The Fear of Being Unoriginal: How to Overcome This Ubiquitous Maker Monster

It's our third episode hearing from creative people about their internal barriers. Specifically, we'll hear stories and ideas about the fear of being unoriginal.

No matter how new or experienced we are at the craft, inevitably, we face maker monsters -- these internal barriers that hold us down and prevent us from doing our best work. These aren't external factors like budget, time, team, or tools. Instead, they sound like imposter syndrome or fear of rejection or procrastination.

Today, we explore the fear of being unoriginal. In the working world, that might sound like "differentiation." Regardless of how it shows up, all we can do is learn to confront it.

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Weekly stories and frameworks about how to create more resonant work. Join thousands of subscribers, from entrepreneurs, freelancers, and independent creators, to marketers and leaders at brands like Adobe, Red Bull, Shopify, Salesforce, the BBC, Wistia, HubSpot, Drift, ProfitWell, a16z, and the New York Times.

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SPONSOR: THE JUICE

Discover the world's best and brightest thinking and resources for sales and marketing pros on The Juice. They're like the Spotify of B2B, with content playlists and suggestions based on your job title and level. Avoid the endless lead-gen forms, skip all the system-gamers found via Google searches, and browse the most useful and transformative ideas affecting your work, for free.

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- Email: jay@unthinkablemedia.com

PRODUCTION:

- Creator, host, writer, and editor: Jay Acunzo - https://jayacunzo.com

- Producer and researcher: Ilana Nevins - https://www.ilananevins.com

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Unthinkable is a storytelling podcast about creative people who break from conventional thinking to make what matters most. We’re traveling the business world to learn how to create work that resonates — with powerful stories from makers, marketers, and leaders like the CEOs of Zoom and Patreon, execs from Adobe and Disney, and creators like writer Tim Urban, comedian Sarah Cooper, and photographer Chase Jarvis. From artisans to entrepreneurs, writers, designers, podcasters, video creators, and all the weird and wonderful nooks of the working world, we’re meeting inspiring people to learn what we can do to resonate more deeply with the work we create.

Listeners have called the show “This American Life for my work” with stories “as captivating as some of the best, like Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Carlin.”

Thanks for listening and supporting Unthinkable!

 
 
Jay Acunzo