TMM118 Unlocking Your Creative Mojo with Carlie Wacker

Unlocking Your Creative Mojo with Carlie Wacker

How do you keep your Mojo and rediscover your creativity when what you thought you were building has been completely turned upside down. This could be the exact creative gift you really need to get back to basics.

On today's episode because I have one of my great friends, radio host face of the 80s 90s in the 2000s. My dear friend and fabuloso Carlie Wacker from The World of Wacker.

Carlie has always been an entertainer.

"I'm always producing shows in the neighbourhood as a little girl. It was a natural progression for me to go on and pursue a career in the entertainment industry. I danced in the United States. I came back to Australia. I embarked on what I thought was going to be this most fabulous acting career and dancing career. I ended up on radio". I travelled all around Australia. I got to work in some really interesting small country towns and little communities. That's where I discovered the real need for supporting a local community.

Without knowing it, I was unveiling what was going to be the next part of my life. That was to become a brand ambassador for local businesses and fashion has always been a major interest of mine. So when I moved to Noosa in 2012, I became immersed in the community.

I got to know all the fashion and local businesses. I became a real voice for them. That then ended up in me founding with my co-founder, Jacinta Elms runway fashion Australia, which is a sustainable fashion show that was meant to launch on the 21st of March this year.

But of course, due to our restrictions and social distancing that has been postponed. So as a representative for local creatives Carlie asked me advice on how to unlock creativity again and reignite the sense of purpose in work...

This isn't a survival guide. This is about thriving. 

This is about understanding, unleashing and unlocking the amazing potential that comes with just being present. 

How do we help local creative businesses find their creative Mojo again and get inspired

• when they feel like there's a lot of restrictions the word, anti business, anti social, all the kind of usual outlets for creativity they might have normally anchored onto might have been taken away.

Carlie: It's really tough when you don't have a benchmark or that goalpost, - when there's no structure - ,what's the point of planning and putting in creativity when you just don't know when that's going to come about? 

How do you find that motivation when you lack motivation entirely?

Step One - First: Stop looking at old frameworks for “success” 

I think underneath it, or the underlying truth is not a lot of people do feel excited about the future because the one that they had built was torn down. 

I always say you can't build towers on quicksand. 

• So the first step is to start choosing your thoughts wisely and change your language. 

• What we're going through at the moment on a collective level is a reprogramming of what success validation and business and your whole life looks like, which is what if instead of looking outward, you actually accepted that you could give yourself everything that you needed, that your family, that your community, that we already have every single ingredient. 

Unlocking Creativity Takes Courage. 

• It's going to take a sense of excitement. 
• It's going to take great friendships to go, why not? Not why would you, not where would you go, but why not? Like if anything, this is the time to do those crazy ideas. 

If you are a creative person, you've actually got an advantage because you have an imagination and already have “permission” to use it.. 

You have a brilliance,  a creativity, a kaleidoscope of intellectual, emotional, spiritual, whatever it is that you get your mojo from to tap into that a lot of people haven't even unlocked in themselves yet but they all have. 

Step Two - Redefine the whats next by taking all the pressure off

Carlie: I found very personally as you and I've discussed before that one of the things that I go back to that you shared recently, was not to have a to do list but to have a to be list. 

Every single day I remind myself of that and that's also what I'm sharing with my small fashion business friends because right now instead of thinking I've got to do this or I've got to do that, why don't we think about what we can be? That resonated with me I thank you so much for sharing that, Nikki.

Be honest is with yourself and surround yourself with that mutual honesty and respect

The first thing is, if you really love someone, you hold them accountable for the language. 

Be grateful for right now: 

You are in the driver's seat. 

• Stop needing everything to be perfect and get back to basics and play like a kid. 

• Anyone in fashion, anyone with a creative brain should be embracing the childlike spirit that comes with that imagination.

If you're in alignment, I'm just going to quote someone, which you're all going laugh at, but funnily enough, Kim Kardashian actually said this at a tech conference, she said, "When you produce something that's in alignment, you can't go wrong." 

Three - Unlock your Own Mojo : Stop looking at what everyone else is doing

We're so busy feeling that we have to be like everybody else. 

We're so busy seeing all these fashion labels, or startups and you see someone that you admire. We're so busy waiting for the formula that we don't trust that we might already have that matrix ourselves.

Carlie: I think I started myself discovery journey around Christmas time when I did just that. I was like, "Am I doing everything with purpose and passion?" They're the two key factors to doing anything. 

I realised that I actually wasn't always doing a lot of things for instant gratification for ego. When I stopped down and said, "I have to say no to some things because I need to be present and I need to be passionate and purposeful in everything I do. It completely changed my mind set." 

