5 Tips for Unleashing Your Creativity by Using Your Capture Notebook

1. Every night before bed, grab your capture notebook, find a quiet place, put on some music to get you in a calm yet creative mood, get a red pen, close your eyes, replay the key events  of your day, then jot down talking points that you can dictate about in your audio journal. Naturally, jot down ideas throughout the day, but right before bed is the perfect time to find the colorful moments that slipped through the cracks. 

2. Write your word of the day for the entire month in the back of your capture notebook. Each day, write the word of the day in red in your capture notebook. When you do your dictation, use the word of the day in a sentence at some point in your entry and relate it to an event of the day.  

3. Whenever you ask quality questions in your notebook, write them in red so you can talk about them in your audio journal. Quality questions are immensely powerful. They get to the heart of things quickly. I receive supervision for my job as music therapist. Every two months my past supervisor - a very experienced and talented music therapist himself - helps me work through how to up my game. The first time we spoke, I was asking him a million questions and there was stress at work and my mentor interrupted me with a key question that stopped everything: Do you like the job? It was clear we weren’t moving on until I answered that crucial question. That’s what a great mentor can do: hold space for you in transformational moments.  

4. Any ideas related to new roles, sub-roles, mini-mission statement revisions, new goals, or project work should be written in red in your capture notebook and discussed in your audio journal.

5. Give a title to the day - something creative. It could be an unusual phrase someone used during the day or a zany image. 

Preventing Brain Rot

Brain rot is the word of 2024, according to Oxford University Press. They define it as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”

Sounds about right! It’s funny with an explosion in technology that we’ve collectively become dumber. I think it’s because we live at the surface level so much. We’re spoon fed our entertainment and news. 

I got my car maintained and while sitting in the waiting room, I looked around at the other customers waiting. Eight out of eight of my compatriots were staring at their phones. I heard mostly tv shows or social media clips in the waiting room. This is going to sound snooty but I had a book bag full of things to do. I had a book, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, index cards for jotting summaries for a word salad project I’m working on, and ear buds with a binder with my drum parts for the musical I’m playing (I wanted to review the score with the music). I could’ve kept busy for 12 hours!

I don’t mention this to say I’m better than anyone. I’m saying it’s easy to underestimate the value of the cracks in the day and any opportunity to delve deeper than the usual surface level of thinking. 

Here are a few simple activities that involve deep thinking:

Brainstorm, Connect, Consider, Decide, Intuition, Center, Meditate, Imagine, Compose, Create, Plan, Prioritize, Strategize, Envision, Compare, Evaluate, Summarize, Refine, Question, Analyze, Investigate, and Explore.

Creating a Bad-Ass Vision Statement for Your Life like Coach Belichick

Bill Belichick accepted the coaching position for the UNC Tar Heels College football team! I can’t wait to watch them build the program. I’m fascinated when successful people make a program flourish. His vision for UNC is to create a fast track for college players to get into the NFL - a unique vision for a college team. I love the step up. He’s not thinking about beating other college teams per se - he’s planning to create super-performers. Thinking big! I’m envisioning countless tiny improvements in all facets for the team.

Belichick’s vision reminds me of the book Blue Ocean Strategy. I was obsessed with that book for a long time. I listened to the audio book ten times because it had amazing concepts yet it was so poorly written that I kept dozing off. I’ve always thought the book should be translated for typical humans to read. It’s super corporate and dry. The idea of the book is to grow your business by NOT competing with your competition. While everyone else turns the ocean red with blood from battling one another, you seek blue waters where there is no competition - due to your unique strategy. Let’s talk more about creating a vision for you life.

Vision Statement Tips

Excerpt from my workbook “All the Hats We Wear - Leadership Course:

Vision Statements:

A vision statement helps us imagine an inspiring future. Your vision statement should be 10-12 short statements. It should make your heart race! Some lines in your vision statement should describe measurables like “I earn x dollars per month.” Statements should be in the present tense. In addition, have “I’m a” statements related to the exciting roles that you play - as in “I’m a Visionary.”

Create a habit of writing your vision statement in a special notebook in the morning and before bed. Doing this will make sure you're regularly hovering over the most important metrics and identities for your life. Revisit your goals, mini-mission statements, and vision statement every day. You need to constantly hover over and reconnect with what’s most important. Researchers have found that only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions achieve them.

