I recently returned from what I have to call the most amazing Conference, and community of people, that I have attended in my 38 years as a Performance Psychologist.

‘Amazing’ is a pretty worn out word these days that has lost its meaning due to overuse. Yet, the Tribe Conference, as Webster states in his dictionary, caused “astonishment, great wonder and surprise.”

Yes, it was that good.

For 3 days in Franklin, Tennessee, I sat in a room of 250 people, all of whom desired only one specific thing: to make a difference in the lives of others through their creativity, whether it be through visual or performing arts, speaking or writing. (A special thanks to the creator and organizer of Tribe, New York Times best selling author Jeff Goins)

In my last 2 Posts I have been sharing about how certain words can kill our creativity. In this Post, I would like to share some of the words that I heard from speakers at the Tribe Conference that focused on how we can take our gifts into the world for the purpose of changing lives for the better.

Not words that kill, but words that give us permission to do our best work.

If you have ever attended a conference in the past, you more than likely came home with a notebook full of scribbled down ideas, most of which got put on a shelf, never to be referred to again. I decided to go through my own notes from the conference and share some of my key takeaways.

Takeaway #1: “Fear comes alongside doing something new”

Tim Grahl, author of Running Down A Dream: Your Road Map to Winning Creative Battles, gave a powerful presentation about the role fear plays in our artistic lives. He encouraged us to push outside of our self-imposed boundaries of safety.

Identify what fears are paralyzing and keeping you from letting your creativity be fully expressed. Fear, Tim said, “is a sign that we are doing something right.”

Take risks in your creative work.

Takeaway #2: You cannot stand out and fit in at the same time

Chase Jarvis reinforced this idea of trying to be accepted by fitting in with others (a theme throughout the Conference), of being so concerned what others think that we “settle into the narcotic of external validation” (Todd Henry).

Paul Angone talked about OCD – Obsessive Comparison Disorder, that of putting our focus on what others think of us.

“What is something you would love to do, that you are not doing because

you are afraid you’re going to do it wrong, or it won’t be good enough?” (Melissa Dinwiddie)

Takeaway #3: “Die Empty”

Todd Henry shared these words as he encouraged each of us to not take our best work to the grave. In other words, he encouraged us to stop procrastinating and searching for perfection.

Do your work now and stop putting off creating so that you can, as Todd shared,

“Make something that you love for someone who will love it.”

Speaker Ali Worthington, author of Fierce Faith and The Year of Living Happy summed up what the Conference as a whole was encouraging us as creatives to do:

~ Show Up (Do the work)

~ Be Real (Take a risk and be your authentic self)

~ Love Others (Do not hold back your gifts from the world)

~ Don’t quit (Persevere and push forward no matter what the obstacle)

Now, go out and make amazing work that will cause “astonishment, great wonder and surprise” in the community that you serve!