Now, I'm in a situation where I don't have the opportunity to say no because there is nothing I can say no to at the moment. It's like the universe has gifted me this opportunity to really focus on doing everything in my life with passion and with purpose. I'm grateful for that right now.

Step Four - Get Practical 

Plan your day - don’t wing it

Take one step at a time

Don’t look at the outcome - focus on the journey and creation without expectation

Don’t get distracted by shiny hollow objects and opportunities:

The empty candy box. You get this beautiful box and it's full of packaging. It looks great on the outside, and you're unwrapping it,  it's got a beautiful bow and then you open it. There's really nothing in it. It was just external shine. 

Carlie: I think the epiphany or “nikkiphany” for me was, I was so focused on people knowing what I did for a job and having that title. It wasn't really fulfilling me. It wasn't giving ME what I needed to be in life. Yes, I was this package with a title, but that wasn't really who I was deep down inside. I just let some of that go and now I find that I'm really flourishing. 

I'm finding a happiness internally that I didn't have before and people would always say to me, "You're so confident, Carlie." It's like at that time, yes I was confident externally, but internally it was nothing really giving me that sense of fulfillment to be internally confidence. It's this external confidence package. 

I was like that box of candy and all that sort of stuff, but there wasn't anything inside. 

Now that I've started to strip that down and get rid of that packaging and explore what's going on here as a person, as a human being as someone that wants to be purposeful then I found a different meaning. I found a greater happiness.

Nikki: I just reflecting what we're talking about and how beautiful this conversation is. It really is about purpose not perfection. I don't care what industry anyone is in. This isn't really just for chicks. I know this a lot of men going through this journey at the moment, what happened probably when you decided to go for fulfillment from here is that you let go of a lot of judgment. 

Not only judging what others were doing and not being enough but feeling judged. I'm sure there was a sense of relief, but you almost have to go through an attitude first to get there. You have to get quite aggressive with your boundaries to go, no. It takes that kind of approach to use finally start realising that it's not going to work anymore.

Carlie: Yeah, I found that I had to be really strict and aggressive with myself and my negative self talk to get to that point. I feel I've just been on this journey of really being this one person on the outside and this completely different person on the inside. I had to really come together and go, "Be kind to yourself. Stop trying to be what you think other people want you to be and just be who you." 

Because that is actually what people like. They don't like that ego driven Carlie. They don't like that person that's trying to be who she thinks she's meant to be. I'm so much happier now that I think that I've found my authenticity. I know it's one of those buzz words, but I feel authentic. I feel like now everything I do and everything I deliver is so much more believable. That feels really good.

Nikki: Let's just bring that back to the totalitarian view of alignment because when you are in that, don't you feel how easy everything is? 

Carlie: Oh, yeah, personal relationships, work, just everyday being is easier. 

Nikki: Exactly. I know that you and I have toyed with the going Facebook Live or YouTube Live and still really want to do that because I feel like we start off with an idea. We came on the show today because you're like my fashion friends and struggling with creativity, but I think it messages for anyone struggling, where is the fight coming from? Why are you struggling? 

Actually, if you just stop, and you go, "I surrender. I don't need to suffer anymore. I just got to let the process unfold." What's really fulfilling to me because when you start doing that, you step into your purpose, which brings you into alignment. It's not that people didn't like how you were. You weren't in alignment because it wasn't really you so you've attracted people that weren't in alignment with you. 

There was always reason or you created partnerships that were always really hard work or you tried to sell something rather than showing and sharing. I urge anyone now with products and services and redoing your business to go, "Well, if I just create from within that race will take care of itself."

Carlie: Oh, that is so true. I think when you when you really break down all of the pieces that make you up and go back to this where we're at right now, which is this hard reset, and you go, what is it that I want to do? Not that I have to do, because many of us right now don't have to do anything. What do you want to do? You can discover that you try and you find true purpose. 

I spent all of my life up until recent times, thinking I don't have a purpose. What am I here for? What is my reason for being? That's why I was always seeking those ego hits, because I didn't really understand what my whole purpose was. Maybe I was just going so full steam ahead, trying to do so much and all the things that I never really gave myself a chance to stop down and go, "What is it that I want to be?" What do I want to be?

Nikki: I think we have to be gentle on ourselves in that process. I always laugh at this whole forced isolation thing because I feel like I've been self isolating for about 18 months. When we spoke about, seeing you bullying, the stuff that you kind of reel from, and then you realise that this is all chipping away unnecessary layers and foundations and towers that were built on what I refer to again as that quicksand, which is the society framework for what success looks like. 

