E77 - Rachel Burr - Transform Your Life. Prioritize Creativity Over Your Comfort Zone.
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Beth: [00:00:00] Hello, my creative friend. Welcome to another episode of Create Today with Beth Buffington. I love to bring in special guests and share unique facets of creativity, and today I have a really special treat for you. Today we are welcoming Rachel Burr.
She has over 15 years of experience in human behavior, communication, and leadership development. She blends evidence-based coaching with a deeply human approach, and her work is rooted in the belief that true leaderships starts. Within, and she's passionate about making transformation accessible to ambitious professionals who are navigating change.
Rachel is known for her sharp insight, her calm presence, and her sense of humor, which we will find [00:01:00] today, and she is here to help guide you to powerful breakthroughs that will stick with you.
She is also the author of an amazing book that has just been released here in February of 2025. That's called Butterfly Goo. We will talk more about what this book is about and how it can affect your creative life today. So Rachel, welcome, welcome, welcome to Create today. I am so glad you are here.
Rachel: Thank you so much, Beth. I'm very excited to be here.
Beth: Well, let's introduce everyone to yourself. Tell us a little bit about who you are and how we are going to understand how creativity affects you.
Rachel: I believe everyone is creative.
in some way, shape or form. So often you and I both hear that, oh, I'm not creative. I'm not, because we have this very static [00:02:00] idea of what creativity means. And I think by denying that, or not recognizing it in ourselves, we're not only depriving us of our creativity, but we're depriving others of our creativity.
And yes, absolutely. We'll talk about how that flows throughout, my entire life, I started. With all this process about, how many years ago? Let's not say I was going, I started with a PhD program. I was gonna be a psychologist and it's really funny. one of the things I talk about in the book, it's, that's where the journey really starts.
I really thought that's what I wanted. I was gonna be a researcher, I was gonna be a professor. And I found that I was miserable, and that sometimes it's a great jumping off point. That's the call to adventure. That's how we start our journey.
And one of the things that came up specifically, I remember, I've always loved to write, I've always loved to communicate in a way that's creative, whether it's through humor or a metaphor or [00:03:00] however, because I believe that being able to be creative in that way helps other people connect to ideas that are much more visceral.
That beyond just the words that you use in a very linear way, that it connects to story, it connects them to their past, to all of us as humans. My professor one time said to me that my writing was, too creative and he said, take all the creativity out of your writing and put it into your ideas for research.
Well, clearly that didn't happen.
Beth: Gosh, I can't believe anyone would say that.
Rachel: I know, I'm sure now he does not remember saying it, but it was really good he did, because it's one of those moments where you realize, I'm in the wrong place. This is not the value that I want to bring. Now, to be fair, it took a lot of pushing and pushing for me to really let go of, you know, yes, I have friends who are absolutely creative in the research space.
That was never gonna [00:04:00] be my creativity and trying to force myself into that box, it was making me absolutely miserable. And it wasn't gonna help anybody else. So, about halfway through the program, I took my first big quit, as I like to call it, and took the leap and realized there has to be something out there that's different.
I have no idea what that is. But I need to go find it. I feel communication and connection with human beings. it's like a dance. I think dance is an extremely emotional, creative form of artistic expression.
I watch people, tango and rumba, and you watch the connection they have to have with each other. And that's how I feel when I'm connecting to people. I love understanding who they are and I understand who I am and how do I show up with them to do this dance in a way that is extremely creative for both of us.
And moving from that psychology is not a huge leap to coaching how do you step into [00:05:00] your best self, your most creative self, your most inspired self.
And that for me has really been the shift. If positive psychology had actually been around and available back in the day, that's where I would've probably shifted to. And maybe that wouldn't have been the right path because this clearly is
Beth: yes. So much of what you said is important.
First of all, I love how you shared how you realized you were in the wrong space and you knew you were doing something that you were good at, but you weren't enjoying it. If someone listening today they are in a job, this happened to me in several of the jobs I had, where you'd pull up, park your car, and you'd sit in your car for a second and go, okay, here we go.
And you drag yourself out to get into the office and you said, once you found your space, you just [00:06:00] felt here I am, let's go.
if you're in one of those positions where you are miserable. That might be your nudge. It might be your nudge, and today might be a poke that's just saying you need to take a look at where you are and just contemplate for a second.
