This Creative’s Take on Atomic Habits: Book Reflections + Real-life Experiments

I finished reading Atomic Habits in the same week that the first cohort of my SHINE program came to an end. Both are ultimately about systems because, as author James Clear affirms:

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

It’s been fascinating to read the book alongside witnessing the progress of my students because there have been so many parallels! 

Here are my reflections on the key lessons – the laws – from the book, with support from my own experience, as well as from leading 41 creative business owners in building the foundations for a more profitable, sustainable and joyful business.

At the end, I share the new commitments I’m making to myself, having reviewed how my own habits can support progress towards my vision.

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A self-sabotage exercise you didn’t know you needed

You know that feeling when you know you should do something for the betterment of your life but… you don’t? 

When you know you should leave a toxic situation/person/environment… but you don’t? 

When you hold back from showing up to do something great because you think you’ll fail (even though objectively, you have everything it takes to succeed)?

Granted, sometimes life happens and we have to give ourselves the necessary grace. But, oftentimes, it’s that pesky unwanted visitor who gets way too comfortable.

You know who I’m talking about: Self-sabotage. 

Here’s some good news though – we don’t have to let self-sabotage be our master. We can transcend its distractions, tricks, and redirections.

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No Starving Artists – 4 Money Lessons to Debunk the Myth!

As a fellow artist, you’re probably not unfamiliar with money worries. It’s the way it goes since we chose to pursue the arts not just as a hobby, but as a career move, right?

Wrong! 

There are 2 misconceptions about creative people that get me really riled up

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3 ways to keep business going when life gets tough

Resilience can often feel like an abstract concept. Well, I have to be honest… the past five months have been really TOUGH!

Perhaps the toughest time I’ve ever experienced in my life. I unexpectedly lost two loved ones, including my brother with whom I was very close. My son-shine was diagnosed with Autism which has brought about a lot of learning how to adjust our life to better support him to thrive. I caught COVID during the rapid Omicron phase that took over Nairobi last December. While it was thankfully relatively mild, the weeks of fatigue afterward was real! And then my fiancé suddenly developed Guillain-Barré Syndrome – a rare autoimmune disorder that rendered him immobile overnight…

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Our 9 good things from 2021

If you’re already part of our mailing list fam, you’ll know all about ‘9 Good Things’. We love curating the series every month and we’re so happy with all the positive feedback we receive! This month, we’re doing things a little bit differently: we’re reflecting and sharing 9 good things from 2021. Thus, we thought this round-up deserved to live on our blog too. Enjoy!

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5 powerful questions to help you deal with overwhelm

I don’t know about you but, for me, November is always the busiest month of the year. There’s so much to do before the end of the year and it feels like time is accelerating!

It’s very easy to let overwhelm take over. Too easy to let all the healthy habits established over the year to simply be thrown to the wind. After all, when you’re stressed out, you need cake and hours spent mindlessly scrolling, right?

Over the years, I’ve experimented with several strategies to resist this destructive, overwhelm-induced spiral and I’d like to share the ones that are working best for me right now. 

Get out a pen and paper and test them out by answering these …

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5 UK Black Creatives you need to follow

Celebrating black creative excellence

October is Black History Month in the UK. In the almost 12 years that I lived there, I had the honour to meet so many fellow black creatives and this week, I wanted to celebrate just a handful of them.

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Easy mental health ideas from our team: no stigma here!

Mental health is something our team talks about often and we’re all passionate about more open conversations on the topic. There’s no stigma here!

On this World Suicide Prevention Day, we wanted to share some of the strategies that have helped us on our individual mental wellness journeys.

This is the kind of journey that has no final destination: it’s a constant work-in-progress. But it’s the kind of ‘work’ that can actually become a joy and a pleasure.

We hope that in sharing, you get affirmation that you’re not alone, and that you also get some inspiration to explore on your own journey. Continue reading “Easy mental health ideas from our team: no stigma here!”

Opening a brick-and-mortar shop: a tested guide for creatives

Unexpected beginnings

6 months ago I took a risk and signed a lease for a studio/shop space for my business. 

It was one of my goals for 2021, but one that I anticipated to achieve in the Q4, not Q1!

We were deep in the pandemic – unknowingly a few weeks ahead of another wave. We’d had a great Christmas season with product sales but I was wary of being overconfident, only to be left with a significant business expense that I couldn’t sustain. 

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How to clear your mind and create more

Over the years, I’ve been learning and experimenting with various productivity systems, in the quest to live a life of ease and abundance. In that time, I’ve discovered and implemented several habits and rituals with decent success. 

However, I still found myself getting overwhelmed, and every so often, it was paralysing. You know that vicious cycle where you have so much to do that you feel you can’t do anything? Which means the list – and your anxiety – just keeps growing! 

So many ideas and so many action points – not enough boundaries and not enough focus. 

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