Giving Up the Good for the Great

Giving Up the Good for the Great

This podcast is about giving up the good for the great. It's about learning to say no to things in order to make space for the thing that you really, really want. I have done this many times over the course of my life, and I've noticed that it's an exercise that will absolutely take you to the next level in whatever you want to do.  In the podcast, I tell you about all the different times in which I've done this to level up in my life. Most of those times, it had to do with my art.  Basically, I've had to say no to a lot of things in order to make my art happen.  The thing is, once you get used to saying no, you start to experience how much abundance you can create.  By saying no to other things, I have managed to create a lot more time than I ever thought possible.  That happened when I was a teenager, when I was a working professional, when I started having kids, and then now it's happening again as I run my art business. In this episode, I also make an announcement about how I am saying no yet again in order to level myself up.  For years people have been asking me to teach them. I have tried out a number of different styles of doing this, but the truth is I don't really want to do it.  My major goals in life are to have a successful family, make really incredible paintings, and build a business based on those paintings that will support my family and inspire my children. Right there you have it.  Those are my three main goals in life.   To get those three things done, I can't do anything that doesn't fit in with them.  Although I enjoy teaching, creating a whole teaching empire online is not going to help me with my goals.  I want to build a business which is based on me painting, not me making teaching materials.  I want the business to be based on me making the best art I can possibly make. Now, this decision was not easy, and I think in the episode you can hear that it was not easy for me.  However, I know that it’s going to pave the way for something really big and beautiful in my future.  Whatever it is that you really want, it's important that you choose it. It's important that you say yes to that thing and you say no to everything else that can get in the way.  It's that simple to create more time and resources than you ever thought you had.  It's totally magical, and I can't wait for you to do it.  If you enjoyed this episode, definitely tune in every Friday because I will be releasing a new episode each week.  If you're interested in deeper mindset support to help you reach your creative goals, click here [jennykiehn.com/podcast-coaching] to learn about the Creative Abundance Circle, my weekly coaching offering.

Shiny Object Syndrome: How to Identify it and Let it Go

Shiny Object Syndrome is a tendency to want to get attracted to new, exciting ideas that take you away from your purpose.  Usually it happens because you know what you really need to do and don’t want to do it, so then you go looking for attractive alternatives. I have spent SO MUCH TIME being distracted by shiny objects!  They are very expensive in time and money.  It is humbling to realize how much farther I could have gotten if I hadn’t spent time on them.  However, this is the cruxt of it - you wouldn’t be attracted to them if you thought you could do what you really want to do.   So why don’t you think you can do what you want to do?  That’s the real question. This week I noticed that if I have the following fears about what I’m doing, then it’s a sign that I’m on the right track: -it feels scary and vulnerable -fear of getting rejected -what if it doesn’t work? -fear of not being good enough Sometimes just stepping out of your comfort zone is so scary you can barely do it.  However, that’s usually the action that’s going to really move the needle.  A clear sign that something is a shiny object is that it doesn’t scare you that much.  It looks attractive and exciting and you think it will definitely work.  However, after the initial phase, when it gets to the mundane nitty gritty of keeping it going, the object loses its shine!  Then you end up back where you started. Once you are clear on what a shiny object is, look back over your life and audit the shiny objects that have taken you off of your path.  Where were you when you thought of them?  What people were you with?  It’s important to identify this so you can get out of the “hype” that gets you distracted. It’s also important to slow down how you make decisions.  Impulsive decisions can take you right off of your path at times.  Take the time to weight the decision carefully. “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown [https://a.co/d/02cdP23Q] is a wonderful read to help you combat Shiny Object syndrome.  Another is this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVqWN7IVzwU] by Sam Ovens. If you enjoyed this episode, definitely tune in every Friday because I will be releasing a new episode each week.  If you're interested in a conversation on how you can bring more abundance into your creative life, leave a review of this podcast, take a screenshot of it and email it to jenny@jennykiehn.com. I'll invite you to a free group coaching class about exactly that! If you’re interested in deeper weekly support, email me at jenny@jennykiehn.com [jenny@jennykiehn.com] to ask about the Creative Abundance Circle.