So what's next:

If you're listening to the show now with Carlie and I, whether you're sitting with your headphones on or you're on your treadmill, or who knows what you're doing could be a year from now the message is going to be the same, which is how can we simplify the insight, the aha moment and get you just to do the work which is asked you- -  that's why we have that to be list. 

The second thing I want to say is when you're going through this realisation is giving the people that are closest to you, or giving yourself the permission to discover what that's like. Because what will happen, chances are when you start to really discover your purpose, and we start to go with the flow, you will be challenged. 

You will get shiny objects thrown at you. You'll get the best deals ever. Your significant partner that you never really got on with will suddenly start being nice to you and you'll start questioning yourself because the ego doesn't want to be pushed out.

The ego is doing pushups in the background going on. I've run the show this entire time. I've built everything. I'm not going to let that person get away with feeling good about themselves in alignment, because then I'm out of a job.

Carlie: Look, I still have moments where that ego takes control. I'm aware of it now. I have to take that that moment just to go, "Okay, I see what going on here." I also think that there is some healthy ego, don't you? I mean, what are your thoughts--?

Nikki: I think drive and energy and purpose gives you energy. I think there's a difference between alignment and pride in your work because it comes from purpose then ego driven recognition. Do you know I mean? It's almost like you've got to completely keep surrendering even when you think you've surrendered, there's more to go. 

Because ego by default is edging God out, edging creation out, edging creativity out, edging origination out. What most people will find our city in April is this huge energetic shifts happening and people couldn't explain it however they want. We're rebirthing a new earth, the new leadership and new economy. It's about not being overwhelmed by the external factors and constantly being able to come back within and trust self. Do you want me to go a little bit woo-woo on you? 

Carlie: Could you go woo-woo on me? Expect nothing less.

Nikki: If you really want to go a bit woo-woo, usually through past lives or anything else, you get atoms. People will say, "I inherited being a good musician."  You inherent certain idiosyncrasies or values or programming or certain things because usually what happens is, is three atoms. It's the perennial gland, or whatever it's called your hot atom, which in Latin is nous. 

It's funny because people will use your nous which is n-o-u-s as flow. Nous is flow. It's oxygenated blood, right? When you sign has a broken heart or when your hearts blocked, you become very one dimensional. The other thing is your root chakra like your core grounded strength and knowing. When you make a decision, I call it quantum leadership, which is you just know. 

You just pause. You're asked the question and you just know. There's no oh my god. It's just that and then you might not know the how but that just feels right. We have those atoms. They're all pass through us and but what's happened is because through the Industrial Revolution everything else men went off to war women became really capable then we went from large monopoly businesses to entrepreneurs putting most of the jobs on the planet. Some of those entrepreneurs were 21 years old. 

We completely flipped everything, but we never had a blend. We always had a polarising, an industrial revolution, a feminine revolution, a race revolution.  It was always these big polarising shifts. It was never this organic, blended integration. It was usually an intervention and then change happened.

What I'm trying to encourage with my coaching and my leaders and the people that I care about in my tribe is thinking about integration. 

Head and heart.

That's what we want to do with the show. We want everyone listening to take your vision. Trust that vision, and grounded an action but just go one step at a time. I will come back to one very important point. Love. 

Carlie: Yes, it's a wonderful thing.

Nikki: It's what generates everything successful. 

Carlie: Yes, yes, it does. 

Nikki: It's the bricks. It's not the quicksand. So if you create from love, if you redesign your business from love, if you have a difficult discussion with staff or your team, your family, but you come from a place of love, you can't go wrong. 

Carlie: Oh, Nikki, that's so poignant. I think that's exactly what people need to listen to right now in the fashion industry is to go back to what they love. They started their business. They started their label. They started their creation because they let the head love. Pure love for what they were doing. So get some nous in the house and go back to the basics. What do you love to do? Start from there. 

Nikki: Yeah. Also fall in love with yourself again and fall in love with your life again because then you're genuinely create an alignment. There are many people that once your work, you can't go back. You sit in this trench of which is why we said in the beginning, we'll give you the epiphanies, but then we want to give you some tools to take action because otherwise you'll sit in the trench. 

You're stuck and nothing happens because everything that you thought and everyone around you that you built around has got a certain language. All of a sudden, you actually get repelled by that. You don't know what's there so you're stuck. What we want to encourage you if you're listening is love what you do, love who you are be in love. 

It's so important because it allow the changes to happen and then put the work in bit by bit. Don't ignore the personal work that it takes to have self discipline to create a, to be list each day, to use your 1400 and 40 minutes in the day with purpose. Don't wing this time away because we will never get it back. FedEx is not sending us 1400 and 40 minutes from yesterday again. 

