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Susie deVille is Buoyant
218 Plays2 years ago
Susie deVille is on a mission to show entrepreneurs the power of trusting themselves. Work lighter while making higher profits. Eliminate self-doubt. To stop trying to overachieve one’s way into a sense of self, but rather lean into the surprising power of innate creativity. Her new book, Buoyant: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Becoming Wildly Successful, Creative, and Free, shows you how.
In this transformational book, Susie shares the tools and exercises you need to tap into creativity, cultivate inspiration, and become your best, truest self.
Buoyant helps you shed the belief that being an entrepreneur means prioritizing productivity at all costs. Instead, Susie invites you to embrace an easier path to success and freedom. She provides all the knowledge you need to end burnout and live an artful life of joy.
Buoyant is The Artist’s Way for entrepreneurs. The way to creativity is to be wild, bold. Unapologetically yourself. Your voice and vision matter. You can positively impact the world, one idea, one person at a time.
https://innovationandcreativityinstitute.com/book/
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Kendall Ante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
Emotional Journey of Audiobook Recording
00:00:18
Speaker
What I found out when I started the first several chapters and my intention was so strong to hold and transmit just love and compassion to whoever was listening because if I have someone who is where I was on the emotional gurney, as I say, I wanted them to feel
00:00:48
Speaker
the possibility that this was okay, that they were going to be able to do this, and it's possible for them if they just have a little tiny bit of willingness.
00:01:00
Speaker
And so at the end of these recording sessions, I was a puddle. And I was exhausted. And I thought, gosh, this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I mean, who would have thought that reading your own book was going to be so hard? But thank you for saying that because I was just so concerned that I wasn't delivering
00:01:26
Speaker
in the way that I had intended.
Release of 'Buoyant' on Audible
00:01:28
Speaker
Well, you delivered and folks was talking with Susie Deville and here's the thing, when Susie and I talk, we're not quite sure whether to record it. We just record, we just go ahead because we're just talking. You listen to something rather than nothing podcast and I'm super excited because I've had Susie on the show before and
00:01:51
Speaker
I think what I'm really excited about is that Susie's got a new book called Boyant. And to give you a sense, listeners, it came out yesterday, and I got the audiobook, which was instantly delivered through Audible. And listening to Susie's new book, now I'm familiar with her work. But what an incredible book. And Susie was just talking about
00:02:17
Speaker
recording the audio book. I just want to say first off, before we launch with Suzy, just a wonderful audio book, a great way to connect with what Suzy is talking about. And one of the pieces I'll tell you right now, listeners, and Suzy,
Interactive Activities in 'Buoyant'
00:02:37
Speaker
I was using, I was listening to the book Boyin and there's activities in there and everybody who listens, you know, when you have activities or if you listen on an audio book, like, oh, how the heck I have to do something and I'm doing this or that. But one of the things was really cool was there was an activity that Susie was talking about and I was at work and I was at the desk.
00:02:59
Speaker
And I had 15 minutes prior to a meeting that I had. And Susie said on the audio book, all right, here's the next activity. And it was about sketching. And you'll need about 15 minutes. And I said, damn, I have no excuse.
00:03:16
Speaker
to not do Susie's activity because my meeting's in 15 minutes. I'm listening. She's talking me and telling me how to do it. And so I did anyway, so the activity. Yeah, the activity was super accessible. But let's let's let you talk, Susie. You got a new you got the new book buoyant. We had talked about it when you're on the podcast last time.
00:03:41
Speaker
It's an important book, I'm enjoying it, but that's me, that's me. What's it like getting this book out?
Book Launch Emotional Rollercoaster
00:03:48
Speaker
What's it feeling right now and what's going on and promoting it? Well, thank you so much for having me back on. Talking with you is just such a hoot and it's fun and it's a great brain stretching exercise at the same time. And I described the way the book
00:04:09
Speaker
being out feels this morning like this, riding a bike on Christmas morning. Because you have all these fantasies when you're writing the book, when you're on the other side of the production and you're not quite sure how the marketing is going to go, but you let yourself dream that it's going to get out there eventually and that people are going to respond to it.
00:04:38
Speaker
And then, of course, leading up to the launch, the imposter syndrome descends like a curtain and you start worrying. No one's going to like it. No one's going to read it or listen to it. And so when it
00:04:54
Speaker
launched yesterday, and it was just this immediate response from people. And I was just completely elated and relieved, but just felt so much pride and love for all of the people who really surrounded me in community yesterday.
