Season 1 – MC10: Unlearning Excellence with Caroline Winegeart

What this episode covers

In Episode 10 of The Mindful Creator, I sit down with friend and fellow misfit Caroline Winegeart to discuss what it takes to find our true core as creative entrepreneurs so that we can create from a place of genuine satisfaction vs. external validation. Caroline is a designer, illustrator, and happiness hunter with a passion for helping creatives become their best, most vibrant selves. She creates authentic, unique branding and design work through her studio, Made Vibrant, and writes on her blog about personal development for soulful creatives. Link Love Connecting with your Core – Caroline Winegeart The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future – Chris Guillebeau Creating is exploring – Brett Henley In this Episode * Caroline shares her journey from academic overachiever to a promising career in the agency world, and talks about the radical shifts that led her to becoming a creative entrepreneur. * Why our cultural definition of excellence is puritanical at best and downright soul sucking at worst (why the hell we need to unlearn this, fast). * The struggle to create from a truly aligned inner self (i.e. for ourselves) vs. creating for the acceptance of others. * Creating vs. selling – how can we rectify the troubled relationship between passion and profit? * Why a deeper purpose (and a commitment to that purpose) should be the foundation that you build from, remain connected to – always. * Why you should expect for this evolve as you grow – don’t be alarmed … put down the finger and yank the batteries from the panic button. * Why we push and strive to meet an arbitrary standard that is more true to a cardboard cutout of a human being, and why the power shows up when we step out of that and become authentic to our true selves. * Why Caroline thought happiness was the gauge to measure quality of life, and why she realized that discovering her unique values and beliefs completely shifted her perspective on the why behind her work. * The irony of drowning in an ocean of best practices and the difficulty of trying to differentiate as creators. * Creating overlap with what you do, what the world might need and what you love, and why it’s difficult trying to serve all three masters at once. * Why we should figure out what we love before we figure out how to serve. Why not everyone is wired for the same flavor of influence, and why our resistance to accepting the uncertainty of our path to success is what brings us out of alignment. * Why settling into your own sense of authentic self will attract the right people for your business. * Why it’s important to listen when our body is telling us that we’re out of creative alignment. * Finding joy in your work is a process – simply being an entrepreneur doesn’t guarantee happiness. * The importance of asking, “What would this life really look like, and do I really want it?” * Why you can’t intellectualize your true core as a creator – it takes exploration and experimentation. * Caroline – “If you want to be a creative that’s going to be internally satisfied vs. externally validated, it has to come from a deep desire to continually question yourself and your actions and your intentions – it’s just part of the DNA.”

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