Special Edition. (#80)

Two days ago, I launched The 100 Club. A 12-month, 100-person (maximum) cohort - part coaching, mentoring, and advisory with a community vibe and all for around $1.37 per day…less than a cup of coffee. 

It starts on July 1st.

The 100 CLUB includes - monthly group calls, 1:1 calls with me, a private community chat channel, a dedicated newsletter, and more. 

To celebrate this, here are 100 pieces of advice for every creative career - whether you work for someone else, are freelance or fractional, or if you’re a creative founder or soon-to-be founder.

Rodd ®️©️ 🤘 ⚡

1. Don’t ask for permission to be creative.
2. Never work for a bad creative leader.
3. Build your personal creative brand.
4. Don’t blend in.
5. Get comfortable taking risks.
6. “Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.” – Mary Lou Cook
7. Remember to laugh at mistakes.
8. Every mistake is a lesson.
9. Find your posse.
10. Lose your fear of being wrong.
11. Find your niche.
12. “Can’t kills creativity!” – Camille Paglia
13. Don’t be a one-trick pony.
14. Read - It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be by Paul Arden
15. Don’t look for inspiration within your bubble.
16. Have mentors.
17. Never get too comfortable.
18. “Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” – Dorothy Parker
19. Remember to pause.
20. Learn to become an ideas machine.
21. Stay forever curious.
22. Start thinking analogue, finish digital.
23. Don’t get stuck in routines.
24. “Creativity is as important as literacy.” – Ken Robinson
25. Listen to different music.
26. Never lose your inner creative junior. As a favourite saying goes - “Don’t grow up, it’s a trap.”
27. Read - The Creative Act by Rick Rubin.
28. Learn new skills, always. 
29. Learn the business of being creative.
30. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde
31. Ignore critics.
32. Accept critiques.
33. Your taste will be critical.
34. Never let your ego be your spokesperson.
35. Learn how to make faster decisions.
36. “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” – Sylvia Plath
37. Trust your gut.
38. Never work for an agency led by bean counters.
39. Read - Feel The Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers
40. Never work for anyone who expects you to be strapped to a desk daily. 
41. Have hobbies.
42. “Absurdity and anti-absurdity are the two poles of creative energy.” – Karl Lagerfeld
43. Remember, nobody at dinner parties is interested in advertising; they’re nodding just to be polite.
44. Never be a micromanager. 
45. Own your mistakes.
46. There are no ‘rockstars’ in advertising agencies; they’re on stages in front of adoring fans. 
47. Coming up with sh#t ideas is all part of coming up with great ideas.
48. “An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.” – Edwin Land
49. If you’re a copywriter or an aspiring copywriter, read The Copy Book. 
50. If you’re an art director or a designer, read The Copy Book.
51. There will be crap days, accept that and keep going.
52. Stop losing your fear of self-promotion.
53. Awards are nice, but they’re not the be-all and end-all.
54. “Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties.” – Gail Sheehy
55. Your address doesn’t make you more creative, so no, you don’t have to be working in New York, London, Tokyo, etc, to do your best work. 
56. Never turn your nose up at a brief; sometimes you’ll find gold in some mud.
57. If you’re not loving the work you’re doing it will show in your work and on your face.
58. Don’t just think creatively, think strategically too. 
59. Laugh often, including at yourself.
60. “Creativity can solve almost any problem.” – George Lois
61. Travel often if you can. 
62. Regularly working late is a sign of a bad leader. Find a better leader to work for.
63. If you’re considered weird, you’re all good. 
64. Have more ideas that scare you.
65. Have more ideas that scare others.
66. “Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” – Rita Mae Brown
67. Integrate play into your work. 
68. Remember that not everything needs to make sense. 
69. Playing it safe is the fastest path to mediocrity.
70. Believe in your talent. If you do, someone else will.
71. Imposter Syndrome happens; you just have to learn how to deal with it.
72. “Creativity is breaking out of established patterns to look at things in a different way.” – Edward de Bono
73. Hold the ladder for those trying to get to your level.
74. Learn how to sell your work. 
75. Listen more than you speak. 
76. Ask questions. Even the ones you think are dumb.
77. Don’t seek inspiration in obvious places. 
78. “Creativity is an act of defiance.” – Twyla Tharp
79. Remember, fear is a liar. 
80. If you want to be a leader, learn how to truly lead.
81. Perseverance is much needed.
82. So is patience. 
83. Read - The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
84. “Creativity is based on the belief that there’s no particular virtue in doing things the way they’ve always been done.” – Rudolph Flesch
85. Creative blocks can often be cured with a good walk or a visit to an art gallery.
86. Always work for yourself, even when you work for someone else.
87. Build inspiration boards on Pinterest or something similar.
88. Come up with random ideas daily, as per my daily ritual of coming up with 20 ideas a day.
89. Keep an ideas journal. You may look back at a page one day, and it could spark something new.
90. “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” - Picasso
91. If you yearn to work for yourself…do it. You won’t know until you try. 
92. Read - Damn Good Advice by George Lois
93. Always try different directions.
94. Remember that overthinking kills more ideas than almost anything else.
95. Group thinking sucks.
96. Most brainstorms are useless.
97. Find different collaborators.
98. Read - Lateral Thinking by Edward De Bono
99. Don’t start something that’s a carbon copy of something else. Aim to start something that hasn’t been done that you want to see in the world.
100. “If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” - David Bowie

If you want to become a part of The 100 CLUB, you can take advantage of the early access discount - $500, applicable until June 15. After that, it increases to $750. 

Drop ‘100’ into the comments or DM, or email to grab your spot - chantcreative@gmail.com

I’ve been wanting to reinvent how I do coaching for a while now, so I took some inspiration from the punk way of doing things, something I always do, and even borrowed the name from the club where punk rock was born in the UK.

Something Extra

I’m also adding curated Creative Sessions in Bangkok for those who want to do as number 61 above states - 'Travel often if you can'.

These will be 3 to 4-day live editions of The 100 CLUB for 5 to 10 people at a time. Creative talks, exploring the creative side of Bangkok, drop into art galleries and meet gallerists and artists, explore The Creative District and nearby creative zones, do some street photography walks, track down cool street art, and of course, eat great Thai food.

You just have to get yourself to Bangkok (you pay for your airfare, accommodation, transfers, and food), no additional cost for my creative chaperone experience. I’ll be doing these as often as people want to take part. 

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Rodd ®️©️ 🤘 ⚡

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