00:05:20
Speaker
cheering me on, sharing the message, putting things on social media. And you're in that category as well, Ken. So thank you. Of course, of course. So it just means everything when you have this tender little
00:05:35
Speaker
fledgling thing that you're putting out into the world and you're hoping that it is received well and that it has, that it garners traction. So to have those people in your life who are so incredibly generous with their talents and their time and their hearts means the world. So I'm so grateful. Well, and on that, not to jump in there, Susie, but
00:06:03
Speaker
A lot of people have been waiting for the book and I think some of the big ideas that you have...
00:06:09
Speaker
you know, in that book,
Health, Inspiration vs. Hard Work
00:06:10
Speaker
people have known about them. So I understand from the individual authorship, you're like, oh, geez, I mean, I'd feel the same way as anybody read this damn thing. I've been talking about it for a while. The launch date's now Labor Day was yesterday. Everybody's too busy. Everybody's released a new podcast and shows and music. How the heck do I get in there? But no, it's it's it's noticed. And, you know, I think it's something to build on because it's the it's the ideas that that that you have in there.
00:06:38
Speaker
And I know I think I might have cut you off there, Susie, but one of the things I was just wondering about is the response to the ideas, to the general
00:06:58
Speaker
idea that we talk about things of stagnation. We talk about anxiety overriding our personality or stress. And we think we're doing the right thing. We think we're performing the right way. And I think a huge key in your book
00:07:17
Speaker
is an eye towards healthfulness, things like meditation, movement, just sound principles to get to a different place where you're breathing and acting in accordance to yourself. That sounds like a big, big idea, but it is a move towards health, it feels like, to me.
00:07:42
Speaker
The big ideas in there, Susie, some of the things you're trying to express and moving towards healthfulness. What about those?
Philosophy of Inspired Action - The Five M's
00:07:51
Speaker
Yes. So, you know, the prevalent advice to entrepreneurs and creators of all stripes is that
00:07:59
Speaker
if we are going to reach the success that we crave so much, that we're going to have to work more, we're going to have to find greater productivity, we're going to have to instill more discipline, buckle down, burn the boats, we can sleep when we're dead, all those
00:08:22
Speaker
mythological adages that are thrown at us constantly. And my book is the complete opposite of that advice. And the reason is that when we are in a state of burnout and overwhelm and being stuck, we are riddled with self-doubt.
00:08:46
Speaker
And in that physiological state, the focus of our attention narrows like an animal that's under attack.
00:08:56
Speaker
This literally focuses us just directly in front of us, and we lose that broader perspective, that greater awareness. Our IQ decreases, the anxiety goes up, and also we lose this fantastic access to the executive prefrontal cortex, which serves as the traffic cop for the amygdala part of our brain
00:09:25
Speaker
which is putting us into this fight or flight stance. So in that energetic state, an emotional state, we are feeling as if
00:09:40
Speaker
We have to just do more. And the only path out of this icky feeling that we have is to try to overachieve and run from the sense that we're not good enough or that we don't have what it takes.
00:09:58
Speaker
And that just puts us further and further away from the ability to access the magic of what is uniquely ours, which is our intuition, our ideas, and our
00:10:13
Speaker
imagination. So my prescription is to begin with the concept that everything stems from inspired action. And when I say inspiration, I don't mean the light bulb over the head, epiphany. I mean the breathing in of beauty, art, nature, doing what we love, doing what brings us alive.
00:10:43
Speaker
letting that fill the reservoirs of our soul and repair us. That is enough to get us to the next step, which is, in my book, what I talk about are the five M's. And you mentioned two of them. One is morning pages, a la Julia Cameron, which are three pages of journaling every day.
00:11:11
Speaker
meditation, movement, moments of inspired learning, and the last is making something. And I had a woman a couple of days ago approach me and say, Susie, I'm so overwhelmed.
00:11:26
Speaker
I'm so frightened. I can see this uncertainty in the economy and my brain is shutting down. And I love what you're talking about in this book. I've been watching, you know, you be interviewed and I have seen some snippets of the content online.
00:11:46
Speaker
But I'm afraid I can't do this. I'm afraid that I don't have what it takes. And I'm really frightened. And I told her, I said, I wrote the book for you. I mean, you're exactly who I wrote the book
Entrepreneurial Mindset for All
00:12:00
Speaker
for. You're the earlier version of me. You're where I was in 2008.
00:12:08
Speaker
And so I said, let's just break it down. If you can do the inspiration piece and just one of the M's, start with morning pages. Yeah. Yeah. And let that be enough to get you going.
00:12:25
Speaker
Yeah, I, um, in, in hearing that, um, and I, on the M's, uh, I, I was, I was recently listening to that section in, in, in the book. And, and for me, you know, I'm a, I'm a paid or paid critic. I'm a trained critic. Like, look, I studied philosophy in college, right? Everything that appears in words or, you know, there's a critical element to it. Is this, is this true? Is, is, is this useful? And then in my work.