Example of a Vision Statement

I practice Transcendental Meditation every day

I weigh X pounds

I'm the best Dad I can be

I'm a Visionary and World-Class Problem Solver

I'm the Willy Wonka of Creativity

My company generates X dollars per year

I lead X people in my online community

I earn x per month and donate X% to those in need

I have a net worth of X

I enjoy abundance in every role

I'm joyful, productive, and fulfilled

I believe more every day

Share your vision in the comments!!

Have a Clear Vision Through the Storm

The Buffalo Bills are on my mind ever since quarterback, Josh Allen, scored 51 points in Fantasy football! He’s on my team! Woohoo. He’s a scrappy, hard-nosed player and fun to watch. 

The truth is, I’ve been thinking about the Bills since the December 1st game which was whiteout conditions with a snowstorm. I’ve seen plenty of snowy football games but this one looked different. I think it’s the super high quality of the tv cameras that made it so all you could see was snow flakes. Usually, he watch the action on the field and the snow is there but becomes secondary in focus to the athletes. These cameras made the snow flakes and the noise the entire focus. 

In life that happens all the time. The noise and busyness is all we can see and feel as the essentials often drift into the background. The problem is the essentials make up the main action! 

Here are strategies to help you have clear vision through the storm in everyday life:

Purposefully adjust your lens - spiral in and out as needed. When you find yourself blocked creatively, you’re probably too detail focused when you should broaden your perspective - and vice versa. 

Jot down bullet points to blab about in your daily audio journal. Each day you should have at least five interesting thoughts or observations from the day’s events worthy of exploring further and capturing. Refer to Module 5: Unleash Your Creativity of my free pdf workbook for the steps for starting a daily audio journal. It’s one of the best habits you can ever start!

Use a voice recording app on your phone to record yourself reading your goals and mini-mission statements so you constantly revisit and hover over the most important metrics of your life.

Begin meditating! I suggest getting trained by a certified Transcendental Meditation teacher and begin twice daily practice (20 minutes before breakfast and 20 minutes before dinner). TM is a highly effective technique for giving the mind and body the rest it needs and craves. After a session if TM, you’re mind won’t have any of the noise we’re so used to having - the snowstorm of demands that robs us of our attention.   

Lastly, if you really want to quiet the noise, uncover your purpose and you’ll begin to see the world through the filter of your purpose. Sound impossible? I’ll walk you through a transformational leadership course. Click here: All the Hats Leadership Course Video. And thank me later!

Martha Stewart: The Queen of Reinvention

Martha Stewart inspires me. She’s bold and intelligent. She seems bossy, but I kind of like that and I’m not sure why. She’s a perfectionist and only surrounds herself with the best. I got a lot out of “Martha Rules,” her entrepreneurial book.

I highly recommend the latest documentary titled “Martha.” I’m fascinated with her time in prison. I was shocked when I heard she was going to prison in 2004. What a culture shock for her! She ultimately triumphed by leaving prison and hopped into her private jet. She was wearing a hand-made crocheted poncho that a prisoner made for her. They referred to the prison as Camp Cupcake – meaning it was easy time - but she said it was difficult. I love hearing her journal entries while she served her time. She ended up becoming a mentor to many prisoners and counseled them on starting a business.

It seemed to me that she got railroaded and convicted, as a result of, becoming so successful.

Martha said she was set free by going to prison. I loved when she summarized her story – which is something I think everyone should do as part of uncovering their purpose. In Martha’s words she said her story was that she was one of eight kids living in very modest means. She had a great idea, built it into something fantastic, made a profit, then fell in a hole. She said, “I fell in a fucking hole and I had to dig my way out of it.” Love it.

She IS difficult at times! I was surprised how demanding and rude she was to her staff at times. But it’s part of her charm, too. (As long as I’m not working for her- right?)

She lives by two mottos:

  • Learn something new everyday 

  • When you’re through changing, you’re through

Martha has a knack for reinvention. She got a new lease on life when she stepped outside her comfort zone to do the Justin Bieber roast and that’s where she met Snoop Dogg. Now, they’re working together all the time. Plus, at 81 she was the oldest person ever to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue! Bad-ass!

