Today on the Art of Likability, we welcome stand-up comedian, storyteller, and artist Bob Stromberg to the show! Outside of his comedy, Bob has shared his creative wisdom with Fortune 500 companies and helped non-profit organizations raise multi-millions.
We sit down today today how we can kindle our own creativity using his G.I.T method! Let's get to it:
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Highlights
How Can Great Artists Hit a Rut?
This is Sting, an amazing British rock musician, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and winner of many musical awards.
Clearly, a musical talent.
The same artist went through an 8 year dry spell and had not written a single song. How?
It was when Sting returned to his childhood roots that he created music again. He even went as far as writing in the dialect of his hometown.
So childhood memories are powerful...let's make a quick mental note of that for now.
Bob mentions a show called Chef's Table with many amazingly talented chefs from across the world. All these chefs share the same training in exceptional French cuisine, and after starting their own restaurants, they all shared something else:
They became bored with making the same, perfect thing over and over and over again. But it wasn't their own creation.
Their skill had no longer become something personal to them.
What rekindled their spark for cooking again was their exploration and recollection into their favorite childhood foods.
For both Sting and the chefs, what worked to reignite the creative flame was their recollection of childhood memories. You might think that's the key, the magic potion. Bob takes us deeper into his method:
What is it about childhood memories that are so special? They grab you emotionally, and they don't let go.
The G.I.T Method
Bob says finding something that grabs you is the start to 'git' your creative spark. Let's layout the G.I.T method Bob uses for creative storytelling right now:
G: Grab
I: Interrogate
T: Transform
GIT!
Bob recommends keeping a creative reservoir: a list of things and observances that just emotionally grab you.
It could be anything you see that grabs you. You could see an old person drop a shopping bag and kids walk by.
Immediately write that down. Or make a note/speak it to your smartphone, like Bob does.
For him, it was remembering how he admired the colors of pastels in a local art store as a child. This recollection got Bob to start painting for a five year period. For him, it was how he inexplicably started crying as a third grader while singing with his classmates.
For me, I remember growing up in the projects of Brooklyn, where violence and crime were common. I have seen how important getting a great education and getting a great job can be towards moving up in life, no matter your station.
How about you? What events grab you?
Quick! Write them down. Get them into your phone. Build your creative reservoir.
Bob attests that it's hard to get writer's block, with such a huge reservoir of experiences to consider and interrogate.
Each one of these tidbits is a potential bit of content (if you're a blogger), a painting (for a visual artist), or even a film (for our filmmakers out there)!
The next part comes I: Interrogation. What is it about this event that speaks to you emotionally?
It is when you're able to elaborate why those events caught your attention that you have an idea. Now here's an idea you can start to develop for your audience!
This is where you T: Transform your idea into content for your audience. Here is the final blog post, painting, or film for your audience!
Thank you Bob for coming onto the show! Bob has created a specific page for us Art of Likability fans interested in his creative online method course: "Mastering the Craft of Creativity" at www.bobstromberg.com/likability.
Remember: I promise you this episode will be entirely useless to you-IF you don't apply what we've discussed. So get to writing those events down, and start kindling your own creativity!