00:12:54
Speaker
Working for a labor union my goodness talk about oppositional and this is wrong and that rule wasn't followed right so habituation, you know around that but with the I just want to talk about The the EMS and just as far as like an individual talking about what what I heard I'm gonna be starting the morning pages because when I've heard about them There's been a block of me doing those but I honestly telling you Susie I believe morning pages are the number one
00:13:24
Speaker
fundamental thing for me to do to get rid of the trash in my head. So that's where I am with that. I've been meditating for a long time. Anybody who's meditating wants to do it more, have more time for it with the meditation movement. When the pandemic started,
00:13:43
Speaker
for movement, I started walking deliberately each day. So I went from intermittent whatever I happened to walk to 10 to 12,000 steps a day with movement. And that helped me survive and live through the pandemic by adding movement.
00:14:05
Speaker
And what was the part about the inspiration? And I know making something is making some, hey, there's something rather than nothing, a podcast, make stuff. But the inspired part, could you cover that point again? Sure. That's moments of inspired learning. And when people first hear me talk about it, they're like, oh my gosh, I don't have,
00:14:28
Speaker
I don't have any more time to cram in more things to do. And so I just want to be clear, you can read an inspirational quote out of a book. You can search on YouTube for your favorite poet and let them read to you aloud, which is one of my favorite things. So it doesn't have to be time-laden or complicated.
00:14:54
Speaker
or distracting. It can just be like a little morsel of fresh perspective and a little blanket of a soul medicine before you start your day. I love that and you know the thing is folks who have gone through some trials and the development they have and I'm thinking of
00:15:18
Speaker
I'm 13 years sober from alcohol on September 9th. My sobriety date is 999. I won't give up that sobriety date. Yeah, it's pretty mystical. I'm thinking about folks, alcoholics in the meetings and struggling. They got our book, right? You read it. You read it. You read one quote from
00:15:42
Speaker
Johnny schwick in ohio who this is how he stayed sober and you read it you're like shit That's what I needed today. Boom. I mean, there's something that spires somebody said something that there's a poetic thing or So I think in accentuating your point make it easy There's there's beauty a paint that's beauty all around just grab a piece of beauty and look at it, right? Listen, it's so true. I'm so glad that you brought that up because
00:16:11
Speaker
With regard to the inspirational quote that you were referencing, I believe that it's not only the content of the quote that we're reading that makes us change our energetic state, but it's also this almost mystical connection that that quote came to you in that moment is
00:16:39
Speaker
just a beautiful evidence of grace. I mean, to me, that makes you feel like there's, there's this I'm being held and guided in a benevolent universe. And that can change your perception that can get you just five yards down the field.
00:17:01
Speaker
in the right direction. And with regard to seeing beauty, we are able to access beauty. You don't have to live. It certainly helps if you live in a place that's beautiful, but you can find beauty on the top of your desk. If we shift our perception and we look for what may be considered unexpected beauty,
00:17:29
Speaker
We can find surprising evidence of incredible design or shadows or the way that the light on your desk has been constructed, whatever. You can you can find amazement and wonder if you just go searching for it. Yeah. Yeah. We're talking with Susie Deville and a nice time to chat with Susie, her new book, Boyant.
00:17:59
Speaker
Uh, available all major outlets in a via audio
Personal Growth through Creativity
00:18:04
Speaker
book. Uh, really, really good book and listeners. I want to tell you like personally, um,
00:18:09
Speaker
You know, I think nowadays a lot of folks are looking for, you know, self-help and it's like anything in human life. It's all varied. Some of it's super, some of it's good. And I know maybe a lot of us have heard recently through the pandemic about things like breathing, but these are some sound fundamentals. And I got to, I told you this, Susie, or at least hinted at it when I sent you an email. I think, you know, for me, look, I'm, you know, I'm a union guy here
00:18:39
Speaker
in Oregon and you know, I'm down with your ideas and the powerful ideas and we have that connection. But I think a lot of times people are like, I don't know, like what the heck? There's this book and I'm supposed to be buoyant. And I'm like, politics are shit in this country and it's 110 degrees. You know, like there's this, you know, there's this, people are struggling and you know, there's this kind of skepticism or something.
00:19:09
Speaker
What I want to say, what I want to say, and we may, you know, you can, you can address this around the, on the skepticism. What I want to say is that one of the pieces for me as an American 50 year old male that I learned from my mom, even though she never said it out loud.
