112: Your Big Creative Pep Talk for 2024

 

Need a quick boost of motivation to get you writing, creating, and sharing your work with the world? I got you covered! This is your big creative pep talk to make 2024 a magical year. 

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yOUR BIG CREATIVE PEP TALK FOR 2024

 

Welcome to your big creative life, a podcast for writers and creatives that helps you live your best big creative life. Whatever that means for you. I'm Katie Wolf, a writer, book editor and creator. Join me every week for tips and discussion on writing, mindset up leveling your life and anything and everything that will help you achieve your big creative dreams. Let's get started. Welcome back to your big creative life. Thank you so much for listening or watching. I have a fire under me about 2024 I don't know what's in the water. I don't know what's going on this January. I feel like I just have a fire under my ass to like get moving, get creating get writing. This is going to be our year.

 

Okay, this episode is a creative pep talk for you. I'm going to do some motivational speaker type stuff. So if you're, if you're like not in the mindspace for that, or you think that's cheesy, that's fine. But sometimes I feel like we just need a bit of a pep talk, right? Maybe 2023 wasn't such a great year for you. Maybe it was really hard. Or maybe it was great. And you want to continue the momentum and make 2024 Even frickin better. Whatever the case, whatever is going on with you. That's what we're doing in this episode. Okay, some motivational speaker stuff, getting a fire under you to create, to write to put yourself out into the world to trust and believe that what you want is possible for you. That's all it's happening. So get ready.

 

I'm recording this episode while my baby is napping, I have a monitor that I'm holding up to the camera now. And I'm just hoping that I can record this episode before she wakes up. But I wanted to record it now. Because like I said, I've been feeling this energy and feeling like I have all of these ideas. I don't know. I don't know what it is. But I have all these ideas. I feel this like creative energy funneling through me. And I'm like, I have to record this episode. Now I'm feeling it take advantage of this energy.

 

Okay, so let's talk about, let's talk about your year. So 2023, for me, it was kind of a mixed bag in terms of the year because it was I was pregnant for almost the full year, I was pregnant. You know, I gave birth to my baby in October. So I was pregnant for a good chunk of the year. And it was just, that was hard. And then obviously from October on had a newborn, I was recovering from giving birth, all that. So there was a lot going on in my life that, you know, made some things more difficult. It was also a really good year because of that, you know, giving birth to my daughter, becoming a mom.

 

We also moved we moved from Nashville to Charleston, South Carolina, where my husband is from-- he grew up here. And I also lived here before -- it was where we met. And so just moving back felt really good. It was definitely the right decision. I'm so happy here. But it was a big deal. It was it was so there was a lot anyways, my point is there was a lot going on in 2023. And it also felt like a bit of a plateau year for me where I just felt like I was in this holding pattern of waiting, waiting for things that I want to kind of come to fruition. And a few of those things did, but a lot of things did not. And I feel like I'm still kind of waiting for those things to happen. One of them being a book deal.

 

My book went on submission last year in 2023. And we had some interest but got some feedback that there were just too many books about podcasts out there. And so my book deals with the podcast. So we pulled it, I made some changes, which took a while because it was rewriting a big chunk of the book, and then we just sent it back out. So what feels different this year for me is the energy. It feels like there's some potent shit in the air. And I'm claiming I'm putting it out there that this is the year that I get a book deal. I feel like I shouldn't even say that publicly. I feel like I shouldn't even say I shouldn't even claim it because what if it doesn't happen? I'm going to look like an idiot.

 

Well, tough shit, I don't care. I'm going to look like an idiot. This is the year that stuff happens for me. And I'm going to tell you, I'm gonna give you the pep talk so that you can claim that same energy if you're not quite feeling it yet. So this can be the year that things happen for you to. Okay. It's important to remember 2024 is in a lot of ways a blank slate for you, no matter what happened for you in 2023 If it was the worst year of your life, if it was the best year of your life, if it was somewhere in between. You have a blank slate and I I know it's technically not that much changes from December 31 2023 to January 1 2024 and like January this whole month. Like technically that not much changes. It's just the calendar rolls over.