How Imagining Freely leads to Manifestation

In the past week or so I’ve been diving much more deeply into the Law of Attraction.  The basic tenet of The Law of Attraction is “that which is liken to itself is drawn”, meaning that like attracts like.  This means that whatever you think about, you get, whether it’s what you want or not.  So if you think about negative things, you will draw more negative things toward you.  If you think about positive things, you will draw those things toward you.     In the past, I had basically thought, “well, if I think more positively, then I will bring more positive things toward me”, so I went about my life trying to react positively to the things that were in my world. I spent time practicing gratitude and tried to keep my mood as upbeat as relaxed as I could.   This is a great thing to do, but it’s very reactive and its strongly affected by the outer world.  Now, I want to dive deeper and actively CHOOSE what I draw towards myself. The way to do this is through imagining.  Neville Goddard says that your imagination is holy, like an active part of God within you.  When you use your imagination, you do so with the power that creates worlds behind you. This brought me back to the pastime of imagining things as a child.  As a kid, I loved to fantasize about things and get lost in the joy of it. Now, I want to bring that same playful pastime back into my life.  Imagination and holding the feeling of your desired future is supposed to be the fastest path to manifestation.  Now, I wonder if I can be playful about it like when I was a kid? What if imagining (and consequently manifesting) was just a fun thing you do because it feels good? This seems like what Abraham Hicks says - “the only reason you want it is because of how it’s going to make you feel”. Maybe I can just jump into enjoying my desired future as a fun, creative pastime.  I feel like this is a step to the next level for me. If you enjoyed this episode, definitely tune in every Friday because I will be releasing a new episode each week.  If you're interested in a conversation on how you can bring more abundance into your creative life, leave a review of this podcast, take a screenshot of it and email it to jenny@jennykiehn.com. I'll invite you to a free group coaching class about exactly that! If you’re interested in deeper weekly support, email me at jenny@jennykiehn.com [jenny@jennykiehn.com] to ask about the Creative Abundance Circle.

Make More Money by Plugging the Leaks in Your Art Business

Have you got leaks in your business?  Maybe you have trouble keeping track of sales leads and don’t follow up enough?  Or maybe you have a pretty good following but don’t have many people on your email list?  Or maybe you meet people who appreciate your art regularly but don’t capture their contact details?  Or maybe you put off putting your artwork on your website? These are all leaks that are costing you money!  It’s like a bucket with a hole and the money is pouring out! I recently did a pretty stern audit on the leaks in my business and it was an eye opener!!  I realized I’m losing tons of money because of them and if I want to get to the next level, it’s time to sort them out.  In the episode I talk about my personal experience of doing an audit and systematically plugging the leaks.  Then I give advice on how you can do the same for your art business too. This is something that has to be done regularly at every stage of business.  It’s one of the things that helps you grow. If you enjoyed this episode, definitely tune in every Friday because I will be releasing a new episode each week.  If you're interested in a conversation on how you can bring more abundance into your creative life, leave a review of this podcast, take a screenshot of it and email it to jenny@jennykiehn.com. I'll invite you to a free group coaching class about exactly that! If you’re interested in deeper weekly support, email me at jenny@jennykiehn.com [jenny@jennykiehn.com] to ask about the Creative Abundance Circle.

The Fear of Outshining Others

This podcast is about a sneaky fear that a lot of artists have and which can cause definite blocks to your success. The fear of outshining others is the fear that your talent, humor, beauty etc will somehow have a negative effect on someone else.  For instance, it could make a younger sibling feel bad about themselves, or your parents might have gotten grumpy and uncomfortable because they didn’t have the bandwidth to support you.  This fear usually forms early in childhood and can be an unknown cause of blocks in your professional life. In the podcast, I tell my story with my fear of outshining others and how I’ve healed it.   Once you identify that you have an fear of outshining others, I offer two ways of healing it: 1).  Notice the part of your body that the younger version of you is located in.  This will be wherever the pain is coming from.  Make safe space for the younger version of you that is in pain, and allow it to tell its story.  It helps if you can imagine the pain flowing out and down into the ground.  Just hold safe space for that part of yourself and let it all out.  By doing this, you become the parent you always needed.   2).  Flip the belief and let it sink in.  Instead of "When I outshine others, my family stops loving me" flip it to "When I shine, I inspire others" This fear can also create a block against receiving money for your creations.  You may be willing to make them, but unconsciously think you need to punish yourself somehow for doing so.  Or you might just simply think you can’t make your creations AND receive ample money for them because that is shining too brightly.  The beautiful thing is once you identify the problem, you can start to heal it and let it melt away.   This is life changing!! I also referred to “The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks [https://www.amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level/dp/0061735361/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WPTK4393sTVJzfOVNlgw1o2N_gbiD3lX8AQsfBojqY0PRObZoHK0Q7yNeEGW-AzcLTqkROrTA1-BIqsAd6ITrTagXIWMkYIvmq45C6mDxvxkg_on5xbIIKNErs4zhzwh6l7r7xjDZXJAIbJdOG8wfNGaDEhqs1Ytotrnx_92JOXOk2Gvw9nIPe99KoU1GrZ9WyacWIw89GAgnwj9dDzIPvdkMLBYsivT6AY67Zly0TI.jpb-bdO3YvkCyKPDBwc2PBnAMEb8i0ZUHcehYfRLwu0&qid=1777057591&sr=8-1] because it has an incredible section about the fear of outshining others. If you enjoyed this episode, definitely tune in every Friday because I will be releasing a new episode each week.  If you're interested in a conversation on how you can bring more abundance into your creative life, leave a review of this podcast, take a screenshot of it and email it to jenny@jennykiehn.com. I'll invite you to a free group coaching class about exactly that! If you’re interested in deeper weekly support, go to jennykiehn.com/podcast-coaching [http://jennykiehn.com/podcast-coaching] to find out more about the Creative Abundance Circle.