Mm-hmm. And then secondly, I love how you're talking about your coaching. I think that coaches they see the potential where someone else is hidden by their potential. And so what you're doing is You're saying there's a diamond in that ugly rock and let me help you refine it.
Mm-hmm. So I, I think knowing that you found your place where you are doing your creative best, and that best is making the world a better place, to me, that's a win win.
Rachel: I could not agree more. I, there is such synergy in all of it, and I think to your point, people get [00:07:00] this idea of, well, I wanna find a job that I'm passionate about
And we talked about internally with who they are at their core, what their talents are, what their strengths are, and how to leverage that.
'cause you will feel passion when you do that. And when you are in a space, in a job that is soul sucking, you feel that too. But if you think that's really what life is, that you just have to get through your day, and I was there, I really convinced myself, oh, we are good at convincing ourselves that this is what life is supposed to be.
Yep. But when you step into that, that full version of yourself that is so empowering, not just for you, but other people feel it, they experience it. You are part of that belief in yourself, and you can extend that belief to others. And that is not fiction. That is not pie in the sky. That is absolutely reality.
Beth: Yes. I love it. I love it. let's talk about creativity in your profession. So [00:08:00] just what you're doing with your clients, how you are finding ways to cultivate that.
Mm-hmm. And I'm thinking also we wanna talk about your book and there's so much creativity in just how you organize yourself too. Write a book and the book you wrote Let's, oh there's a lot there Rachel. There's lot there. Ly. Where should we start first?
Rachel: Well, let's go ahead and talk about leadership
the book itself is about personal transformation and I like to remind everyone that leaders are people. We are people as leaders, whether you're leading a huge organization, a team, or whether you're leading yourself by leading your own life There, is that connection.
So I don't see them as separate. I see them as overlap and integrated. For me, everybody comes to coaching slightly differently.
And first and foremost, there has to be that chemistry between a coach and a client. You have to feel safe. You have to feel open [00:09:00] because you're about to expose yourself, not only to me, but to you. And you need to feel safe in order to do that.
Beth: Yes.
Rachel: I start with the core. I start with the core of who we are, our values, our talents in terms of the creativity, where our energy goes, where it flows, what are our current skills? What are the skills we love the most when we're employing that? And it's amazing how many people have never thought about those things.
we don't know who we are at our core. How can we even step into our best self if we don't know what that looks like and we don't know where we are today?
Beth: Hmm.
Rachel: So That's first and foremost, and I have so many leaders that when I recognize what they've done and the potential, they'll just say, well, that's just my job.
There are other people that have your job, meaning your title or your position. Are they doing what you're doing? Are they having the impact you're [00:10:00] having? I understand humility.
I come from the Midwest. I absolutely understand. Humility. Yes. And humility taken too far is creating a space where we're playing small. We're not taking risks and we're not acknowledging what we're doing. And so we also can't see how we're either on the right path, or maybe the wrong path.
Because We're not allowing ourselves to see that. And again, going back to the creativity, leadership is a huge amount of creativity. It's, I talk a lot about this idea of a cookie cutter, that somehow we see leaders as this cookie and so there's a little star cookie cutter when I used to help my mom make cookies.
And you push that star into the dough and yeah, that's great. You come out with all little stars that're almost exactly the same. But when you push that cookie cutter into the dough, you leave all of this other dough goodness around. And that's what happens to us if we try to push ourselves into a mold [00:11:00] that is not ours.
We end up cutting off important parts of ourselves that feed who we are, how we show up, how we create whatever it is we're doing. And leadership is no different.
Beth: That's how I can see how we can take. What you just said and really incorporate that into so many areas of our life. In social media, we are always looking at how everyone else's life is appearing and then quite often we are thinking I should do that too.
And it is doing exactly what you just said then trying to force yourself into a mold. nobody's life is Instagram perfect. No. And you are trying to put on this mold and it's not gonna make you feel good about yourself.
No. So I can see where finding your true core is going to [00:12:00] help you find that confidence. To look at Instagram and go, eh, whatever, that I know who I am and my life will never be that tidy, that clean, that perfect that whatever. But I know who I am and I know where I'm going and I'm okay with that.
