LTieu-30dayscreativegenius

This month I decided to watch the video interviews on CreativeLive by Chase Jarvis and get some daily inspiration, motivation and wisdom. I’ve decided to blog about the series, logging my thoughts and takeaways…

Day 1 creative genius – Mark Cuban.

Impressive resume. Cuban definitely comes off as a power CEO type to me and almost a bit intimidating. But as the talk goes on you see how personable and down to earth he is. I was not really aware of him since I did not follow the Shark Tank series (more difficult here in Italy!) but I certainly knew of name Mark Cuban.

His talk includes a lot of good ‘ole fashioned nuggets of wisdom that are often talked about when it comes to the topic of creative inspiration.

The hustle or the grind as Cuban says… it’s always happening whether you are a small business or many big businesses like himself. He talks about the need to keep learning and truthfully outwork everyone else. Perseverance and stamina. He goes into a lot of sports analogies since that’s one of his loves.

Cuban also talks about operating lean. This is a guy that can buy pretty much everything, but he mentions ramen noodle days and living in an apartment with six guys. The less bills you have to worry about the better… true dat!

There were basically three takeaways from the talk that struck me the most. I’m a work-at-home mom with young kids, so it’s not that I can literally apply everything he talks about. But these three big takeaways I think can apply to all situations alike.

Family first.

When Cuban talks about his normal day, the first thing is about getting his kids ready for school and making sure all is well. He’s a Dad first thing. What a great reminder. We all know that family is priority, but it certainly helps to be reminded constantly, because that smartphone is just a little too convenient to check. I also have to remind myself to take care of my kids first and not get distracted checking email or whatever else in the morning. It’s just not the best way to start the day. When my kids are happy and I can send them off with a smile and a happy disposition, that is a good start.

One thing in life you can control – your effort.

Everyone talks about hustling and doing the work, whatever your passion might be. We all know that is takes skill, talent and time – for any endeavor. But Cuban really hits the nail on the head regarding this one point about your effort. It’s one thing you CAN control… so go at it to the max. You can’t control the future, the times, what other people think or the ultimate result because there are a million factors involved. But your effort, yup, you are in control. So true.

Reduce the stress of those around you.

Finally, Cuban talked about how ultimately things are going well if you can reduce the stress of those around you. When the situation is smooth, it means you are doing your job well. The people who cause issues, ruffle up feathers and create drama – stress inducing habits and all, are no good. A great mantra to live by and rule to remember when thinking about who you spend your time with!

Even though it seems like Mark Cuban is in this oh-so-far-away world of big corporate deals and fast paced finances and businesses, I’ve taken away really great lessons that can be applied to my little world of designing art and paper goods and so I’m already loving this interview series! Excited to learn more in the days to come. You can also watch by signing up for the FREE video series – 30 Days of Genius at CreativeLive!

Until tomorrow and if you want to know more about what I do you can read the quick interview of me on TaraSwiger.com.

* Please note the links to CreativeLive are affiliate links. That means if you purchase after clicking through, I might receive a small commission (at no cost to you). It’s always free to watch on CreativeLive, but you can choose to buy video courses as well. All opinions are my own and thank you for supporting me!