Reinvention is a part of the All the Hats We Wear system. Each quarter, we revise our role lists. It’s best to start from scratch. Start to sketch possible new roles and sub-roles.

For example, as a Music Therapist at a psychiatric hospital, I needed to adopt new sub-roles for that role:

Blues Artist – the blues is a powerful song style to use in therapy, I decided to embrace the blues and become more proficient in that area for the benefit of the patients.  

Guitar Improvisor – I do some 1:1 sessions. Since I’m a drummer and guitar is my second instrument, I need to play guitar better. I’ve always been interested in scales and harmonies so it gave me permission to dive in!

School of Rock Dude – I have a group made up of folks who play instruments, so I need to know how to orchestrate jam songs that the players can achieve. I’m channeling Jack Black.

What’s a role that you need to CREATe sub-roles for? How do you need to reinvent yourself?

 

Journaling: Audio Dictation, Handwritten, or Typed?

I’ve decided to transition from keeping an audio journal to typing my daily journal on my laptop. I still jot down talking points with a red pen in my capture notebook and I still rip off the bottom corner of pages after typing my journal to show those days are finished. I was beginning to feel that I was going through the motions with my audio journal and simply gabbing through bullet points and not adding much more. Also, I wasn’t experiencing any feeling in my body or mind. It was as if I was reporting the news. I want to feel cozy, irritated, pissed, or inspired! I wanted to feel! Also, I can reveal more in my laptop writing - it feels more protected.

I set up a password-protected Microsoft Word document and plan to type a month at a time from the 1st to the last day of the month in numeric order from top to bottom. Then I’ll start the next month above last month. I used to type today’s entry at the top of the document – so the days went in backwards chronological order – which is a pain, so I’m not doing that anymore.

When you write a journal by hand, the feeling is there but it’s a security risk. Everyone should have a safe place for their innermost thoughts. Even if you follow through and keep a journal for decades - which is amazing - now you have 40 notebooks hanging around for anyone to browse.

Also, I’ve begun recording the time spent composing the day’s typed journal entry to see how much time it takes. For example, today I typed the entire entry (personal plus blog) from 7:07-7:45pm.  

I’m contemplating whether to change the title of my workbook and course from leadership course to 10 ways to unleash your creativity. I definitely feel creativity is my bigger strength but I can see folks using the course as a leadership journey, too.

Do you journal to feel something or just to record thoughts and events?

Ep 125 - Secrets! Ooh La La

Today's outline:

(2:30) The Living Sea Wall

(5:07) Brainstorming Example: Eminem Board Game Design

(7:42) Iron Maiden Creativity

(10:43) Turn the Lights on and Watch Them Scatter

(12:09) Facade of Celebrities

(16.33) Inspiration at the Movies

(19.13) Iron Mike and His Alter-Ego

(20.00) Drawing Your Roles

(22.22) Secrets! Keeping Your Private Thoughts Private

Podcast Link

Visit ⁠www.allthehatswewear.com⁠ for more info!


Ep 124 - Election Day, Character, and Values

As the presidential election result revealed, we know very little about the character, values, and beliefs of the people in our lives! We interact with hundreds of people every week: co-workers, family, friends, neighbors and more. If you want to take a deep dive into your purpose, take my leadership self-study that's available on my web site ⁠www.allthehatswewear.com⁠.

Outline:

(2:15) Election Day and Character

(4:25) The Substance: Creative Ideas from the Film

(10:14) Cancel Culture Trend

(11:08) Around the World Technique

(13:57) Transcendental Meditation & Distractions

(15:39) Creative Incubators

(16:44) Gandhi on Life Purpose

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/allthehatswewear/episodes/Ep-124---Election-Day--Character--and-Values-e2qlhgu

You Can’t Lead with a Black Heart - Podcast Ep 123

In today's episode, you'll hear:

0:45 When to look outside yourself to improve performance

3:00 Voice recording app

3:45 Routine and Countdowns

5:00 Talk Scary to Me Podcast

7:07 Leadership and Thin Slicing

10:30 Lessons from the book "Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two" by Jim Koch, Founder of Sam Adams Brewery

Visit ⁠www.allthehatswewear.com⁠ for more information.