 

But I don't buy that I feel like there is a shift energetically in a new year. So, again, this is a completely blank slate for you in January, no matter what happened last year highs, lows, good, bad, whatever, this is a chance to start fresh to claim the things that you want to continue working towards the things that you are working towards, that maybe didn't really come to fruition in 2023. So think of this as like this whole month of January as kind of an energetic reset, where you get to, to shake off what happened last year, and look forward to this year. Something that I like to do is called basically, it's called a self audit, but it's really looking at 2023 and doing an audit of the year and looking at what went well, and what didn't go well in different areas of your life.

 

So you could do this in a really structured like official way, where you say, okay, work life, what went well, what didn't go so well. My relationship? What went well, what were the highs, lows, you can you can do it like that if you want or you can just spend some time and reflect more broadly. What was good about last year and my life and the things that I was doing and what wasn't so good. And then more importantly, what do I want to carry with me into 2024. And what do I want to leave behind. Because you get to decide, you get to decide what you bring with you into this year.

 

If there's something that you've harnessed creatively with your writing, or some habits that you established last year, you want to carry those forward into 2024. Awesome, bring that with, if there's stuff that you energetically just want to shake off, you're just want to dust off your shoulders, you want to be done with it, you want to leave it behind, maybe it's an old version of you that you want to leave behind in 2023. Awesome, shake it off, leave it behind you. And this energetic reset that I'm talking about. The self audit is obviously something that you can do at any point in 2024. And I know that this episode is coming out, you know, not on January first, obviously, it's like a few weeks into January.

 

But you can do this at any point, it doesn't have to be in January. But again, like there's just something about this month, it really feels kind of magical to me. It's also a hard month because it's January. And if you're like me and you have some seasonal depression, January can be tough. But there's a lot of really potent energy in it as well thinking about, you know, a new year, a blank slate, a fresh start and energetic reset, that is all really exciting. So just spend some time thinking about what you again, what you want to leave behind what you want to carry with you. And think about this year as a blank slate. Like there are endless possibilities available to you in this year in 2024, which is really exciting.

 

The next thing I want to say when I want to remind you because you know this already, but I'm going to remind this, you have this anyways. You are 1,000% unique. There's literally no one on this planet in this universe that has your exact same skill set that has your exact same outlook on life that has your exact same talent or skills or lived experience and gifts. No one. So if you get in your head about setting a goal or an intention, which we talked about in a previous episode, setting an intention for the year, if you get in your head about it and think some version of well who am I to want this thing? This is too big. This is too ambitious. I'm too crazy. Like why me I'm not worthy enough to have this thing that I want. Or, you know, there's so many other people already doing this thing? How can I do it as well and be successful. If you start to have any of those thoughts, I want you to remember the truth of who you are, you are 1,000% unique, there is no one else on planet earth like you.

 

And so you are bringing something unique to everything that you do. Your writing voice is going to be so unique to you. Your perspective, the characters that you develop content that you create on social media, all of that is going to be so fabulously unique. And I want you to really lean into that. I'm going to give you an example of how I shifted this for myself because this was a big deal for me when I first started creating content on social media.

 

I felt all of this pressure to be like certain other people kind of in the online business space where I had to have this type of branding and I had to speak to people this way and had to create this certain type of content to be very like polished and professional and present a certain image of myself. And there's nothing wrong with doing that. But that doesn't really feel authentic to who I am. I would much rather just record a podcast episode or record a YouTube video in my, you know, sweatpants and sweatshirt with my hair up in a messy bun.

 

And just talk to you about the things that I want to talk to you about, versus thinking No, it has to be, it has to look super professional, I have to have my hair blown out, I have to like, you know, be really polished and professional and the way that I structure my episodes or my videos like, that just doesn't feel right to me. And so in the beginning, when I started posting on Instagram, and even a tiny bit, when I first started doing Tik Tok, I didn't feel this pressure to shift my authentic self to be more like other what I saw other people doing because it was working for them. And I thought, well, if the key to success is doing content this way, then I must just have to do it that way.

 

But that's not it, that the key to success is that those people who are doing it that way that was they were being authentic to themselves. And that having the professional branding, having the professional polished content that was authentic to who they were, so it was working for them. So I want you to just really lean into your uniqueness and to your voice, your authenticity, in whatever you create this year it whatever goals or resolutions or intentions that you are setting for yourself, because that's like the secret sauce, the more that I especially with content, I guess I'm really thinking about content lately.

