Renaissance artists often had patrons. 

Organizations or individuals who supported, encouraged and bestowed financial aid upon them, so that their creative work could collide with the outside world. 

These people were the original angel investors, sugar daddies and fairy godmothers, and without their crucial role, many of our finest works of art never would have seen the light of day. 

Davinci himself even had a number of powerful patrons over the course of his career, including kings, scientists, clergymen, politicians and other influential members of the community. 

Of course, that was several hundred years ago. These days, there’s a very low probability of a wealthy noble darkening my doorstep with a suitcase full of money who says:

Young man, I like the cut of your jib. Please accept this gift of several million dollars to help underwrite your weirdness. No contracts. No strings attached. Just send me a signed copy of each piece when you’re done, and we’ll call it even. Good day. 

Too bad. Sure would make life easier to have a patron like that. 

And so, we have to be smart about providing for ourselves. We have to find a way to fund our own projects. We have to underwrite our own ability to make art. And we have to be willing to make whatever arrangements are needed to assure that our work reaches the world. 

In short, we have to become our own patrons. 

Because nobody else is going to give us the financial foundation to prove how talented we are. That’s our job. 

I’m reminded of interview with one of my favorite performers. Rollins reminisced about his history of initiating his own projects, about being the producer of his own work, and his advice to young artists was:

Don’t ever factor in anybody ever helping you. 

Which sounds like petulant, cynical, selfish advice, but that’s not the point. 

Henry wasn’t trying to be anti dependent, attempting to meet of his needs and wants himself, refusing to be vulnerable and open to the assistance of others. 

He just wasn’t banking on it. He wasn’t waiting to be tapped on the shoulder. 

And so, he just hired himself and got to work. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How will you rearrange your life to become your own patron? * * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Emerson said that the mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never returns to its original dimensions. 

That’s the true value of innovation.
Not only the ideas we create, but the intellectual growth we undergo along the
journey. 

And so, even if it’s not in the budget, even if it’ll never pass
compliance, even if the brief doesn’t call for it, and even if the client
continually tries to trap your thinking into a conservative little box, keep
innovation high on the agenda. 

Take the time to sift through the mass of sand
in order to find the nugget of gold. Because you never know. If the timing is
right, people might actually be willing to stretch beyond what they have done
before. 

I once led a project to concept and launch a new baby formula. The
client specifically asked us to execute a disruptive innovation product. And
so, we invented a subscription box service that allowed new and expecting moms
to get all of the necessary pregnancy related products delivered to their
homes, each month, before, during and after the birth of their child. 

The best
part is, it wasn’t available in stores. Ever. 

When we presented our concept to
the client, their exact words were, wow,
you’ve officially scared us, thank you. 

They said it was the most creative,
daring and disruptive idea they’d seen in years. 

Sadly, that little piggy never
went to market for a variety of political and budgetary reasons, as is the norm
for most large corporations. 

But what’s more important is, we kept innovation
high on the agenda. We stretched ours brains to a place where
they could never possibly return to their original dimensions. 

We took
ourselves to those places where reality slips a bit. 

As opposed to what most
companies do, which is launching the supposedly innovative idea with the
greatest potential to keep things exactly as they are.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you creating a place so you can have an excuse to innovate?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Fox’s enthralling book on the reinvention of work shares a vision where our personal and professional lives are celebrated in harmony. 

A world where the self is not sacrificed for a job, but is sanctified by authentic work. One of the points he makes is about doing things for their own reward. Letting the work take responsibility for itself. 

He writes: 

It is when we learn to work without a why that we know we are working from our inner selves. If our work is a work of love, it needs to be without a why, for love has no reason. As it is in our relationships with friends, family and lovers, we love the work for its own goodness, virtue and nature. Life lives from its own foundation and rises out of itself. 

In a world where people fetishize motivation and purpose and vision and planning, this thought of working without a why is wildly refreshing. 

Besides, since when did we decide that doing something without a reason wasn’t worth doing at all? 

Why all the incessant need to defend the hugely impressive and grandiose motivation that drives our work? 

We’re all adults here. We don’t have to prove our purpose to anybody. And we don’t owe anybody an explanation. Including ourselves. 

We can do things just to do them. 

In fact, I would argue that endlessly searching for the why behind our work, not to mention forcing ourselves to constantly justify those efforts in inspiring language, is a waste of valuable energy that could be better invested in the work itself. 

Don’t start with why. Just start. 

Sometimes the best reason is the one you don’t have. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

When was the last time you let the work take responsibility for itself?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

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Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

Barger was the original hell’s angel. 

He not only founded the legendary motorcycle club in fifties, but he also authored several books about a life on the road, riding high and living free. During one particular interview, he was famously asked how he recruited for his biker gang. 

Sonny replied:

We don’t recruit, we recognize. When we see somebody that’s us, they become us. That’s the best way to describe the growth of our club. What we look for in prospective members is that they are not only proficient bike riders, but also strong, reliant, loyal, confident and trustworthy people. 

