Unfollow Your Passion: How to tap your creative skills to see your work in a whole new way

HOW to tap your creative
skills to see your work in
a whole new way
With Terri Trespicio
Thurs 10/28th @ 2:00p ET
Presents

A lot of people are thinking
real hard about what they’re
doing…and why.
territrespicio.com/getit

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their
jobs in July 2021.
There were 10.9 million open jobs at the
end of July.
Source: Harvard Business Review, “Who Is Driving the Great Resignation?”
The Great Resignation

Many people would kill for
your job.
Fact.

Others would leave it.
Also fact.

What would make life better,
more meaningful?

If the work were different?
The people?

Maybe. But we also might believe that
we’d be happier if we were…
More talented.
More motivated.
More passionate.

So let’s debunk some of
those myths right now.

Copyright © 2020 Terri Trespicio All rights reserved.
The Talent Myth

We give way, way too much
credit to “talent.”

This is Seth Godin

It’s insulting to call a
professional talented. She’s
skilled…Skill is rarer than
talent. Skill is earned. Skill
is available to anyone who
cares enough.”
“
Seth Godin

What gets short shrift is…skill.

If creative, or any, ability can be learned,
then the field is wide open.

If it’s “innate” or predestined, then we’re…
special.

Skill gives your ability, your talent, your
passion, a place to show itself.

Without skill, all the
passion in the world will
leave you eager but
floundering.” 
“ Twyla Tharp,
The Creative Habit

“You don’t need talent. You need to
learn how to write a joke.”

Me? I started in wigs.

I started as
a creative
copywriter
for a wig
catalog.

Then, went on to
work as an editor
at a healthy living
magazine.

The magazine
was purchased
by this woman.

Today I’m a writer, speaker,
and brand advisor.
(I swiped the title.)

“Stop searching for your
passion” 7M+ views

My first book is due out in
December 2021 from
Atria/Simon & Schuster.
unfollowyourpassion.com

unfollowyourpassion.com
“Gentle, but brutally
honest.” –Popsugar

How can we get inspired?

The Inspiration Myth

Muse visits.

Lightbulb appears.

Float on fairy wings.

Waiting is not
a great strategy.

The Motivation Myth

Motivation
is a luxury.
(It’s also for amateurs.)

Jeff Haden, The Motivation Myth
Motivation is a result,
not a precondition.”
“ Jeff Haden,
The Motivation Myth

Jeff Haden, The Motivation Myth
“ Jeff Haden,
The Motivation Myth
“Speeches don’t
provide lasting
motivation. Progress
provides lasting
motivation.”

We don’t just want to “feel”
passionate
inspired
motivated,
and in control.

We want to feel our lives have
meaning.

So how do we do that?

Find your
passion.
Lousy advice

The Passion Myth

The Passion Myth
Find the one thing you’re
meant to do and do it …
forever.

You could say I
had a passion for
writing. But that
didn’t mean I had
any idea what to
do about it.
Once up on a
time, there was
an English major.

“Passion feels very democratic.
It is the people’s talent, available
to all. It’s also mostly bullshit.”
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert
territrespicio.com/5ways Copyright © 2020 Terri Trespicio All rights reserved.
“

“I guess I’m just more talented
than all of y’all.”
When people are interviewed about
how they achieved xyz, they rarely
say,

They say they’re “passionate” about
it. And that that was the answer.

saying “Follow that car!”
Passion is like…

(Namely, that we’re sold a fairy tale).
Then there’s my bigger concern

And we think there’s only One True Love.
We have swapped out the
prince for passion.

Passion is not a gift or talent.
It’s a utility. It’s a skill.

There isn’t anyone
who doesn’t want to feel it.

Barbara Corcoran is the biggest
name in the brokerage business.
She does not, and never has, had
a passion for real estate.
(Her words!)

Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash

I’d never caught a
football in my life. 
Mainly because no
one had ever
thrown me one.
Copyright © 2020 Terri Trespicio All rights reser

Not a gift, a talent, an inspiration, or a goal.
It’s a utility. It’s native software.
Passion is…

Source: Psychological science
Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset

Source: Psychological science
People who believed passions were
“fixed” were…
•More likely to curtail other interests
•Give up when things got tough

Get it!
Want the reading & free resource list?

