Introduction:
Constraints are nothing new. Creative businesses have always operated in a window. I have never met a designer who is perpetually free to create as she sees fit without regard to budget, style or even geography. The new reality we all find ourselves in is that a new constraint has been foisted on all of us. The price of every physical human interaction is now perpetually present. It means the intrinsic nature of art has become ever more indelible. Enter the underneath, an apple tree and horses for courses. Listen in…
Body:
Today we’re going to talk about constraints. Constraints are nothing new. Creative businesses have always operated in a window.
I’ve never met a designer who is perpetually free to create as she sees fit without regard to budget or style or even geography. The new reality that unfortunately the pandemic has forced on all of us is that we have a new constraint, right? It is truly the price of every physical human. Interaction is now ever present.
And what it means is that the intrinsic nature of art has become ever more indelible. So where do we go with all of this? Enter the underneath, an apple tree and horses for courses.
So welcome back. Thank you so much again for listening. Today, we’re going to talk about constraints a moment for where we all are, where the globe is. And we’ve been at this now a long time, and I want very much to, to express crazy empathy and sympathy. And hopefulness and hopelessness and depression and anxiety and tumult as we all try to make our way through this pandemic, there’s nothing easy or known about it. And the only thing that’s certain is that nothing is certain.
But trudge forward. We have to go through the slog, we go, and I hope that in this podcast and in this way, we are going to just try to think our way into things that does not take away the emotional and physical and financial reality that so many of us face ourselves in.
But the way through it for a lot of us is to contemplate kind of where we are and what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. And, in that flavor. We get down to the roots of, business and the foundations of business, because it’s the house you’re going to stand on no matter what, whether it’s, well, whatever it’s meant to be, the foundation needs to be strong and that’s what the work is here for.
So today we’re going to talk about constraints. There’s nothing new about constraints. Everybody lives in constraints. I’ve never met an artist that doesn’t come up with constraints, whether that’s budget, whether that’s geography, whether that’s style, whether that’s even access to materials and labor, we all live in constraints.
It is truly the essence of our world. We do with what we have, we do with what we have. And what, what I’m trying to tie together now is the, the simple reality that the pandemic and what the virus has done has just introduced an, albeit massive, but simply a new constraint. The idea that every physical interaction that we have now must be justified.
Why are we having it? And there will be judgment on both sides. Something that doing this at the time, right after Memorial Day and, and those of you in the United States that are listening to this, can certainly relate to the idea that there was a pool party in the Ozarks in Missouri where people were not wearing masks and were, you know, close to in, in celebrating.
And in normal times that would be fantastic and everyone would think that was a great thing. And, and yet the government said that was an awful thing. And so, What I want to be able to say about that is that we are now in a place where we have to judge physical interaction, and that is a new constraint.
And so when we operate in that frame, we then have to get back to really talking to ourselves how we would manage ourselves given that new constraint, and the only way to do that is to be convicted into what we most believe in, and that gets us to absolutely talk about the underneath. And through the underneath we talk about the apple tree and from the apple tree we talk about horses for courses.
And so let’s land that. For sure, for sure. Well, the underneath is why you create the art that you do, and it has nothing to do with the manifestation of that art. You don’t do it so that you can make a pretty statue.
You’re driven because perhaps you want to share a memory with somebody. Perhaps you are compelled to express your desire to spread color in the world. Whatever is underneath that’s driving you is what people are buying. They’re buying that so that they can invest that in themselves and receive it. The essence of what is underneath in how you do things.
And so that’s why you started in the first place. That’s why you got the desire to put out your shingle and say, Hey, I want to create art for a living. That is the underneath. That is the thing that you must hold onto. That is the one thing that matters. And so let’s take that idea. Let’s take that idea and say what the underneath is the underneath is a simple seed, and let’s call it a seed of an apple tree.