Rachel: Well, and I think when we do get to talk about the book, it is that goo that I'll talk about is that on Instagram, all you see is the transformation.
All you see is the pretty, the perfect, and that's a lot of crap. I mean, we all go through goo transformation is messy. And not only is it something we survive, it is critical to the transformative process. And we are doing a disservice when all we see on Instagram, all we share that we're so insecure that we need to show perfection.
And other people see it as then that's unattainable and it is. We think, well, I can't do that. I'm not good enough, smart enough, or just enough to be that. And so we lose out [00:13:00] on our own potential and everything that we can be and give to not only ourselves, our family, but the world because we're comparing ourself to an ideal that doesn't exist.
Beth: So on some basic terms, how can someone listening today understand a little bit more about their core and how they can realize the strengths that they might have?
Rachel: it starts with self-reflection. we, a lot of times are very biased about ourselves. To be fair, our brains are wired for bias. we all have a lens.
And one of the things, someone outside of you can do, someone who is wholly there for you, friends, best intentions, spouse, they're coming at you usually with advice.
And my goal is to help people unpack I love to the analogy of a closet that is stuffed so full you can't find anything probably because that's what my closet looks like. My, so the analogy is just staring me in the face. And unless you [00:14:00] start to unpack you can't, not only can you not find what you're looking for, you may not even know what's there.
And I'll use assessments, And I do wanna make a point about assessments, people have this idea that assessments are telling me who I am, that it's another box. It is not. the idea of an assessment is the start of a conversation.
It's about understanding how you may see yourself, how other people may see you, is there a gap between your intention and their perception. And you start to dig in, where are my strengths? Where are maybe my derailers? So under stress, under boredom, under a lot of situations, where is the not best of me coming out?
Because a lot of times we have people that they like, oh no,I manage all that. And it's just pushing it away. And actually that makes it really dangerous 'cause you are pushing it into the dark where it tends to fester. So. Let's pull all of this out into the light. We unpack everything. We've got it [00:15:00] spread all over the floor.
Now let's look at what's important to you, and specifically what's important to you Now, because this is all you it's all part of it. And we're gonna be in roles where we may need to bring something different from myself. I may need to bring it in a different way to have that show up.
So that exploration is how we start to figure out who we are at our core. Because back to your point, a lot of times we're miserable and we're in a situation. We're not in connection with who we really are. that is the dissonance, that's the disconnect. And back to your point about the visceral, we feel that in our body, we feel shrinking into a smaller shell, and we're not good at listening to that part.
And so those are the red flags. Those are telling us something. But we are far too skilled at pushing that away.
Beth: Oh yeah. Oh, so much so. The [00:16:00] way you've just described this, again, I'm a huge lover of metaphors. Everyone that listens to my podcast knows that I say almost weekly. I love a good metaphor.
I love the way you bring out that idea about a closet I mean, we talk all the time,let's unpack that. when you have a closet that is you, and you're looking for your core strengths buried somewhere in, amongst a lot of things that maybe you're hanging onto that you don't need or things that are just not organized.
So you know how to use them or things that you need, but you can't find them when you need them. Or things that you should have thrown away, but you've pushed in the back and now they're, like you said, they're just growing mold,
And all of those things need to be brought out, laid out, and well, Marie k Condoed. Right? thank you for your service, but I no longer need you. Being able to declutter, organize and clean up, will help you find out where your strengths [00:17:00] are so that you'll know how to carry on when the trail is a little tough, or you are just somewhere where you've never been before and you're a little uncertain about directions.
Rachel: Yep.
Beth: Yeah. So let's move over to your book and talk to us about transformation.
everyone listening, when you hear Rachel talk about her book, it's a good read. So you're gonna want to hop into Amazon and find butterfly goo and purchase it.
So Rachel let's just explore this book. How can we find your book helpful for our creative lives?
Rachel: I love that. Even the title itself, is meant to, provoke, curiosity even before that, going back to the creative process, because I hear so much when people talk about how to write a book and it's this very formulaic you sit down, you put together an [00:18:00] outline, you do this, you do that.