Do you want…
a job, a career, or a
calling?
Amy Wzresniewksi
Yale School of Management

Work is a means to an ends,
necessary evil, supports life
outside of work.
Jobs, Careers, and Callings: People’s Relations to Their Work, A. Wrzesniewski et al.
JOB

Work is a path to upward
mobility, achievement,
status.
CAREER

Work is integral to identity
and self-expression; it’s
meaningful and satisfying.
CALLING

• Reported notably and significantly
higher life and job satisfaction 
• Ranked work satisfaction
significantly higher 
• Missed fewer days of work
Those who see their work as a “Calling”

Is it just about money or rank?
Nope.

Satisfaction with life and with
work may be more dependent on
how an employee  
sees her work.

Don’t over think this:
Write down the answer
you typically give when
someone asks you what
you do.

Get out of your
comfort zone.
Lousy advice

I like being
comfortable.

We spend most of our lives
decidedly uncomfortable.

Comfortable doesn’t mean
complacent, lazy, or stuck.

The goal isn’t to leave the
comfort zone, but to
expand it.

You feel overwhelmed, anxious,
exhausted—or cramped, stuck,
small.
How do you know you’re
out of your comfort zone??

Take us very far out of our
comfort zones, and our
brains stop paying attention
to anything other than
surviving the experience.
“ Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, “The
Feedback Fallacy,” Harvard Business Review

It’s clear that we learn most in our
comfort zones, because that’s
where our neural pathways are
most concentrated. It’s where
we’re most open to possibility,
most creative, insightful, and
productive.
“ Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, “The
Feedback Fallacy,” Harvard Business Review

Where do you want to be
comfortable next?
Ask yourself

•Define the zone.
•Don’t apologize.
•Process in the comfort zone.
•Lean into what you’re good at.
Get comfortable.

Stay busy.
Lousy advice

Sometimes you’re not motivated,
inspired, or passionate.
Sometimes, you’re
bored.

Our culture demonizes
boredom, and presents it as
problem to be solved.

Human.
All it means is that you’re

Mark Hawkins, The Power of Boredom
“
We are all actually profoundly
bored, but because there are so
many distractions, we don’t even
know it. The busier we are, the
more bored we are likely to be.”

What does distraction cost?

The average
office worker is
interrupted or
switches tasks
about every 3
minutes…
…costing them
up to 6 hrs a
day.
Source: Washington Post

is the death of meaning.
Distraction

Keeps us stuck.
Fear of boredom

The real risk? Losing our
capacity for boredom.

Boredom is the time when we feel
farthest away from meaning yet, if we let
it, it is the quickest and most powerful
way to finding the most authentic and
fulfilling meaning we can experience.
Mark Hawkings, The Power of Boredom
“

Boredom isn’t a problem;  
it’s potential.

It may even help you
become more creative.

The phone book study
• One group copied phone
numbers out of the phone
book 
• One group read the phone
book 
• Control group (did nothing)
Source: Sandi Mann et al. Creativity Research Journal

Then they were given a
creative task.

Guess who was most
creative?

Boredom clarifies meaning.

It also makes you ask the
critical question:
“WTF is the point?”

Do you remember the last
time you were bored? (If not,
make time.)

Keep your
work life
separate.
Lousy advice

You are one person.

This is my friend Ilise Benun.
Ilise treats her business like a lab
for her own personal development.

This is my friend Ilise Benun.
She sees business as a form of self-
care—because it can take care of
you.

What if you used your work to…
• Try things out
• Take risks
• Explore connection
• Fuel the passion you already have

What if the work you’re doing now…
…is part of a lifelong conversation you’re
having with your own work?