00:19:33
Speaker
was that I have gotten my advice and help and I've taken risks and just grabbed and moved towards it. And a lot of times it's feminine or seem to be feminine from the outside. I'll give you an example. There's a book called You Are the Medicine by Aisha Frost. And the cover of the book is illustrated by Steph Littlebird. She's been on the show.
00:20:01
Speaker
And it's a beautiful book based on, uh, I don't want to say native wisdom, but you know, native thinking and knowledge and also very feminine tied to the moons and what they mean. Now, when you go through this book, the activities are for everybody.
00:20:16
Speaker
And the overarching thing, you might think, moons, that's women, that's women. And one of the things I'm talking about, the influence of my mom, was I will move into these areas without these preconceptions of how the ideas or who's saying these ideas and to be around them. That process has been really useful to me, but I think that's overcoming a skepticism or
00:20:39
Speaker
Gender identity or where do I get my? Information from I think maybe all of this Can lead to maybe a skepticism or reluctance to listen to you Susie but but what do you what do you what do you think about that you encounter that or Well, I understand that position I because we are trained in
00:21:07
Speaker
in our culture to believe that the world is set up a certain way and that entrepreneurship and self-help
00:21:21
Speaker
maybe these esoteric notions that seemingly don't apply to our lives. And so the way that I like to talk about entrepreneurship is not just the world of people who are starting businesses and running businesses. It is a very
00:21:45
Speaker
empowering way to move through the world and it's a very empowering mindset.
00:21:54
Speaker
So if you are a union guy or someone who is employed within a corporation or the government or a nonprofit, these principles are so important for everybody because what they do is bring agency back to your own life.
00:22:21
Speaker
They return you to a place of self trust, to a place of agility and to a place of being able to persuade others to consider your vantage point, your opinion, what you're advocating for. And I know no other
00:22:50
Speaker
human who's doing important work as you are doing, where those skill sets are not just vital to your everyday existence and to the work that you're doing. All of us, I believe, are seeking to have some kind of an impact in the world
00:23:08
Speaker
And we have so many global and national and regional challenges that having an entrepreneurial mindset sets you up in such a powerful way to be successful. And if you lean away from the concept of self-help, which can tend to be steeped in this notion that we have
00:23:36
Speaker
these defects that we have to bleach out of ourselves in order to have value. And that's absolutely not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about embracing the stretching of ourselves, embracing learning and going on a playful adventure that's more about possibility and optimism than it is about
00:24:04
Speaker
running away from some version of ourselves that we don't think is good enough. It's a very different mindset, a very different energetic state. So if you approach things from a, well, let's just see or let's experiment or I wonder what's possible.
00:24:26
Speaker
Then you open up to all kinds of new ideas and that serves us in our personal lives and in our professional lives, whether we have a business or not. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I've found, um, and, and, and just talking to Susie about, uh, like the general dynamic that you describe of, um,
00:24:49
Speaker
the state you were in and that we can get in of a burden of unhealthiness of not being in accord with ourselves about not using our creative energy. That's a state that we could find any of us. And I felt myself at times deeply within it.
Persistence in Creative Work
00:25:07
Speaker
recently recently there's been things I pushed myself to as far as Looking not looking for more inspiration or viewing what I'm doing more in a more inspirational manner with people and one of the one the pieces I find Susie and I'm really interested in your thoughts on this and I Get it
00:25:32
Speaker
You know, like I said, I love the book and I'm down and I'm doing the work. And that's me. My work is connected with probably a lot of people that you work with to a lot of other people. And I think one of the things that has happened for me through some difficult times in COVID was I have not been able to see myself, my work, which I think is fundamentally sound as far as work or empowerment, reflected
00:26:03
Speaker
in those who I influence because of the the circumstances and it's just that was a dynamic where I would you know in in interpolate that into myself and saying i'm not seeing the opening and then in the breathing i was trying to do it myself now i've seen a
00:26:28
Speaker
tweak certain things and certain things have changed. And I see opening up around me in my work creatively and with work. So right around this point, I'm feeling components of what you're talking about and by doing the work and getting towards that. It's almost like a near term example of, you know, of, of, of doing that. What do you find, uh, about the individual, right? And you know, you're doing the work and,
00:26:58
Speaker
If you have trouble in going to the world, you know, and you're going to the world with this, how should we approach that when we're doing good work? And the example is, I'm doing your stuff, I'm trying to reflect it, I'm trying to put that energy out there, taking myself, and now I'm 12 years into this, nothing's changing, you know, like that type of dynamic.