And so then let’s put that seed in the ground, which is what you did. You put the seed in the ground. And when you put the seed in the ground, you had no earthly idea whether or not a sapling would grow, right? You wouldn’t have any idea. There’s nothing that has changed about that. The only thing that has changed is that the new constraint has said, wait a second, is that apple tree still viable?
Well, we’re not there quite yet because we’re still tending to the apple tree to see whether or not it will grow. So we’re back to the idea. And most of us are back to the idea about seeing whether or not the apple tree will grow.
Here’s a fun fact about apple trees. It takes about three to five years for them to bear fruit. So if you put that into your vision of your creative business, and if you were just starting, it kind of parallels, right? In the sense of the following, you’re going to put the seed in the ground. You’re going to tend to it. The tree might die instantly, and in a lot of places, here’s where we are. That is what we’re talking about today.
Is it the new constraint? Will it, will it ruin your business? And for so many of us, the idea of is it, will it ruin our business? But yet you have to put the seed in the ground. That’s the parallel. And so you have to tend to it. You have to know the underneath, you have to be convicted in underneath and you have to tend to it.
And hopefully it’s going to grow like wildfire and yet it still might die. And so your attitude absolutely is. Wait a second. Um, am I trying to just tend to this and keep the tree alive and do what I’m going to do? Um, well, yeah, because it’s so young and it might die. But then as the tree grows older, it becomes stronger and a gale won’t blow it over.
And here it is, you have your first client, you have, you know, your second client, your third client, and maybe if you mess up with a client at this point, she’s still not going to die, right? And you mess up with a couple of clients. Yeah, you’re not going to survive. But really, the tree is becoming hardier and hardier.
And so by the time it bears fruit, it’s pretty hardy tree and meaning that you would have to work harder to Kill it, then to keep it alive. Well, guess what? If that’s where you are in your creative business, in this situation, given new constraint, wonderful. But if you’re not, then maybe you do have to tend to it and you do have to pay attention to it more, but eventually the tree is going to bear fruit. And for most of you, it has already bared fruit.
So then the question is, and this is where it becomes very relevant to where we are today, because most apple trees for the first year, obviously it bears fruit. And the fruit that it bears is enough, right? You probably could pick every apple, right? You probably could, you know, figure out a way to, to manifest every apple.
So you’re young and hungry. You’re going to take on a few more projects and you probably could desire and things like that. And maybe you have a few friends that can help you eat the apples, right? So you can kind of be in the hustle mode, if you will, really strong, young tree bearing a ton of fruit, but eventually the apple tree gets older.
And when the apple tree gets older and more mature, and those roots dig ever deeper, you know what happens? More fruit comes more fruit than you can possibly eat more fruit that you can possibly get even if you have a bunch of friends helping you pick the apples, you can’t possibly eat all the apples.
And so remember the conversation about the seed. Remember the conversation about the underneath. Remember conversation about what it is that matters most. Well, think about that. If shiny, delicious apples, even today, even this time of pandemic are looking on the ground. Well, maybe I could go do this that or the other thing. And maybe I could pivot and do, do whatever it would be. And I loathe the word pivot because the idea of it is, is like, where can I go and say, Oh, there’s a shiny apple. There’s a shiny apple. They’re all on the ground. All those shiny apples that hit the ground and you’re like, Oh my God, I got to figure out what to do with them.
But here’s the thing about apples on the ground. They’re already dead. It’s a matter of time before they rot. The only ones that really matter are the ones that are still on the tree. The ones that are shiny and delicious and perfect on the tree. And those are the only ones that matter.
Those are the only ones that will give you this idea of what can be. Those will be the essence of the tree. The essence, the best availability of what is possible from the tree going forward. Taking the wisdom of the tree and giving it life in the best manifestation it can. So while you’re busy looking down at all the stuff that’s about to die, the life is when you look up.
So I’m imploring you today to look up, to look up to the shiniest apple. To consider that what will manifest for you tomorrow as you work your way through this pandemic will be the shiniest apple that lives on the tree. And that means you must look at what’s underneath. You must look at the essence of why you create and, you know, if you’ve listened to the, to the previous episodes, that’s wonderful, but what I’m really getting at is the outrageous promise, the outrageousness, the authenticity of what it is that you do, that you’re willing to basically die for.
