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The Thriving Creative

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You are here: Home / Archives for Planning

Aimless Gig Work or Intentional Freelancing?

September 16, 2024 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

When I travel to a new city, one of my favourite things to do is to wander. I often put the map and my phone away, walk out the door and just start to wander. I get lost. I turn around random corners, and I loop back on myself when I hit dead-ends. For me, […]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurship, Freelancing, Planning

It’s OK to be small

February 17, 2019 by Steven Sparling 1 Comment

I see advice all the time on ‘how to play big’ or ‘how to up your business game’ or how to ‘scale your business up to the next level.’  But what if that doesn’t interest you? What if you want a happy life instead of a busy life?  What if you want ‘just enough’ instead […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship, Planning

Why the Kaiser Chiefs got Fat and Lazy – and What You Can Learn from Them

January 9, 2014 by Steven Sparling 2 Comments

So last night I was out for a company meal with the cast of Scrooge. I was chatting with one my colleagues, who has been a reader of this blog (and who has also done his own PhD) and I was saying how my biggest fear is having nothing to say – nothing to say […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: art, Career, Change, Creative entrepreneur, Creative Entrepreneurship, music, planning

Idols, Mentors, Colleagues and Fans – It takes a village to support a Creative Entrepreneur

May 15, 2013 by Steven Sparling 10 Comments

Welcome! We are trying something different this week. After an interesting lecture I attended about engaging different learning styles, and how much of our learning is actually visual, I have created the next blog post using PowerPoint. You can see it all below in the Slideshare. I highly recommend you use the ‘full screen’ viewing […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: Artist, Colleagues, creative career, Creative entrepreneur, Creative Entrepreneurship, Mentors, planning

Be Empty to Hear the Answers.

March 19, 2013 by Steven Sparling 3 Comments

To survive, an individual must repetitively stop whatever it is doing to ask how it is doing, to think about where it needs to go, and to be empty to hear the answers. M Scott Peck I have long been a fan of M Scott Peck’s writing. The Road Less Travelled was a huge influence on […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: Creative Business Planning, Creative entrepreneur, Creative Entrepreneurship, M Scott Peck, Reflection

Cost Should Never Be An Excuse – the $1.99 App used to complete Oscar nominated film!

February 27, 2013 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

Check out this video (it starts after the advert at the beginning). It’s interesting because the film maker Malik Bendjelloul discusses how when he was making his documentary film “Searching for Sugar Man” he ran out of money and thought he was going to have to abandon his project because he couldn’t afford to continue shooting […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: Artist, business, Creative Entrepreneurship, obstacles, risk taking

How Our Desires Can Blind Us

February 22, 2013 by Steven Sparling 7 Comments

Photo by poolski This has been a challenging couple of months for me on a professional front. Before Christmas I was offered an acting job (yay!) only to lose it because I couldn’t do the dates they needed me for (boo). Then I was thrilled to get another job offer – for something shiny and […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: creative career, Creative Entrepreneurship, Negotiating, planning

Great Video from Molly Gordon – 5 principles for creating spaciousness, ease and prosperity in 2013

January 11, 2013 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

Molly Gordon is a great American coach – I recommend checking out her website and signing up for her newsletter. This is a video which she has just posted which is a really nice, succinct group of personal pledges to make going into 2013. I especially like the fifth one, to Speak Up – let people […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: 2013, Creative entrepreneur, Molly Gordon, planning

Fruit Picking and Business Planning –

January 9, 2013 by Steven Sparling Leave a Comment

Start with the low hanging fruit Photo by Effervescing Elephant It’s January and the Christmas bills are starting to come in. Mother Hubbard’s cupboards are feeling a bit bare so as a freelancer it’s always the time of year where I start to worry about drumming up some more work. Sound familiar? My advice is […]

Filed Under: creative entrepreneurship, Planning Tagged With: creative, Entrepreneur, marketing, planning

Why 90% of Resolutions Fail and the 10% Option That Actually Works

January 2, 2013 by Steven Sparling 2 Comments

Here we are on the second of January and I bet you, like me and millions of other people, have at some point over the last few days given some thought to your ‘New Years Resolutions.’ Photo from One Way Stock I bet that list looks pretty much like the list you have drawn up […]

Filed Under: Planning Tagged With: Creative Entrepreneurship, New Year, planning, Plans, Resolutions

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Recent Posts

  • The Mindful Freelancer: Nine Attitudes for Thriving in the Creative Economy – Part 1 – Non-Judging
  • Pivoting When You Don’t Know Where the Other Foot is Going to Land
  • Help! My Child Wants to Go Into The Arts
  • Confidence Doesn’t Exist. Quit Chasing It.
  • IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Creative Entrepreneur’s Success!

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