Carlie: That's exactly right. 

Nikki: Then we cultivate friendships that fulfill you because that's where you'll create your greatest destiny.

Carlie: Oh, it's a beautiful thing. One other thing I wanted to add in this some journey of self discovery for me, which is what I'm calling it is that once I broke away some of those layers and really started to love myself in my life, my relationship with my husband just blossomed. Because it was just us and in our real space and neither of us were looking for an ego heat and we were just asked. 

It was just a wonderful thing. I think not only in business but in your personal life, if you can put into play some of these actions and these words of wisdom that you share with us, Nikki then I think that, that is going to be really helpful.

Nikki: I think what happened, Carlie when you do that is when we finally stop asking, why does that person love us? Because you're out of alignment when you look at someone that you put on a pedestal and you go, why would they love me and you sabotage it because you're not loving yourself but the step that you made was, you started living from heart. 

Mark already was in love with you. He already knew how beautiful you were. He already cherished all your brilliance. You just didn't see it.

Carlie: No. I think that's crazy. Looking back at it now I think I've wasted a lot of really good opportunity in life by questioning my ability and my love ability and all that sort of stuff. It's always been there, but I've just ignored it, chosen to ignore it or just haven't been aware.

Nikki: Well, I thought that someone else would give you permission that that's the right thing to do. This is the whole thing about power right now. If you are in business, get in the driver's seat, create something that you love and defend it. Defend your fashion design, defend your starting and if you are stuck on resources for getting illustration ready, or how to build a website. 

Get curious just go crazy or ask the thousands of people that have all the skills you might not have just asked. Don't feel that it's vulnerability and start attracting those people in. Don't chase but attract. 

Carlie: I think that's another really important point to make. Now is the time that people are willing to share information. They've got the time and they've got the skills. They've got the want to share because everyone's doing this together right now. Surround yourself with all those people that can make your business even better when we get back to that point. I just go back to the whole to be rather than to do. 

It's so important to remind myself and yourself every day. Just be who you want to be. Be the business that you want to be. Don't do a business. Don't do what you think you need to do. I love that. It just resonates with me so much, Nikki. That's why I keep talking about it.

Nikki: Yeah, but it's so awesome because I think then when you start doing that, the business and the having all the meetings and having all the sounds coming, you want all of that to let go, the same thing in relationships, if suddenly your GPS is going to love, it won't be a known path if you haven't heard he had that. 

You have to let go of filling the gaps. You have to allow space. There's going to be a lot of gaps because you're required to then be creative. Don't be afraid of the space this decision creates.

Carlie: I know I was afraid of that. I still find that really troubling, that downtime, that space. I feel like I need to be feeling it the whole time. It's really hard not to do.

Nikki: Maybe that's something we can talk about on one of our live things is how to understand the use of time from alignment rather than looking at--  because I always say like if you shove a T-shirt and every gap in the wall, there's no space for beauty to come in. There's no space for the sunlight because you've blocked all the holes. 

Nikki: Because it all comes back to programming and validation. If you don't work for it, it's not worth. What are you doing sitting around doing nothing and this whole kind of Calvinistic period of time with certain programming. The younger generation now being like, "Don't work so hard. You look like you're an overachiever." It's flipped on its head. 

These are all statements that have been thrown out as programming that sit in our subconscious. To recognise that your ego is just the anchor to keep you stuck but you don't need to let it make your decisions.

It's part of your blueprint. You've just got to understand what are you going to feed the black wolf for the White Wolf? So you go yes, you just kind of got to give it a bit of a giggle and say," Hand me the remote back." It's the guy that sits over and has the remote change and you're like, "Ahh."

Carlie: I've totally just named my ego now. It's Carliesha. She is my little R&B want to be hip hop chick ego.

Nikki: So naming your ego - Is really embracing both sides of yourself.

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Carlie: I feel like having had this conversation with you and those that have listened to this up to this point will just be so excited about what's to come at the end of this lockdown or social distancing, or what have you. I think that we're going to see a huge spike in creativity and some really fabulous stuff.

This is a beautiful time for you to go within and to probably access a sense of creativity and success that you never even realised you were capable of before.

 

Just do everything that your heart desires right now because you never know what's around the corner.

Carlie:

Check out The World of Wacker on Instagram.

Would love to hear your success stories or what you've done with this podcast episode as well.

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Thank you so much for joining us on the show and on the blog here, I trust this brings you some magic in your day, wherever you are. If you'd like more extra tools please leave a comment. Most importantly, you stay healthy, wealthy and wise.