Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Noticing how the state of mind I'm in when I'm creating is a consciousness that allows me to see possibilities and opportunities that weren't able to be on my screen even a few weeks ago. It's more than just a flow state. It's a level of inspiration that keeps revealing more and more potential. Seeing so many ways I can use the quiz and course software and design tools I've been learning, and how many opportunities to help others with those skills and that knowledge there are. If you're feeling stuck in any area, find a creative activity to immerse yourself in for a little while and see if that activity allows your mind to shift into a greater expansion of awareness, allowing you to see the possibilities you're waiting and looking for. #onlinecourse #quizzes #teachable 

Good morning on July 5th, where the neighborhood fireworks ended around midnight and the birds started chirping a little before 4 AM and the dog started sighing in my ear and the neighbors started lighting fireworks at 8 AM and I can hear my wife on her phone call from the other room. Such is life. Today I have to cultivate my own solitude and find some inner quiet in spite of my surroundings. In this Coffee Break, I have a few of my go-to ideas in store for you. Being hyper-tuned to other people's voices and noises can be my biggest distraction. I don't know why that is but I've had that sensitivity my whole life. It's almost like vigilance when other people are nearby to make sure they are taken care of. It makes it hard to get my own work done. Listen to learn more... #solitude #introvert #creativity  

As we do routine tasks repeatedly, habits are formed, and the primary reason this happens is to give us the ability to accomplish routine tasks with minimal expenditure of energy.  We haven't had to think about how we get dressed since we were small, and thankfully, we don't have to relearn those things every day. The same can be said for our routines in creating and delivering our work. Can you imagine if you had to relearn the rudiments of your craft every time you started? In this Coffee Break, I have some thoughts from my own lessons about habits. Even some of the unhealthy habits I've had over the years had some kind of benefit to them. And the habits I'm forming now are becoming new systems that help me get things done more efficiently without getting burned out. I also realized that in the desire to form a new habit, the level of intention and commitment I need are significantly higher in the first weeks of adopting new action patterns than they are a few months ...

Eli Hans is a multi-passionate Renaissance man, having worked on his own for thirty-five years, reinventing his career several times, in television, special events production, as a voiceover actor, interior designer, life and business coach, holistic cancer coach, and his latest iteration as the writer and performer of his mostly one-man show: Out of The Blue, a Miraculous Musical. In 2009, he and his husband Joseph Bennett exited the American rat race by moving to an artistic ex-pat community in Mexico called San Miguel de Allende. Eight years ago, though flourishing in their new lives, Eli was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of cancer. That's when everything changed. Having about a 10% chance of survival, Eli focused 100% of his energy on his successful recovery. Confronting his mortality helped him realign his goals and for the past 6 years, he's been supporting others to discover their passions to create meaningful work, using their natural abilities to make a dif...

Creative people often have many more ideas than they have time. Projects can easily start to feel overwhelming as we start to move out of the idea stage and into the creating itself. I have struggled with this for years. Finally, I found a simple time structure that's helped me start to get more creative projects finished. In this coffee break, I share what I've learned. #creativity #projectoverwhelm #gettingthingsdone

▼▼▼Watch or Listen Below!▼▼▼ Perfectionism is a part of the human experience that has many definitions and is perceived by some to be a positive character trait while others view it as an obstacle to success. It’s a common factor that isn’t related to one personality type over others, isn’t limited to high achievers or low, and can affect people at every level of self-image. If you’ve ever believed that you had to show up a certain way to be accepted or had to have all your circumstances exactly in order before you could start working on something or have hidden something you’ve done after comparing it to the work of others, you’ve experienced perfectionism. Audrey Holst is a coach who guides perfectionists and stressed-out high achievers and performers that are ready to start enjoying and living the life they've worked so hard for. She teaches her clients simple and practical tools of self-discovery to move through old patterns of perfectionism into greater freedom and open-hearte...

What if you could earn a living by being true to yourself? Ariana Friedlander started Rosabella Consulting with that very question in mind. Not long after she started, she realized that she didn’t really know how to run a business and she began an in-depth, on-the-job study of the subject of entrepreneurship that continues today. Ariana works with individuals and organizations as a consultant and trainer in areas like leadership, conversational intelligence, and personal growth and development. Also in this episode we’ll hear how Ariana uses journaling as a central part of her life and work, bringing the value and insight of personal reflection into her daily process of centering, clearing her mind, and engaging her creativity. She is the author of The Misfit Entrepreneur’s Guide to Building a Business Your Way, and she will be releasing an extensive course on journaling in the near future. For more information, visit http://rosabellaconsulting.com

100 Ways is a brainstorming exercise that use for myself and with clients to help generate ideas beyond those that are obvious. I find brainstorming for a designated length of time distracting because I get concerned about time running out and I don't focus on generating ideas. 100 ways is simple. Set a specific goal at t eh top of the page, and then write down 100 ways to attain that goal, with no regard for how long it takes to get to 100. Want to find a way to make $5000? Write down 100 ways and you'll probably find more than one way you can attain that goal. Some of your ideas will surprise you. Here's a simple worksheet that you can use.

We have a rule in our house that whoever doesn't cook the meal does the dishes. While it seems fair on the surface, I'm not so sure. I'm a one pot kind of guy, and I tend to clean as I go most of the time, so that by the time I serve, there won't be a sink full of dishes other than the ones we eat from. My wife is a chef. The table is her canvas, and the kitchen her palette. We own three generations worth of cooking utensils of every variety, and I'm pretty sure that she uses most of them whenever she cooks. Now the bellywaddin' that I cook is comforting and filling. It won't show up on any Food Network shows, but for a hungry family it'll do just fine. Monica's meals are much more of a craft. She never uses recipes, except to bake, and she follows her whims and inspiration until there is a hearty, world class meal on the table. She's Italian, so most of the time it's Mangia! time around our house, which means that when she cooks, I do the di...

Some friends I know who are recovering from addiction talk a lot about the bottom, the depth of depravity and desperation that they had to reach before they were willing to admit the problem at hand and seek help. I wonder sometimes if for many creators that an equally terrifying place is The Middle. When I first get an idea that I'm excited about, I can't wait to make it happen. The hyper energized state is fun, and the initial productivity that comes through keeps my focus and consumes time in gluttonous bites. Momentum is effortless, and I'm driven to distraction in any activity that isn't related. It's all I can think about. This beginning lasts until the inevitable Middle shows up. The Middle is usually heralded by a complication, an interruption, on an unanticipated obstacle. If you've ever encountered barre chords in a guitar lesson, you've met The Middle. Playing a barre chord requires greater hand strength than the open chords that were...