102 - Making something that you believe in

To find a purpose in life, or a reason for a living, you've got to make something that you believe in. Music and links from this episode Action Decisive Move by Komiku This or That by MindsEye good looking instrumental by Yshwa Line-by-line notes As designers and creators We make things every day Design, artwork, videos, podcasts, writing, anything Whatever creative pursuit we follow Whatever our medium is It’s 10 times more powerful 100 times more powerful If what you’re making, you believe in. This is AADA, and I’m Craig Burgess When I started this podcast On January 1st 2017 I started it for the wrong reasons I’d long since wanted to make a podcast As I’ve been interested in the medium for a long time But I chose the wrong style of podcast to make I was making a podcast because I wanted to market my business I wanted to market myself And I wanted to increase my profile in the marketing world But, that was wrong on so many levels Because I’d set my podcast up to talk about design, marketing and business I mainly focused on marketing and business As I knew that was what most of my clients would find most useful… For me to give information about I had a massive problem though It was a huge elephant in the room that I chose to ignore That all this marketing and business talk Just wasn’t me And I didn’t believe in it I’m a designer at heart, and I love, eat and breathe design I’m interested in other stuff too like human performance And psychology But none of that straight forward business stuff I really believed in Or was interested by Straight out of the blocks, my podcast was doomed from episode one There was no way I was ever going to make a success of something I didn’t believe in Some people might categorise success by the download numbers, and they were strong and getting stronger But I didn’t feel successful, I felt trapped in something I didn’t enjoy I didn’t believe in my podcast, or my content And I didn’t have the passion or drive to carry it on I figured it out late in the game that I needed to make something that I WANTED to make Not what I thought would make me successful, whatever that even means I was making something that I didn’t really dare share on my personal Facebook timeline Because I knew most of my friends wouldn’t enjoy it And I never listened back to any of my episodes after I’d produced them Because I didn’t enjoy listening back to them either Everything was wrong Just, so wrong Now, looking back at it, I can’t believe how stupid or tunnel visioned I’d become with it But hindsight always has perfect vision With my new style of podcast? I guess it’s not so new now… It might sound a bit weird, but I actually enjoy listening back to my episodes now I make something that I enjoy producing, and that I enjoy listening to I make something that I think is good, and I make it for myself