Barger’s approach is a powerful tool for building community and promoting belonging, as it’s grounded in the tremendous gift of being seen. And in an economy where every company is fighting to recruit and retain top talent, organizations should remember the biker’s mantra. 

Don’t recruit, recognize. Work from the inside out. Keep your eyes peeled for people with constitutional commonality, people who are already living the values your company espouses. 

Then hold up a loving mirror. 

And let them know that they’re one of you, and that they belong on your team.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

How are you creating a space for people to be seen?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

I spent many years trying to squeeze
my business into other people’s plans. 

From friends to mentors to competitors
to strangers, there wasn’t a revenue model, pricing system or marketing
framework that I didn’t attempt to make my own. 

But after a decade of wondering
why nothing ever seemed to gain significant traction, it finally occurred to me
what the problem was. 

Anytime we try to execute other people’s tactics against
our strategies, we lose. 

Because it’s not true to who we are and what we stand
for. 

Like the time my consultant friend completely transformed his client
pricing structure according to the advice of a colleague. Within six months,
profits were through the roof. But he detested the kind of person he had become
in the process. Arrogant, greedy, impatient, that wasn’t his personality. It
was just a costume he tried on for a while. And it failed. 

In fact, his exact
words to me over lunch were, “It’s taking
me out of me.” 

That’s the type of existential danger we face in clinging to
somebody else’s understanding of what works. And if we’re not careful, we’ll
grind our souls to dust. 

It’s like my marriage therapist told my wife and me. 

It’s your relationship and nobody else’s. 

In the world of business, the same
principle applies to our company, brand product or service. We must turn away
from trying to create a business modeled on other people’s
vision. 

Besides, there are very few shoulds and musts in this world.
Spending our time living other people’s lives isn’t helping anyone. 

The goal is
to get to the point where we can confidently proclaim, I no longer feel the
peer pressure of having to do that anymore. 

It’s profoundly liberating. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Whose business are you plagiarizing?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Disappointment happens when somebody expects one thing, and doesn’t get it. 

It happens every day. Life lets us down. There is no avoiding it. 

The danger is when too many of our decisions are made based on what other people expect, versus what is actually best for us. Because that only creates greater resentment and unhappiness on both sides. 

This tendency dates back to our childhood fear of letting our parents down. Growing up under the ruling eye of their authority, the absolute worst thing they could possibly say to us was the following. 

We’re not mad at you, honey, we’re just disappointed. 

Every time those words came out of their mouths, a sudden and overwhelming feeling of sadness would strike in the pit of my stomach. The rest of my day would be disgraced with feelings of guilt, incompetence and unworthiness. 

Because I had let mom and dad down. What a terrible son I was. 

Interestingly, that fear never quite goes away. Even as adults, we’re still afraid of letting people down. Not just parents, but also friends, spouses, family members and even coworkers. Everyone has someone they’re trying to avoid disappointing. It’s classic codependent and people pleasing behavior. 

But what nobody tells us is, one of the most important decisions we need to make is whom we choose to disappoint in life. By making disappointment a choice, we free ourselves. We create a life that’s authentic to who we are, as opposed to knocking ourselves out trying to make everybody happy. 

And so, see if you can go let someone down. Find the courage to disappoint people. Trust that it’s not your job to fulfill all of their expectations. Trust that it’s not realistic to demand that everyone to accept all of your decisions. And trust that you’re not responsible for everyone’s reactions to the path you take. 

Remember, when somebody is disappointed with you, it’s not always your problem. 

It might mean they haven’t learned to surrender their expectations. 

Or that you forgot to do the laundry.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Whom are you still trying to avoid disappointing?
* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

The fact that our bodies don’t cooperate all the time can be frustrating. 

That’s my fourteenth sneeze since lunch. This is ridiculous. How can I still have allergies after two weeks? 

But we can’t beat ourselves up for being human. Being overly critical about our bodies only halts progress in its tracks and pushes the shame spiral deeper. 

And if we treat each day as yet another onslaught of opportunities to not be good enough, we miss the myriad opportunities to heal things within ourselves. 

Ask anyone who’s ever been in recovery. The place where our most profound healing can occur is grounded in compassion, acceptance and forgiveness. Whether we’re fighting a head cold, or fighting a battle inside of our heads, the way we speak to ourselves is paramount. 

Here’s a collection of mantras that help me get to a place of healing. 

I know that I valuable even when I make a mistake. 

I forgive myself for what I think I’ve done wrong. 

I choose to interrupt myself at any stage of the mental chain reaction. 

I expect mistakes and trust that they’re the doorways to growth. 

Unlike cold and flu medicine, reciting these incantations never make my allergy symptoms go away any faster. 

But they do help me to suffer gracefully. They do help me use life’s upsets as opportunities for healing instead of weapons to attack myself. 

And they do allow me to gradually loosen the knots of misidentification on my rope of misery.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What if you tried giving yourself compassion the next time you felt challenged beyond your ability to cope?* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Once of my clients loved to say, the grass is only greener on other side because it’s fertilized with bullshit. Think twice before you jump the fence. 

