Perpetual Traffic is one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Being the co-host has been life-changing, primarily because of the people I get to interview.
A favorite question folks ask me now: “What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in an interview?”
First, let me say that we’ve had some amazingly epic people on the show, and there’s genuinely no way to rank order everything everyone has ever said (obviously). That stated the advice that resonated the most and stuck with me the longest came from the great Dmitri Smirnov.
Dmitri discussed the importance of thinking creatively, something most people attribute to a solely innate skill set; either you have it or you don’t.
Dmitri had a different opinion, so I asked him…
“How can someone cultivate creative talent?”
Tricky question, right?
Dmitri’s answer blew me away. He said that you need to “generate a new subconscious.” We can prime our mind and psyche toward specific functions and operate on specific wavelengths.
I guarantee you’ve done this already; you just may not have realized it.
Remember the last time you were obsessed with something? It might have been a job, movie, song, game, sport, person, actor, idea, book, author, place, concept, ideology, religion, whatever.
There’s been something in the past that’s captured your attention and held it, right?
You read everything you could on the topic, watched all the videos, listened to the podcasts, etc. You went all out. And, after doing so, you started to notice it everywhere. It was almost as though people, places, and events conspired to bring it back into your life.
Some people chalk stuff like this up to the law of attraction. I’m a little less metaphysical; I think it’s psychological priming. Your mind is vibrating at that frequency, and so you’re hardwired to find it everywhere you look. Regardless of the “why,” we know it works.
The best part is that you can do this intentionally, but it takes discipline.
You can intentionally set out to generate a new subconscious.
If you want to be more creative, become obsessed with the creative process. Read, watch, and listen to everything you can get your hands on.
Join the clubs, take the courses, talk to the experts, embark on the journey, and you’ll begin to prime your mind to think creatively. And it doesn’t end at creativity; you can generate a new subconscious for anything you choose, but you must be focused and committed.
Obviously, innate talent comes into play. You’re going to be naturally better at some things than others, and you might find no matter how obsessed you are, you fall short of Olympic-level prowess. Who cares?! You can still train your mind and subconscious to do your bidding.
I’ve seen this at play many times in my own life.
When I started speaking professionally, suddenly, everything around me became a keynote presentation. Everything was a video topic when I was shooting a daily YouTube video. Now that I’m writing, everything is an article.
When was the last time you generated a new subconscious, and how did you do it?
I’d love the specific tips and tricks behind your process.