That was not my experience.
For years I had wanted to write a book, but I had this idea that I had to write a specific book. I was supposed to write a business book 'cause that's what I was doing.
I was supposed to write a coaching book and hearkening back even to my academic career. It was supposed to be serious and it was supposed to be, very clear. And there should be five takeaways and everybody walks away happy. And that's what your book should be. Could not get myself to write it.
And so I do what I do. I listen to podcasts, I went to writing workshops. I was really trying to dig that out. And I had a couple of key moments. I talk about in the book, the idea of clicks in a combination lock. That the lock doesn't just magically spring open. We do the work that leads us there.
Now, we may not recognize every click as we go through, but it's when you hit that [00:19:00] last click that the lock springs open. And I remember the moment, I realized, oh my gosh, I, I don't have to write that book. I get to write the book that I feel compelled to write.
I can write it in my voice. I can write it with my humor. I do not have to be stuffy. I do not have to be formal. And at that moment, it just poured out me, it poured onto this page and someone asked me, what had you write this book? And I said, this book has been trying to write itself through me for a very long time.
And I finally stopped fighting it.
When I finally allowed myself to connect to that, authentic creative self, that's when the flood gates just opened. It was an amazing experience.
Slightly startling and amazing. And it's even in the process it morphed and I went through more goo. So let me just start off with the title. It's Butterfly [00:20:00] Goo, the Down and Dirty Truth of Transformation.
Beth: Love
Rachel: it. Humorous memoir. My Journey Through My Own Goo. And the reason I titled it that is I talk a lot about butterfly.
We talk about metaphors. Butterfly is an amazing metaphor for transformation.
Beth: Yep. One of the best. It's,
Rachel: yeah, it's not even just a metaphor, it's literal and. The beauty of the final result distracts us from how hard that transformative journey can be.
When that caterpillar goes in it, it spins, its cocoon or technically a chrysalis, but I like the word cocoon. So it spins its cocoon, and when it's in the cocoon, it dissolves into a gelatinous goo, and that's when the work begins. It takes those fundamental building blocks that are already part of it, and it builds something [00:21:00] new that Caterpillar takes everything it needs.
Into that cocoon to become a butterfly. And that is the process of transformation. Even to the point where the butterfly has to crawl out of the cocoon, because if it doesn't struggle at that point, it won't be able to fly. There's something about how the wings, need that.
The goo is not just something, like I said, that we survive, it's necessary. It's part of our transformation. We all would love this, very clean, smooth road. That's just not the way it works. That when we start to feel the discomfort, when we start to feel called to something. Different. When we finally step outside the known into the unknown, that is where growth happens.
Growth does not happen in a comfort zone. It is by definition not only stagnant, but more and more we get smaller because we allow fear to control [00:22:00] that process. And when we do that, we lose agency and we give up our ability to create change and we live in fear. And nothing creative, productive, anything can come from a place of fear.
Beth: Oh boom. That was so much great information. I know that. That feeling of discomfort is real and it is sharp, and it is sometimes so acute that it almost feels painful.
Rachel: Oh, yeah.
Beth: Mm-hmm. And it takes a lot of thought to tell yourself, but that's okay. Mm-hmm. this is what I need to go through. This change, it is not going to be simple.
That is such a beautiful way that you described anything worth doing.
[00:23:00] I agree. And I think, to be clear, it's not easy. It's not fun. Don't get me wrong. You get to have some wins along the way too. It's not all slog. Right. But one of my reasons for writing the book and for using my own journey, my memoir as example, something to laugh at, whatever it is, do you wanna call it, is.
Rachel: we need to understand what transformation really looks like. It's not about discouraging people by saying you're gonna slog through a lot of go. It's by making it understandable I always say, understandable, makes it Actionable, which makes it more accessible and therefore achievable.
being able to break it down into not only the Caterpillar's component parts, right at its core, going back to everything I believe is at our core, that breaking it down into building blocks helps us. Instead of seeing it as this big, [00:24:00] intimidating thing, it's still intimidating, but at least being able to take it step by step.
That makes it more achievable. And I want people to believe that's possible. And the book, initially I thought it was gonna be a self-help book with some humorous memoir aspects as examples. And it completely flipped itself on me. It turned out to be a humorous memoir.
