Are you a consumer or a creator? Do you feel like you’re consuming more than creating? Would you like to give folks an opportunity to consume your creations? So it’s more of an energetic exchange of time and money instead of a one-way street.
For instance, I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hours on:
- personal development
- professional development (see Leonie Dawson’s e-course below)
- nail polish,
- clothes,
- home decor, and countless other goods & services.
When I read a book, I’m consuming someone’s dream manifested. Which is great! But we all are born with so many gifts, the more we share them and yes charge for them the more the world benefits. It’s reciprocity at it’s finest.
To hear more on my thoughts on consuming and creating, click on the player below or click here. Or scroll down and read the (edited for clarity) transcript below. I recorded this post while painting my nails. That’s why I titled it “Nail Talk”. 😉
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TRANSCRIPT: Nail Talk: Are You a Consumer or a Creator?
Hey, it’s Joddie Taylor of SnackySays.com. I am doing my nails. I’m almost finished actually. I’m using my cleanup brush to get rid of the, you know, coloring outside the lines. What do you call that when you make a mess of nail polish? LOL.
So, as I was doing my nails, um, I haven’t posted it yet, but I’ve been working on a post about how I feel like painting my nails is active meditation (CLICK HERE to read my blog post, “There are Joys in Life! Or How DIY Manis Bring Me JOY”) or my idea of active meditation, so as I’m painting my nails, I was just thinking about being…the question I asked myself and I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately is, “am I a consumer or a creator?”
Now if you had asked me five years ago. I would have said: consumer. Three years ago: consumer! Two years ago? Consumer. But now I feel like it’s complicated or it’s both. What do I mean by that? Well, in the last two or three years, I’ve bought a lot of online courses and I really invested a lot (of $$$) in personal and professional development whether that be courses, books, a membership (site) actually a couple of memberships.
But the one that I stuck with and that I’m still with is Michelle Rohr and Aimee Johanan’s, Magic is You (group coaching experience) community. I’ve posted about it before but I will drop a link. Heads up, it’s an affiliate link but as usual with any of my affiliate links, if I wasn’t all in I would never recommend it.
Anyway, so that’s been good, like consuming things that enrich me have been good. But I still feel like I hesitate to be a creator. I kind of want to get to the point where I’m creating more than I’m consuming and that you know, whether it’s retailers on “the high street”, LOL, shout out to Chisomo Fajardo, if you’re listening! It just tickles me to say that. People across the pond say, the high street and that’s basically like the big box stores like Target or Walmart, Chisomo correct me if I’m wrong. I think that’s the right description.
So it’s okay for me to consume and for you to consume, if you’re a consumer. But I really want to get to creating more and having people consume what I create. I like it to be more of a two-way street so that’s just something…
**Rudely interrupted by an airplane flying overhead**
There’s an airplane flying overhead. One day, (I’m gonna get back to this recording in a second…) one day when I have my estate, I promise you. I’m gonna buy the airspace up ahead because it drives me crazy when airplanes fly overhead and it’s so so close. Anyway. So I said it here first. And one day, LOL, you’ll be like yeah she did say that!
So anyway, I was just thinking about it and the interesting thing about courses or anything that you’re into that you feel like you consume a lot is that sometimes it’s hard to know… you’re taking a risk, right? It’s hard to know if it’s going to pay off I can say without a doubt things that paid off for me that I’ve been consuming: books!
Ramit Sethi talks about this all the time. I have very rarely picked up a book that didn’t help me in some way whether it was a new word or something. I didn’t know or something. I disagree with and now I know why I disagree so strongly with it.
Again, the Magic is You membership. Chisomo’s online course, Chisomo thank you. Planners on-demand. Well actually now it’s called… when I signed up for it, it was called Printables… wait a minute. It is Planners on Demand! I think it was originally called Printables to Planners when I first signed up for it, but now it’s Planners on Demand! (Chisomo’s course teaches you how to turn your printables into physical planners, notebooks, and journals)
Things that I’m actually going to study and then implement right away and that I’m realizing is the trick. So if you are consumer and you’re consuming things to help you along in your life journey, whether that is personal and professional development or fitness or whatever it is. I think the important trade-off for me. I’m just kind of talking out loud. Is that I am able to then turn around and use that to create. So thanks for listening. I was just thinking about that and I actually feel inspired because the other thing that I’m struggling with this year, which. . .
**Wah! My recording unexpectedly cut off!! I think what I was going to say was that the thing, I am struggling with this year is consistently creating.**
So as I was yippy yapping, I looked down and saw that it was paused and I wondered why it was paused. So I’m not sure where it cut off some spam caller called me. So here’s a lesson, I just learned I am going to have to turn off my phone notifications have to figure out something in settings, so it doesn’t do this. (Update: As it turns off, I can’t turn off phone notifications per se. But next time, I’ll try putting my phone on Do Not Disturb)
I am not going to delete this though because I want to bring it on home (meaning I wanna wrap it up!) and I’m sorry because I don’t know what the last thing you heard was.
And yes, I am recording this on my phone, but to bring it on home, basically, where I’m going with all of this is I have been… Certainly, for my adult life a consumer. That has slowly been changing and I’m becoming I am a creator. (Forget that negative self-talk!) I am a creator! I create. What I want to do is get to the point where I’m doing that consistently and if not balanced I want to be like… if it’s not 50/50, which I don’t believe anything is ever 50/50, that’s just a myth.
Because our time and our energy doesn’t quite work out like that but I just want to get to the point where I’m consistently creating and I’m giving good folks like yourself… People out there in the world. I’m giving them a chance to consume what I’m creating because I do believe, Leonie Dawson talks about this all the time, that whatever it is that’s in our hearts and our minds to create there’s someone, I’m paraphrasing her but there’s someone or many someones out there waiting.
They were like waiting for our knowledge and our gifts and the things that we’re creating so. How do I cultivate that? I’m discovering that now. The fact that it’s on my mind is a good thing I think. And so, I don’t know if that means every day at 10 am I sit down and be like, okay, I’m gonna create. And sometimes it’s rough going. Even I’m working on a few different things right now and it’s rough going but…
Sometimes a month goes by or two months go by and all of that little bit, a little bit, a little bit, bit by bit it does add up and I end up with a finished product. A finished creation. Anyway, if you got this far I appreciate you. I’m sorry about the random, you know, it might seem like I jumped and I’m talking about something different.
I’m sorry about that, but I am going to post this bad boy. Michelle Rohr always talks about launch and tweak. This is a launch. There will be no tweaking. LOL. But it’s just better to get my voice out there. I want to be more present on my blog and I’m always talking about it, but one of the ways to do that is to just put stuff out there.
Right? Right. All right, once again, this is Joddie Taylor of snackysays.com, thank you for listening. 💕
THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS, CLICK HERE TO READ MY AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE. THANK YOU^^