00:27:21
Speaker
So when you say nothing's changing, you're referring to the response in the marketplace. Yeah, it's like it's if you I mean, I think fundamentally, I think we should, you know,
00:27:36
Speaker
be comfortable with our worth and what we're doing. But I could say even for myself, a lot of times we take the out there as the results oriented that, all right, this is what I did. How come it's not being reflected back to me on the outside? That dynamic. Well, I think that that's something that all of us have a challenge with in any field, whether we're an entrepreneur,
00:28:03
Speaker
or working within a corporation or are employed elsewhere, there is this incredible human desire to be a part of an interconnected community that shares our values and also embraces the gifts that we are putting out into the world. And so when that is not,
00:28:34
Speaker
Rapidly done and we do not receive evidence quickly We can turn in on ourselves and we can believe that That's evidence that what we're doing is wrong. That's evidence that what we're about is not Embraced and we can get very frustrated and we can feel very isolated as a result and I can say that
00:29:04
Speaker
The path through that is simply to continue doing the work because it is like a snowball effect and people will continue to come to the circle of you and support you and respond to your work in greater and greater numbers.
00:29:31
Speaker
The more clear you are on what brings you alive and the more clear you are on what is you authentically and what is not you,
00:29:45
Speaker
the more clear your desired market can feel, see and hear you. Because the competition is insane. The noise in the marketplace is incredibly high. So if we're watching what everybody else is doing, and we somehow believe that we have to copy this or
00:30:11
Speaker
take on that advice or fold ourselves into a pretzel to appear in a certain way, we've lost that magnetic part of us. And so the magnetic part of us becomes supercharged when we are in alignment with who we truly are and we have gotten to the gut
00:30:37
Speaker
And of who we truly are and are working and living and creating from that place. So how do we do that? I firmly believe the inspiration piece and the five M's on a on a daily basis and you don't have to do all five things at the at the same time.
00:31:02
Speaker
But when we are making and keeping daily promises to ourselves, we are showing up in the world in a very different energetic stance. And that is insanely attractive to the marketplace. And I would argue that nothing is sexier to the market than somebody who is creating and being their true selves.
00:31:33
Speaker
And we're afraid because we don't want to be judged. We're afraid to be too visible sometimes because we're always going back and forth between the imposter syndrome
Paris Trip Giveaway for 'Buoyant'
00:31:48
Speaker
and I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. And if we stay in small wins every day,
00:32:21
Speaker
just profound thoughts. I love it. It's very helpful. And I love to hear you carry us along with that. That makes a lot of sense. But now let's talk about, you got a book out. Let's talk about the wild stuff that's going on with the book and events and that type of thing. Was there a trip to Paris? And I remember
00:32:28
Speaker
the market is going to catch up
00:32:41
Speaker
like what's up with that this ain't no regular old book Susie Deville it's too late folks listeners but he could have like gone to Paris it's what's going on with the book let me tell you about why Paris is in the mix
00:33:01
Speaker
Well, there's no question. Once you see Paris, there's no question why it's in the mix. Paris is Paris. Go ahead. So I was a world traveler, have been a world traveler since I was 16 years old. I was very blessed to have parents who were enamored with travel, and I was taken places. And then when I moved up to Boston and started working in the publishing industry, I started traveling again.
00:33:31
Speaker
I traveled, I backpacked through Europe after I graduated from college. I moved overseas and lived in London for a couple of years and traveled all over the world then. Then when I moved back to Highlands and had a family, the international travel came to a screeching halt. And in 2014, I started traveling again and I chose Paris as my first destination. And being in that city after
00:34:00
Speaker
being in Europe after having not been for over two decades. And I realized, speaking of doing things that bring you alive,
00:34:11
Speaker
I had put the jumper cables back to my soul and I was just electric in that city and I was so having so much fun. So when I was thinking about a fun promotion for the book, I wanted to have a trip to Paris be a part of that bonus structure so that someone who maybe needs that
00:34:37
Speaker
same jumpstart to their soul would have the same opportunity. And so I included that as a as a promotional item for the book and then drew the winner yesterday during the live stream. Yeah. Yeah. So she's losing her mind. She's so excited. So happy. So happy for the Paris. Yes. I went to Paris once. I was like,
00:35:04
Speaker
again, cynical mind. Everybody said Paris is the bomb, it can't be the bomb. I go to Paris once and I'm like, oh my God, this city is love. Throw me into the Musée d'Orsay, throw me into these art museums, stick me in the room with my knees that are bigger than twice the size of me, and I'll see you in 2030. That type of dynamic.
00:35:31
Speaker
What else with the, you know, talking, you're talking to a bunch of people. Yes. What else? I'm going to be traveling. I'm doing a conference in Bloomington, Indiana, at the end of this month, which is called the Be Golden event. I really recommend folks who are looking to reenergize
00:35:55
Speaker
It's really an opportunity to hit the reset button and just get a new perspective and be with a lot of very fun creators. And from there, I go to Boston to the NACI conference and I'll be presenting there.
