless way you can because you're in the proper state. So it's going to benefit you personally, it's going to help you smash as far as a business and truly succeed. And I just think it's a beautiful thing. Well, that was a lot, and I hope that was somewhat helpful to you guys. But I know that talking through this myself, the way I felt at the beginning of this podcast, to the way I feel right here at the end, I'm just filled with gratitude, I'm filled with clarity, I'm filled with perspective. And I feel that way because I had to take the time to craft the message I wanted to share today, to think through what I. How I wanted to deliver in this podcast. And then the act of actually creating this podcast has helped put me in a state where I feel at peace. And that's a beautiful feeling. So I would invite everybody listening to take a little bit of time today, whether that's five minutes to meditate, to go on a walk, to look at how you can bring two separate ideas together, to take a new route, to work, to try a different outfit, to text a friend a, uh, kind compliment that you wouldn't normally say. That act is going to help you refine the art of noticing and the art of awareness, which is going to bring you greater happiness and greater success in life and in business. And before I totally wrap up, I have to shout out our partners here at Nanlite. Obviously, they have helped deck out all the lights for this studio when I talk about removing boundaries and reducing friction from having the idea to the act of actually creating it. Working with Nanlite has been a game changer for us. And I'm not just saying that because they have helped hook us up with these lights. It's genuinely a game changer to be able to set up lights to know that they aren't going to fail, to be able to control them from our app. And it's just removing the barriers to actually getting out there and creating. And that's honestly why we built this whole studio. How can we create an environment that makes it easy to feel creative inside of it, that looks good, that really just reduces the friction to actually sitting down and creating? Creating? I am recording this podcast by myself because we are intentional with the tools that we use to create and the environment that we do it in. So that's just another way that I've seen such a big difference. And shout out to our friends at Nanlite who are able to help us do that with that. I hope you all enjoyed this episode of pmop and I'll see you guys in the next one. Sam,