It’s an interesting philosophy that I can appreciate from a comedic standpoint. 

But then again, making grandiose pronouncements from my throne of cynicism isn’t a particularly useful way to spend my time. And besides, no path is entirely free of suffering. We will never create a world that has no difficulties. Our only hope is to create a relationship to the sorrow and joy in this life that is in harmony with reality. 

What’s more, how dare people criticize a life that’s yours, that belongs to you? It doesn’t matter if you quit, level up, scale down, transition across the country, lower your expectations, sell out and or even settle for a future that’s cheaper. 

All that matters is that it’s the life you want. 

Because as soon as you begin thinking about what you want to create, you’ve put yourself in the position of cause, not effect. You’ve begun billowing toward a future that is always beckoning. And regardless of what the outcome is, nobody can take that away from you. 

What some may think is failure is simply you being honest about what you want. 

My mentor once told me that our options for creating a fulfilling life are only limited by our own lack of imagination. And that our definition of happiness can and should be altered and molded to fit wherever we are on the journey at any given time. 

What I didn’t realize at the time, though, is that whatever life we choose, there will be no choir of angels, no parting of the skies, no glorious moment with fireworks and banners and trombones, and no voice from a burning bush telling us to keep going and that we’re on the right path. 

There’s nothing but our ability to trust and listen to ourselves about what we want. 

And to be at peace with the path we take. 

Remember, compassion means facing reality and transforming our relationship to it. Whether that reality is ours, or someone else’s. 

If your life is where you want it to be, you don’t have to listen to anybody. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you billowing toward a future that is always beckoning?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

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Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.

One of my favorite writers once released a drama series with an innovative distribution model. 

Louie did zero promotion and made no prior announcements. The project had no logline, no press junket, no ad campaign, no test audiences, no studio system and no third party distribution. 

All that people knew was, one morning, a sudden and terse email showed up in their inboxes with the following message. 

Hi there. Here’s a brand new thing for me. Episode one is now available for download for five dollars. Go here to watch it. We hope you like it. 

And that was it. The television project simply emerged like a groundhog on a cold winter’s morning and took the world by surprise. 

Nobody knew what to expect. It was all one big experiment. 

Not surprisingly, the approach paid off. Within a few days of its release, there was no question that the experiment had worked. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive, both from fans and critics alike. 

One journalist even wrote that the series wasn’t going to be for everyone, but all of the disorientation and ingenuity certainly made it one of the most thrilling things to come along in some time. 

Could an artist ask for anything more? 

It’s not just about artistic freedom and creative control, it’s about purity. It’s about giving your work the chance to speak for itself and stand on its own merit, without being tainted by the rust of social expectation. 

Louis even told one reporter that as a television watcher, he was always delighted whenever he could see something without knowing anything about it because of the promotion. And so, so making this show and just posting it out of the blue gave him the rare opportunity to give people that experience of discovery. 

Yet another lesson from a creative master. Don’t give your audience a head start. Otherwise they’ll smell it before they get there. And the expectation will ruin it. 

Do the work in secret, and then just show up in public. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Are you practicing the art of containment with your projects?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

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Joy isn’t always glitter and belly laughs and jumping up and down with overwhelming delight. 

Just because we don’t emanate a spontaneous outward response, doesn’t mean we’re not happy. Often times joy comes from simply being content, feeling safe and discovering the beauty of the world. 

It’s exquisitely ordinary. Uncomplicated. Gentle. Inexpensive. Maybe even mundane. Whatever it takes to light up our circuits. 

That’s the big misconception about joy. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. And there is no joy police waiting to jump out from behind the bushes and take us down for not acting with euphoric and overpowering cheerfulness. 

Each of us creates a personal relationship to joy that is in harmony with our reality. Each of us grounds our daily lives in the small joys that are available to us, in that moment. 

I approach it like a subroutine, to steal a computer programming term. Because treating joy as a program with instructions to perform a specific task makes it easier for me to access. It allows me to take agency over joy at a moment’s notice. And it helps me to choose the path of temperate endurance, despite whatever resistance life decides to throw at me. 

This subroutine may sound a bit cold and mechanical, but sometimes it’s the only way to avoid keeping myself hostage from my own kindness. 

I have zero shame about keeping a list on my phone of all the activities, big and small, that bring me joy, and consulting that list anytime I want to elevate my mood. 

Life is hard. You take your happiness wherever you can get it. 

Here’s the question you have to get good at asking is. 

What can you do, in this moment, that would be a gift to yourself? 

What one thing might you do today, no matter how small, that would increase your joy? 

After all, joy is more than just another emotion on our emotional palette. 

It’s also choice, a skill, a muscle, a mindset, a daily practice, a spiritual bearing and a natural inheritance. 

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

Do you have a subroutine for making more space in your heart for joy to enter?

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Inventor. Filmmaker. Publisher. Songwriter.  

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com

It’s the world’s first, best and only product development and innovation gameshow!

Tune in and subscribe for a little execution in public.

Join our community of innovators, artists and entrepreneurs.