And then in the back, I've created a playground. So this is a choose your own adventure moment as you read through this, because it's your journey and you are the leader of your own journey. You are the hero or heroine, as Joseph Campbell talks about, he's a writer, philosopher, the Hero's Journey.
We are the hero or heroine of our own journey. And so as you read this book. You can choose just to read it. and you get to laugh at watching my mistakes and my foibles and my triumphs. It's all good. There are takeaways if you wanna use some of the [00:25:00] takeaways and self-reflection questions to just consider how this, might be, or if you have other takeaways for yourself, great.
Do that. If you want to dig in and start to play around, I invite you to play. I'm not saying you have to transform. I'm not saying you have to anything. It's your life If you want to play around, that's why it's a playground. I invite you to play, and this is an opportunity for you to use this however you want, whatever makes sense for you, because we all have a different journey.
We all build a different path, and we are at different places. There's no right or wrong to where you are in your journey. What I like to say is, that being said, if you don't. Begin from where you are, you'll never start.
Beth: Yes. And like we've discussed at the beginning of our conversation, if you've been feeling those nudges, I don't know, I'm just not [00:26:00] happy or wonder what it would be like if I fill in the blank.
If you're having those nudges, this would be a great book to read just to find out are you beginning a transformation Or do you just need to think about it a little bit and plan your own adventure.
I do know that if you are feeling the calling, and I think a lot of creatives have that calling like you did with your book.
Mm-hmm. Once you let yourself write the book that was in you, it just flowed out. You weren't allowing yourself to let yourself do what you could do. So that's, I think, what so many creatives are afraid to let loose.
what is in you that needs to come out? What needs to be transformed? So interesting.
Rachel: And I love, one of the things you said, which I wanna bring out is you weren't [00:27:00] letting you
Beth: Yeah.
Rachel: We are. We are the ones holding us back most of the time. We are the ones that are getting in our own way. We can find all sorts of reasons outside of us that are easy to be the scapegoat for why we are not embarking on our journey, why we are not engaging our true self.
But the reality is, it's us. And here's the deal. We can either be our biggest critic or we can be our best champion, and we have to decide what that is.
Beth: Our inner critic, I believe that in a creative's mind that is a voice that sometimes not only is loud, but constantly is echoing all the time.
So if you can allow yourself to put a lid on that and then take the lid off. Your light that you need to shine. I mean, that is really going to make a big [00:28:00] difference. So everyone pause for a second and think, are you feeling any nudges? What might that be? What might you be stopping yourself from letting yourself do?
Rachel: Mm-hmm. What could
Beth: that be?
Rachel: Don't overthink it. What comes to you? And then use that as an opportunity to dig in. And I think with back to your gremlins, I think why in the creative process gremlins are more powerful is because it's more open, it's more fluid, it's intended to be.
With creativity because it's a wellspring from yourself I think that fluidity, which is the beauty of creativity, is also the thing that allows the gremlins to be louder or have more of an impact on us because it's open. And so they can say, well, no, you shouldn't do this or you shouldn't do that. And how do you counter that if you don't actually know what it is you want?[00:29:00]
Beth: Exactly. And creativity is so subjective. Mm-hmm. if you are working in math, two plus two is going to equal four. Right. Answer with creativity. What one person loves another person won't. Mm-hmm.
And if you are creative who has 50 people that says, I really love what you just did, and you have one person that goes, nah, it's not for me. You're probably going to remember the one. Nah, I don't think I like it. That is going to be one of the loudest voices that you hear for the rest of your day, and it's going to stick with you and echo in your head despite the fact that you had 50 other people that said, this is awesome.
It, it is a collection of the problems that make you uncomfortable that then keep you from pushing forward to what you might be able to let yourself do.
Rachel: Absolutely. And I think, yeah, let yourself, and [00:30:00] even not just even let, 'cause that also sounds passive, I would say
embolden yourself to take those steps to believe that you may not know where you're going, and that's okay. Yeah. That you have a calling and you will figure it out along the way. even people who think they're sure when they start a journey, a lot of times they don't end up there.
sometimes we have a destination picked out because that is where we're supposed to go. Sometimes we have a destination because the road to get there has exactly the exit ramp we need to the next leg of our journey, which is taking us someplace different.