The idea that this is the shiniest apple. Now, do we know that that shiniest apple is going to be the most juiciest, delicious and the biggest one? No, we don’t know that, right? It’s on the tree. It’s living on the tree, but we’re looking up and we’re hoping for it. And that is what brings us to Horses for Courses.
I grew up with horses my whole life and I have family that’s in the standard bred trotting and pacing business. And so, I loved horse racing all the time. And the horse’s point is… That some horses are meant to run a mile and a half. Some horses are meant to run less than a mile. And some horses are meant to run on grass. Some horses are meant to run on dirt. Some horses are meant to run in the rain. And some horses are meant to run when it’s really, really hot. Horses for courses. So sometimes you get that rare, rare horse that can run no matter where you put him or her. It’s great.
That’s great for the vast majority of them. It only works if they’re put in position for success. So now if you take the whole thing and put it together, during this time of pandemic, you now have a new constraint that says, Hey, this is what I have to do for regarding physical interaction. This is what that means for my business and how I’m going to deliver on my promise to create amazing art.
So then I’m planted my seed and I’ve had maybe an apple tree and maybe I have to prune that apple tree. But instead of looking what’s already on the ground, those shiny apples that maybe I’ve eaten before, but I can’t possibly eat. I’m going to realize that some of those shiny apples, they’re just meant to die and there’s nothing I can do about it.
So instead I’m going to look up and as I look up and look at the shiniest apple, I’m going to make a decision about what it takes to most nurture that apple to foresight the idea that the tree would ever die. It won’t die. Right. It won’t die. It’s not meant to die. But what in order for that shiniest apple to be what it is, it needs the right horse.
And that means you have to be free in today’s world to make sure that the people that will help you or those people work for you or those people are your freelancers or your production partners or even your clients, are the right horses for what it is you want to accomplish. That is true alignment. True alignment is knowing what is the shiniest apple on your tree that is born out of the seed that you planted for some of you decades ago and then bringing them forward and then being free to allow yourself to let go of what was because what was is no longer given our new constraint. And find those people that are most invested in accomplishing what you most want to happen for the apple that is now living on your tree that is the shiniest most delicious apple. And that is a place you’re going to head. So that is pure alignment. And what I would tell you is to be fearless about it.
There is no sense in keeping somebody around, whether that is a production partner, a client, an employee that does not see the world as you see it. That does not appreciate where you are today. They may have seen it yesterday, but today is a new day. And you have to be free to give yourself the opportunity to make that shiniest apple as shiny as it possibly can be and nourish it and feed it. And when you do that, what you’re going to do is allow yourself the freedom to express what is always true about your art.
Your art is eternal. Your art transcends its medium. Always. A new constraint is simply a new constraint, and how we handle that new constraint has to be contemplated simply because it’s a new constraint. I am most certainly not in a judgment one way or another, but the question is, is what happens when that constraint gets forced on you?
It means that others will flourish, right? Of course, your digital technique has to improve. What does that mean for you? Does it mean what, that you’re not going to just simply do it? Of course, you’re going to go learn it, but it’s not about learning to be better digitally. What it is is about is like, how does it relate to the essence of what you want to share with the world?
And then how do you align yourself to see this is what the shiniest apple is, and to actually go for it, to go the other way to, instead of saying, I have to do what I can to stay alive. I have to look up and see the shiniest apple and appreciate that, that is born out of the essence of my art. And if I have been fortunate enough to make a living here before the Pandemic well, then going forward, it’s just going to be even more, right?
It may be expressed wildly differently, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s the shiniest apple. And once you get to that place, you will release the idea that the people that are helping you for what was yesterday no longer are available and you will free yourself, free yourself to have those people around you that will nourish the apple that you most want to take care of. And that’s my point today.