 

And like an online presence, the more that I think about this, and the more that I think about people who are successful, and people who are really doing what they love, and making a living off of it and finding fulfillment. Those people are just so themselves. And you can feel that in the energy, you can feel that in their content, and also the writing, you know, I think about writers who just, it's like, you can just tell their writing what lights them up, what excites them. And I think that is so appealing, that is so attractive to people. So encourage you to just lean into that whatever makes you weird and unique and funky, like embrace that don't feel like you have to, to alter your writing voice or alter your content in order to fit into a box that you think will make you successful.

 

Another thing, another element of this pep talk. You have your big creative dreams for your big creative life for a reason, you would not be listening to this podcast or watching this YouTube video. If that weren't the case, you if your purpose in life, or your soul's mission on earth, or creative driving force inside you was to be a painter, to be a watercolor painter, you would be watching someone teaching you how to do that you would be watching or listening to a podcast about watercolors and painting and art and how to make money off of your art, like your visual art. But you're not. You're listening to a podcast about creativity and about writing and your creative life. Or watching the video. You're here for a reason.

 

And you have the dreams that you have for a reason you're drawn to writing and creating for a reason. Most people aren't. There's so many people who say in this abstract hypothetical way, like Yeah, if I had time, like I would love to write a book. And then they don't, because it's not a strong enough desire that they actually like do anything about it. It's just sort of a vague like, yeah, I have some ideas, it'd be fun to do that. And then that's as far as people get, which is fine. I've had that. thought myself sometimes like, Oh, I'd really like to, I don't know, I'm trying to think of an example. I don't know knit. But I, I did like start writing are starting to the beam scarf.

 

But that was like 10 years ago, and I have not done anything since then. So you know, the point is, you have the desires that you have, and you're drawn to the things that you're drawn to for a reason. I firmly believe that even though I did not grow up writing a lot, I really didn't get serious about writing and actually really try it until I was like 30 --there was always a part of me that was drawn to writing. There was always a part of me that was drawn to books and the idea of being an author and I felt like there was a part of me that was an author and a writer. Years before decades before I even did it.

 

And I believe that little kernel, that little bit of desire in me was there for a reason to lead me to it when the time was right. For me. The timing just wasn't right for me to write and, you know, have the business that I have before age 30 I had to go through some stuff in my life before I got to the point where I was ready to But that desire was there. And so I believe that it was there to lead me to this place that I am now. And, you know, it can be, if you've had the desires that you've had for a long time, I know that it can feel frustrating when those things haven't materialized yet.

 

I was just talking with a client, a coaching client about this, how it can feel, you know, my book deal for an example, I signed with my first agent in the spring of 2018. So it has been years now that I've been on this journey. And I still don't have a published book out there. Like it's, it's, I get impatient, I'll just be honest, I get very impatient, and I get frustrated. And I'm like, why, why? Why have things worked out the way that they have? And I don't know the answer to that. I do feel like certain things had to line up that weren't there back in 2018, or 2019. And, you know, I've learned so much I've grown so much as a writer since then, since that first book, so maybe that's part of it. I don't fully know.

 

And it might be one of those things where I look back years from now. And I'm like, oh, that's why it took so long. Okay. But maybe not, maybe this is just my life path and things had to go this way. I don't know. But I know it can be frustrating when you have these big dreams. And you have these desires that are so strong. And you're like, why are they here yet? What? Why? Why? So all I can say is, you know, I'm going to do on a on an aside, I'm going to do an episode about manifestation and the writing, world and whatever, because it's something that I'm really wrestling with and kind of teasing apart. So I want to talk about it in a separate episodes. But I think a lot of it also has to do with energy.

 

So I had this energy in different parts at different points over the last few years where I would just get so almost like frustrated, angry, angry with the universe, like why? Almost like, I'm not getting the things I want. Where are they like almost like I was throwing a tantrum because I didn't have a book deal yet. Which, if you're listening, I know this can sound like it can sound so like, I don't know, almost like ungrateful. But it? It's not. It's not that it's just like, I'm ready. I've got an agent, I have a book that I think is really good. You know? What, why isn't this happened yet? I don't know. So I don't know, I don't want I don't see that. And I don't want it to sound like I'm expecting to get a massive book deal. Just because I want it. A lot of people want, you know things and they don't necessarily happen the way that they want them to.