00:36:11
Speaker
if anybody is gonna be in Bloomington from, let's see, I get there on the 28th of September, I'll be there through the 1st, and then I'll be in Boston until the 8th of October. So I would love to meet up with folks if you're gonna be in those places, and then I'm gonna go to New York and do some book-related activities there, but I haven't gotten that itinerary quite
00:36:37
Speaker
nailed down yet, and I'm working on some really spectacular promotions, which I can't disclose just yet, but so there's some really fun things cooking. Get on the, at the end of this, Susie will drop down some of the, you know, where to find her and everything. Get on the mailing list, a lot of great ideas, a lot of activity.
00:36:59
Speaker
I read the damn Paris post two hours afterwards, but I've been there. So I almost, I almost been like, I don't want to put in cause there's going to be somebody who needs to get in there and get to Paris for the first time and have my first time at Paris or your rediscovered, you know, being there and being like, Oh damn. And I think for me, you know, I think there's no great secret in this. Uh, you might feel the same way, Susie. It's the art, it's the,
00:37:26
Speaker
And for me, it's these old streets. It's these just beauty or celebration of beauty, celebration of beauty, or pointing out things like this is really cool and beautiful. Look at it. It's the entire culture is devoted to beauty and design and the quality of one's life.
00:37:47
Speaker
I remember in December when I was there a couple of years ago, and I was in a cafe in the 6th of Rondesmont, which is one of my favorite parts of the city. And I was underneath one of those little strip heaters, and they give you little blankies for sitting outside and having escargot and this fabulous meal. And I'm thinking, I mean,
00:38:16
Speaker
And and so everything is designed for social enjoyment Incredible food beautiful displays in the windows and Swad the beef So how can you not love it? No, it's good. I'm really excited about that now and folks if you can catch Susie over there in Bloomington Bloomington, Indiana, which
Upcoming Appearances and Events
00:38:47
Speaker
I don't know. I went through there once. It was a wild spot to me. Indiana is always fascinating place and Boston near my old stomping grounds. Boston, you go check out Susie development. This is great stuff and the buoyant with details, with details coming along. Actually, Susie, why don't you, why don't you tell the folks right now how to find you and how to find all this stuff just so we don't forget at the end. Well, everybody's fine. Find you.
00:39:14
Speaker
So the book is called buoyant the entrepreneurs guide to becoming wildly successful successful creative and free. And it's also for students visionary leaders creators advocates of social change. So you can just take.
00:39:32
Speaker
Entrepreneur out and place one of those other words in the title and it and it the content works for just about everyone and My website is innovation compass or excuse me innovation and creativity Institute calm And if you want to find the book online, it's available at all the booksellers online as well as brick-and-mortar stores and
00:39:58
Speaker
So you can tuck into your favorite bookstore and get a copy there if you like I got a As I mentioned to you as I'm listening to audiobook and I was just wondering if you could mention about the physical copy of the book Is there some like around the activities and stuff like that? They're prompts like what's the just I know it's a book, but yeah Well, first of all, it's very pretty
00:40:23
Speaker
Very pretty. Very pretty. And it has French flaps. Speaking of Paris. Oh goodness. I need a copy for the French flaps. I mean, come on. You could have sold me French flaps and I even know exactly what they were. I'll buy some French flaps. I think I'm making a good call.
00:40:45
Speaker
But I'll show you. The book has exercises that are noted by little sketch pad or journal, icons and pencils and pens. And then there are inspirational quotes in here and also little sections every now and then called inspiration beacons that pop up.
00:41:08
Speaker
So it's beautifully designed. This was very intentionally done because I wanted the book to represent something that felt
00:41:23
Speaker
possible, accessible, and fun. Inviting, very inviting. And actually when you hold it in your hands, the cover has sort of a coating on it that is such a yummy tactile experience.
00:41:40
Speaker
Damn, again, deep into this, I thought my question might have flopped.
Tactile Design of 'Buoyant'
00:41:45
Speaker
Tell me about the book, and you'd be like, hey Ken, there's printed words inside. Oh no, no, this is- Well, no, no, this is tactile. If you are a paper analog person, you will cuddle this book.
00:42:00
Speaker
Nothing better than bookie glove. We're down. We're down with this. No, that's wonderful. I was interested because I was listening to it and obviously very different experience. In my head, I'm like, I bet you Suzy has this physical copy set up just the right way as well. Yes. It's so pretty. I love it. Yeah.
