All thought and no action.

Hiya,
Happy Monday to you and yours.

A quick recap for all the new subscribers over the past two weeks—

I send this newsletter every single Monday. Except when I don’t. Because. Life.
I have no idea what I’m doing.
I write mostly about creativity in advertising but what I’m most passionate about is helping creative people create more for themselves (ie. not just for brands and companies).

But unlike the 13-year old gurus and their life-altering Twitter threads, I know I have to walk the walk before anyone should be listening to me.

After years of coming up with ideas and not bringing any of them to life, I grew so frustrated with myself. I had to start creating something or accept the fact that I was all thought and no action, and that my inner critic had been right all these years.

It was too much for me to accept.

I never wanted to write a book on copywriting. I never wanted a newsletter. But what I’ve realized is that a certain joy and creative freedom that had been escaping me my entire life, was on the other side of all this thinking. Creativity is more than thinking. It's creating.

I had been doing the opposite of what Edison suggested. I was 99% inspiration, 1% perspiration.

If you can relate, start making something. Anything. A podcast. A business. An instagram or TikTok account. Post 1 x week or even 1 x month on LinkedIn. Don’t get caught up thinking if the idea’s right or wrong. It doesn’t matter. You first have to build the habit of bringing your ideas to life.

All the excuses, not having the motivation, the passion, the time, or even the right ideas, all of those things come to you after you start perspiring.

And then one idea leads to another. And another.

Like this interview series I’m now doing with Creative Directors. If I hadn't started (and finished) those other things, I wouldn’t have had this idea or started it.

Creative Direction for Creative Directors

I kept hearing there’s no real training for Creative Directors.

“You won some awards? Great, you’re now in charge of these people’s lives. And the agency’s bottom line.”

So, I had a thought to do written interviews with 50 CDs to collect and share knowledge. The response has been bananas. I’ve heard from nearly 100 CDs around the world willing to take part. I’ve shared 2 already, Pierre Chan and Tom Christmann.

This week, it’s Anne Stokvis.

When I first heard of Anne, she was described as “one of the youngest female Creative Directors in the Netherlands.”

I was both impressed and depressed because I’ve never heard anyone described as “one of the youngest male” anythings. In any country. We touch on that in the interview and also—

how to know when you’re ready to be a CD
a common rookie CD mistake
what helped her become a CD at a young age
managing people with more experience
a surprising response to the one book or resource that’s helped her most
an inspiring answer about the importance of getting to know yourself

Whether you’re an aspiring CD, an expiring ECD, or a collector of CDs, today’s interview will make you a better creative leader. And human.

Please click through to read Anne’s interview and please, please give it a 👍 or a 💛 to help this idea spread.

And now a quote from G̶a̶n̶d̶h̶i̶ Banksy—

“The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and obsessed to become our artists”

That's it for today. Have a confident and creative week.

❤️

PS. Want to build your craft and confidence? Here are 3 ways I'm trying to do something about it—

1. My first course, Writing Under Pressure, is close to being finished. As soon as it's done, the price doubles. For more info, click here.

2. To get the book, A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters, go here.

3. To 🪓 me anything, reply to this email.

And if you liked this, share it with people you like. If you hated it, share it with people you dislike—https://mailchi.mp/nelkencreative/allthoughtnoaction