Beth: Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking about embolden it also it's a bravery thing. If you choose. To go on this path. It's like a quest. Mm-hmm. Any great science fiction or any fairy tale. There's always that quest. Mm-hmm. And typically, the person on the quest is someone that you would [00:31:00] least likely think would be the person that will be successful at the end of the story.
that person that you look at and go, don't think that they have what it takes. because they allow themselves to get into situations where they aren't sure about what they're doing, but they allow themselves to be brave and the more bravery that they allow, then the bolder they start to get.
And by the end of the quest they have. Transformed,
Rachel: Yes. And I like two things I think that you said that are so important to bring out. I think some people might be thinking, well, I'm not brave. Yeah. And one of the things I, and I think Brene Brown said it, not sure if she's the first person that courage or bravery is just fear walking.
Beth: Yes.
Rachel: It really is. That when someone else says, oh, you're so brave. It's like, I look back and they're like, that was so brave of you in the moment it did not feel that way. it was not [00:32:00] pretty. And that's important because for me, brave is actually. It's a label that somebody else puts on you.
We are the hero or heroine of our own journey, as we said. And I actually, Joseph Campbell, just let me reiterate, for those who don't know, but famous writer philosopher who basically said that while all our stories are unique, that we each go through different phases of that hero or heroines journey.
And it is about one of the first phases is hearing the call.
Beth: And
Rachel: refusing the call. Like I hear the call and I'm like, no, I don't think so. I'm, I like to talk about, I, we convince ourselves that my current life is good enough, which basically mean it means it's safe enough. Yes. And I'm gonna stay here.
So just because also that we've refused the call in the past or we've tried to push it away, that does not mean that we cannot embark on that journey. That is just part of the [00:33:00] process. Yeah. And we are gonna go through it and it is it's the arc of Grimm's Fairy Tales, great mythology, great movies.
it is part of that. And we resonate with it, I think, on a very core level. And you're right, it's not the person who's already the quote hero that's gonna start that journey. Maybe they've already gone in their journey, but it's people like us. And again, we have to start from where we are.
Beth: Yes. And so that allows you to say those people on Instagram that are doing the things you wish you could do, you must be able to let yourself say if they can do it.
So can I. Mm-hmm. And allow yourself to just start your quest. Mm-hmm. What is that first step you should take?
Rachel: part of it is feeling, are you called to something else? Are you, yeah. What is that? I always like to think about it as the intersection of what excites and scares you.
That's a good direction to start. Yeah. Heading. [00:34:00] Right? Because sometimes I talked to somebody the other day when someone asked them, what do you want? Where do you wanna go? And they said, I have literally never asked myself that. Oh gosh. I was always, I was being this for that person. I was being this for that person.
Yeah. I was, and none of those roles were bad. But I think one of the first things is, do you even know what that spark is? You don't know what it might be like. You don't, like I said, you don't have to have a clear destination, but do you feel a spark? Yeah. If you don't, is that really that you don't feel a spark?
Or is it buried so deep within you that you just can't access it? So how do you start there?
Beth: So, what is that thing you would love to do, but you. I have doubts.
You are letting others dictate what you need to accomplish. when is it your turn?
What is calling [00:35:00] you and how can you get that started? Mm-hmm. Despite what you think is blocking your quest.
Rachel: Well, and isn't it nice to have an easy out that this is blocking my quest 'cause one of the other things that shows up a lot of times in our lives is, oh, well I could have done that if I'd really tried.
Yeah. But because I never tried, then I never really failed. And doesn't that feel safe?
We fool ourselves a lot of times because we think about the action, like you're saying, when this happens, I'll do this.
We like to think that, okay, I'm not choosing this. I'll choose it tomorrow. I'll choose to take action. Then choosing to stay stuck is still a choice. Yes. And we like to ignore that part and think that choice is about. Moving forward about making something different, about taking that step when we choose to stay stuck, that's a choice.
[00:36:00] It's, and if nothing else, we need to acknowledge that to ourselves.