00:42:27
Speaker
and everybody that's available. And of course, like I mentioned on the audio book, Audible, and it was a very nice price, again, super accessible to get into the learning that Susie has. So, all right, so the book's out yesterday. Folks, you should check it out. One of the points I wanted to mention, Susie, and as you know,
00:42:53
Speaker
We jump around a bit. I think you asked for the questions. I don't even know if I've asked them. I just get excited talking. So one of the things I noticed as far as an inflection within the book was, and this part was really cool. When I'm listening to it sometimes, I don't know if I'm talking about
00:43:17
Speaker
healing yourself, being creative or the entrepreneur part. It's intermixed and you have these creative activities and I'm like, wait a second. I didn't know we're talking about being creative. Like if I stopped and thought about it, but there's this flow between it where it isn't so like I'm doing this because of that. I'm doing this because of that, that you're doing it and you flow into it. And that was a piece that was really noticeable to me because I think if you can look at books,
00:43:48
Speaker
that don't work or don't succeed even though they're trying. It's like you have some description or something like that. Then you have this clunky activity that's like, it's like jarring. It's not immersed. And what I'm saying is when you're asking the listener to do and help themselves, it's an immersed experience that really delves into creativity. And me doing the podcast, that's the main thing I'm asking is like,
00:44:12
Speaker
What joy is creativity bringing? Why do you do it all the time so that beautiful source in there? You just flow right between folks being creative in your book and I thought that was very successful. Can you tell us how you approached
00:44:31
Speaker
The activities and how they were supposed to you know, really support and get folks doing what they're supposed to be doing for themselves Yes Well, first of all, I have to say I am my tail is wagging with joy to hear you describe the exercise experience because that was precisely my intention I wanted to help introduce the world of creativity
00:45:00
Speaker
to the overwhelmed individual who may believe that that world is just not accessible to them, that they don't have the membership, that when the art talent was being passed around by somebody's wands, that they didn't get tapped on the head.
00:45:22
Speaker
So in order to get around those very common natural normal human fears and feelings, I wanted to come in almost from the side of the stage and just kind of whisper in your ear, here's something that you should try and then back up and get out of the way because
00:45:52
Speaker
When we're in that fight or flight mode, a gentle suggestion, we
00:46:02
Speaker
more easily adopt something like that. We more easily will try. But if it feels like school, or it feels like something else that we didn't enjoy or didn't succeed in, we're going to just skip over it. And it's not going to have the ability to transform us. So I wanted to help people
00:46:31
Speaker
just sort of start in the shallow end of the pool and build their courage and build their confidence little by little as the book progressed. Yeah, then maybe towards the end or two weeks after you get a habit, once you have the good habit, you're in. You're in. You're in once you have the good habit because it's the thing that you do. And it's working on you 24 hours a day.
00:46:59
Speaker
It's changing you 24 hours a day. And that point that we were talking about earlier about your market, your market sits up and starts paying attention in a very, very new way. Yeah. You said, I don't know, stuck in my head. You said you look sexy to the market. And I'm like, all right, let's get this.
00:47:20
Speaker
Let's get this podcast going here. I'm talking entrepreneurship and maybe it's the Waltzes in Paris and stuff like that. But no, seriously, Susie, there's an energy to it. There's an energy to it. And I think we could talk about your book, but I think it's always like I'm an organizer, right? I'm an arts organizer and I'm like a union organizer.
00:47:45
Speaker
I see the people who embody and who inhabit what they're doing.
Energy and Authenticity in Creativity
00:47:50
Speaker
There's an authenticity there. And there's such a huge draw around that. It's not like people aren't good or they're not worth it. They can be confused and suffering. But when you're, yes, the book, but yes, you saying, you know, shit, like there's a certain point I don't want to live
00:48:09
Speaker
with the heaviness, the burden, the anxiety, the always needing to do another thing or putting massive amounts of energy where I'm like, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. And just being like, whoa, okay. Like resetting that. And I think it's important
00:48:27
Speaker
Not to remove the personal because you you convey that and you communicate that from an organizing in the author's standpoint And there's such power in that I think sometimes we hide from that right artists, or we're taught maybe to hide from That and I think celebrating it and saying you know these are the thing these are the habits that I have this is the outlook that I have and here's how I'm connecting with what's really important to me and
00:48:54
Speaker
Should be showy about it be showy about it because I mean we must think it's a good path I think it's a good path you think it is and there's power to that and that's the piece that I Did that I really find moving and it's really important and what you're doing well I love all of what you just said in particular that I
00:49:18
Speaker
It is empowering, and it is attractive, and it is all about your energy. And I know how woo-woo that sounds. I know as a former frustrated, overwhelmed, cynical human, how that sounds almost like some kind of mystical, crazy talk.