 

So I'm not expecting or I don't feel I don't feel like I'm entitled to something. But I do feel like all the groundwork has been laid that my skills of a writer, as a writer have improved. I've got this fantastic agent, the book has gone through some really good strong revision, I feel like the books ready. So anyways, that's going on tangent kind of. But the point is, a lot of it has to do with energy. And at various points over the last few years, I've been in this energy of like, I'm never gonna get a book deal, it's never going to work, I'm going to just be, you know, have an agent and be working on getting this thing for years for 10 more years.

 

And I'm never going to do this. And the energy that I had in those moments would sort of bleed over into my actual writing where I would not feel motivated to write because I would get like, well, what's the point, and I would not feel energized to create because I would I would just be stuck in this like self pity feeling bad for myself, because, again, I'm impatient. And I don't have what I want. But I guess what I'm what I'm sensing and shifting is the energy of 2024, where I want to just be like, You know what the stars are aligning, I feel like this is the year that it happens, it's probably going to happen different than I expect it to. Maybe at some point, I'll end up self publishing, I don't know.

 

But what the point is, is that I'm going to have a published book, I'm claiming that as my reality might not happen exactly they want it to might not happen in 2024. But like, I'm going to have a published book. I know that without a shadow of a doubt. And already I can tell that just me claiming that and saying that. And having all of this creative energy flowing through me is shifting how I'm showing up. It's shifting how I'm showing up with clients. It's shifting and the content that I'm creating is shifting in the tone and kind of content of the podcast.

 

So all of that feels good. It feels energizing, and it feels like I have this momentum that I haven't had for a while and again part of that just because I was pregnant and you know dealing with the newborn in 2023, so there was a lot kind of pulling out my energy. But think about your energy, like, what do you want to give your energy to this year? Where do you want to put your focus? What is? What do you want to create? What do you want to have that momentum behind? Every year, I really, I really do think a lot of it has to do with energy. And by the way, if you're listening to this, and you aren't sure exactly what your desires are, what you're wanting for 2024, that's okay.

 

You can either spend some time getting intentional about it and thinking about what you, you know, what you want to create this year. Or you can just keep it general and just be like, I just want to write this year, I just want to work on stories that excite me, and see what happens, or I want to create content that feels good and exciting for me and just see what happens. Like, that's awesome, too. It doesn't always have to be very specific, down to the last detail kind of desire, it can just be you know, you want to create something cool this year, that's awesome.

 

Again, that's the whole like, idea behind your big creative life is your big creative life is whatever you want it to look like, and it can change at any point. So keep that in mind when thinking about 2024. But I just know, I just have this sense that 2024 is gonna be magical for so many of us, and I'm so freaking excited about it. I'm so excited about this new podcast, I'm so excited about the content and creating. And I hope that you are equally as excited about the things that you are creating and brainstorming and editing and putting out to the world, I hope that you can harness that same creative energy because you're freakin worth it. You deserve it. And it's so fun. It's fun to feel creatively fulfilled. And you deserve that. And at every moment this year in 2024.

 

So I'm gonna get off my soapbox now, motivational speaker stuff over. If you are really feeling it, if you're really feeling it, and you want to claim your desire, but you're not ready to do it on like, I don't know, social media or something. You can claim it and send me your goal or your intention, or your desire for this year. And what you're excited about. I'm going to focus on this year, you can send it to me via DM, it's like a smaller version of, of claiming it and being so excited about it. You can you can do that. And I'll cheer you on. Definitely cheering you on.

 

Because yeah, this year feels powerful. I should look if you're listening to this and you know, like astrology or numerology or something like maybe there's something going on this year that maybe there's a kind of woowoo reason for it. I don't know, I should probably look into that. But okay, you've got this. This is your frickin year. That was your creative pep talk. Listen to this whenever you need that little boost of energy or momentum or inspiration because we're going to do some frickin magical things this year, and I'm really, really excited about it. All right. See you all next week. Thank you so much for listening.

Katie Wolf