What’s your favorite way to
give a gift?
• Pick out something unique to that person
• Find or make one amazing thing and give
it to all your friends/family
• Go in on a big gift for someone with a
group
• Plan an excursion, trip, or experience

What’s your favorite way to
receive a gift?
• I want to pick it out
• I want to know I’m getting it
and look forward to it
• I like to be surprised
• I love to go and do things
rather than have a thing

Which feels like the closest metaphor for
how you like to share your work:
• A solo performance  
• A series of albums 
• A broadway show 
• An improv show

What’s your favorite part of
planning, crafting, making?
• Doing it in on my own
• Collaborating with others to plan a thing
• Fanfare around the presentation
• Creating on the fly, in real time, and often
with others, somewhat informally

I shine most when I am…
• On stage and in the spotlight
• Shining the spotlight on someone else
• In a 1:1 conversation
• Playing the role of host and connector

What’s your favorite way
to communicate?
• Writing cards and letters
• Sending emails
• Texting
• DM thru Instagram, FB, etc
• Video apps (like Marco Polo)

What does it tell you about
what you can do to bring more
of yourself to the work?
Take a look at your answers.

How you talk about what
you do?

Amplify
Articulate
Blend
Create
Curate
Cultivate
Discover
Envision
Expand
Feed
Fuse
Generate
Heighten
Ignite
Illuminate
Lead
Nurture
Nourish
Revitalize
Transform
Translate
Unearth
Unveil

Fix what’s
broken.
Lousy advice

Fixes don’t always work.

Consider: Failed Back Surgery
Occurs between 10-40% of lumbar
laminectomy surgeries. 
As much as 36% who undergo
surgery for a herniated disc saw
pain return 2 years later.

This assumes that
something’s wrong.
It’s also not the only
definition of “fix.”

But what if UNfixing them was the
answer?
“To fix” means to fasten
securely in place; to make
permanent or secure.

Meet your reticular
activating system
•Network of neurons in the
brain stem
•Regulates behavioral arousal
•Filters what info gets through

What you look for, you find.

This can affect how you see
yourself, your work…and
other people.

Traditional feedback aims to “fix.”

The problem? It focuses us on flaws.

It puts us in fight or flight.

Emphasizes the wrong things.

People don’t need feedback.
They need attention to what
they do best.
Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, “The Feedback
Fallacy,” Harvard Business Review (April 2019)
“

What makes for the
most effective team?
Google did a study
to find out…

They assumed that an ideal mix
of skills and traits was the
answer.
They were wrong.

The Five Keys to a Successful Google Team, Julia
Rozovsky, Google People Operations | November 17, 2015
Who is on a team matters less
than how the team members
interact, structure their work,
and view their contributions.
“

Feeling secure enough to contribute
was the most common feature, by
far, of high-performing teams.  
“ Why Is It So Hard to Speak Up at Work? By Ruchika
Tulshyan, New York Times, March 15, 2021

Suggesting half-formed ideas
Taking risks
Proposing solutions
Keys to innovation
Why Is It So Hard to Speak Up at Work? By Ruchika
Tulshyan, New York Times, March 15, 2021

can hinder collaboration
and innovation
Focusing only on flaws

You gain greater access to your
most brilliant and creative ideas.
When you feel safe,

The page can be a safe place to
explore your own voice.

Our relationship to the page began
a long time ago.

This is where
we were
conditioned to
distrust
ourselves (and
each other).

Writing is a lot like reading.
It’s how you connect with
experience and metabolize ideas.

Quiet the critic.
Amplify your voice.

Began as a tool for busting
through writers block.

I’ve used this particular workshop approach
for…
at L’Oreal, Google, Wells Fargo, and more
entrepreneurs
writers financial advisors
admin staff
Plus, top executives and teams
Creatives
consultants
authors
therapists
Speakers

We’re going to write to a
prompt, and then listen to a
few and practice feedback.

The Rules of Engagement

The Rules of Engagement
• No disclaiming
• We focus on what works
• No criticizing, questions, suggestions
• We stay on the page
• We refer to the “speaker,” “narrator,”
not by name

you’ll start to see it
in your own.
Look for the genius in others’ work, and

How to write
to a prompt.
Listen to what comes up,
write it down.  
Think small, detailed,
something we can see or
feel.
Write about any scene,
moment, from any time in
your life.

Ready?

Your prompt
One of the first times
you got paid to do
something.

How to comment
• Choose one thing you loved: a word, a phrase
• Listen for where you feel a shift in energy
• Reflect back what you heard
• Stay on the page with the writer

Unfollow Your Passion: How to tap your creative skills to see your work in a whole new way

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