00:49:45
Speaker
But it is available to us the path out of the place where we are not living a joyful life and we don't feel good in our own skin.
00:50:01
Speaker
and we feel a leadenness to our spirit. And all we're craving is to feel this lightness of being and this ability to connect with work that we love and people that we love and impact the world and make a mark in a way that we know that at the end of our lives, we can look back and say, I made a contribution here.
00:50:29
Speaker
and my life mattered. So in order for us to access that, we don't have to jump through a zillion hoops. That's the old lie that we have been taught our whole lives. In fact, doing less is the way forward to feel
00:50:52
Speaker
What is true for us means sometimes we have to tune everything else out for a while and just be able to hear ourselves think and to be able to access our own intuition and our own guidance system.
00:51:10
Speaker
that will power us through our days and our work in very unique ways because it's truly guided from our authentic, essential selves. Yeah. Yeah. I think, and I think, I think that's, that's, um, as a creator, as an entrepreneur, as a human, that's, that's, that's based in just the right, you know, in, in, in the right direction.
00:51:40
Speaker
Um, yeah, I, uh, I got this thing from the host, as you know, Susie, sometimes I'm like, I'm listening to you. I'm like, okay. You're like, I'm just listening now. Wait a second. I get a host. I get a host discussion on things. The other, the other host, uh, problem, which I must address is that.
00:51:55
Speaker
Every time I talk to Susie, I think Susie and I can talk for about 10 hours.
Encouragement and Free Coaching Offer
00:52:01
Speaker
But, you know, I think I just wanted to say, Susie, and I remember when we talked last time, a great conversation and
00:52:16
Speaker
And honestly, feeling changed and feeling the energy and the ideas, the excitement around the ideas. I believe, you know, we share that. And I remember that from last time, just like really enjoying the conversation. But for listeners, obviously, we've been talking about what Susie Deville about Boyan, just a really wonderful and helpful book, really pointed towards
00:52:43
Speaker
authentic selves and as as creators as humans that that's a big thing that's a big thing for us and kind of recalibrating and getting where you where you need to go the activities are fun and I'm not an activity guy like I'm so terrible like at activities that said
00:53:05
Speaker
I'm doing more and the habit like we talked about, Susie. You do it five days and then you're like, shit, that's what I do in the morning. And that's what I do in the morning. So that changes right there. Long-winded way to say is we always have to end with Susie, unfortunately. And just the best wishes for the book. Listeners, get to the book. Susie.
00:53:33
Speaker
in this moment right now with what's going on.
00:53:36
Speaker
with the book and the energy and what you do and any kind of final comments to take us out about what the world is right now and what your book is doing, that type of thing? Well, I want to just let the person know who may be listening to this, who feels maybe alone and overwhelmed and stuck or filled with self-doubt, just to start with the first M. And that's the morning pages M.
00:54:06
Speaker
which is the brainchild of Julia Cameron who wrote The Artist's Way. Just start with three pages, getting your thoughts out onto a piece of paper and let that be enough. Let that be your starting point. And as you continue to, as Ken just mentioned, build that habit
00:54:32
Speaker
You can add in some other things, but just let that five minutes be yours and let that be the ignition for changing your entire life. So I wish you all the best. And I hope that if you have questions on anything that's in the book or anything that we've talked about today, I'm going to give you my email address.
00:54:59
Speaker
which is Suzy S-U-S-I-E at innovationcompass.com. And the website is innovationandcreativityinstitute.com.
00:55:11
Speaker
You can reach me either place. And I always offer to people a free 30-minute coaching session. It's not a sales pitch because I had a time in my life where I could not afford coaching. And so I very happily offer that to everyone who's listening. Dang. Thanks, Susie.
00:55:37
Speaker
Well, you might figure I say, hey, folks, take advantage. Take advantage. And again, really, really appreciate you, Susie. And as you know, the episodes that I do, I mean, you know, they're important. They're important. They're good ways to
00:55:55
Speaker
And they don't have to be all completely serious, but they're important about ways to live and ways to create. And I love the energy that you infuse in just creativity and how that can help us push through our days. Sometimes they're just tough days. And if you've got some of those habits, it gets you through the day. And some days, I think maybe with those habits that you do,
00:56:19
Speaker
you produce a glorious thing, a glorious event or a glorious moment or a glorious painting or goodness, hey, a glorious podcast. Yeah. So thank you so much, Susie. Best of luck with this book. Everybody jump in and it's a good time for this type of energy in the world, Susie, the dolls.
00:56:46
Speaker
And guess what? I know for sure we'll be talking to Susie in the near future. Thanks again, Susie. Thank you so much. It's been so delightful to be with you again, Ken. This is something rather than nothing.