Beth: And I think probably that's how the caterpillar looked at it, but you told the caterpillar it is time to build this giant thing
Rachel: the caterpillar would go, oh, well I am a little busy. I have other things I'd rather doSo it is a huge undertaking to become a butterfly, Well, and the caterpillar has the edge on us.
'cause what it does isn't conscious. It's, it doesn't have, it doesn't make a choice. So it's oh, so lucky
Beth: as people, we have overactive imaginations and we have cortisol levels and we have things that distract us, like shiny objects. And so it is more difficult to make that transformation because we are human.
Rachel: as far as I know, we are one of the few, if not the only animal that can think about our thinking. Yep. We have that meta view and that's where the gremlins are. Because if [00:37:00] all I do is think, and I can't really assess my thinking.
Yep. There are no gremlins. So the beauty of our metacognition is the fact that we get to critique ourselves 24 7 because that's what we have access to in our brain. I only have a sliver of access to you in your life, and I only have access to the parts you want me to see. But this I'm pointing to my head
I have access 24 7 to all the good, the bad, and the ugly that I have ever done. And I get to choose how and where to focus. It doesn't feel like a choice a lot of times. 'cause those gremlins are loud. And I would argue there's not just one. I've got a whole team in there working on me. we have to be able to manage that.
And again, you can't just push gremlins away and say, oh, well, it doesn't matter. It's fine. That is actually not helping you. It's more about, okay, let's take it out. What are they saying? What parts of this might be true? What parts of that may have been true at one time but are no longer true? And what do I want to keep and [00:38:00] what do I want to leave behind?
Back to our closet analogy.
Beth: Exactly. Yeah. It is loud in everybody's head. It is. I, yeah, I know it's a stadium in mine.and everyone's yelling at the ref.
So knowing that, I think sometimes it helps people to know that you are not alone. And here's the thing, that while you're not alone, there are things you can do.
And one of them is buy the book, butterfly Go. So you can learn about how you can transform yourself. I think this is a great way for creatives to take a look at their creative goals and what's holding you back.
So if you can understand a little bit more about how you work, then you'll be more mindful of where your stumbling blocks are.
Rachel: I agree. And mindful of how you work and remember, mindful of who you are at your core,
Beth: who you're, yes. [00:39:00] So Rachel, if you had some pithy advice, one piece of advice for creatives today that they could take away and just plug and play, What would that little nugget be?
Rachel: One of my favorite mantras, and I say this with great humility, but it's my mantra, it's in the book, is if we want a different life, we have to live a different life. So if we want to be more creative, if we want to allow that out in the world, we have to be able to prioritize that. the difference of being able to engage without judgment of ourselves recognizing that it could be messy or sometimes I learn new things just to learn them knowing I will never be good at them.
And that perfection that I have to do this perfectly. Now, that is not only antithetical to your journey, it is destructive.
And so figuring out, [00:40:00] again, at your core, who are you? What is it you want? Loosely held. And how will you allow yourself to move on that journey with purpose and also grace?
Beth: So well said.
So when you allow yourself to just get in there and get messy and do stuff without judgment, it's amazing what you're able to create.
Mm-hmm. And I think that is very well said, the way you brought forth. Just get in there, get messy, and just find out, hey, find out what's nudging,
Rachel: right? Mm-hmm. Find out where your brain is already telling you. You may wanna go or your core and know when you're reacting to the whispers or the red flags, or as I said, the clicks.
There's more that your brain is telling you outside your brain, your body, your gut, however you wanna think about it. There's so much there to be listening to. [00:41:00] Are you listening?
Beth: Yes. And
Rachel: if you're not, how do you want to listen? Yes.
Beth: Open up your ears.
Rachel: what are you holding back? What are you not allowing yourself to do? Yeah.
Beth: I love this conversation that we've had today. It's just. So beneficial on many levels. let's talk about where we can find you
There might be people who want to say, I need to know more about you. I need to find you and coach me please. How can they do that, Rachel?
Rachel: Well, and I said earlier that, that it's a flow between leadership and the book. And right now in terms of the work, if folks are looking for leadership coaching, they can go to my website.
My company is called Mentum Catalyze Momentum. Um, and we'll put that link in the show notes. Feel free to reach out to me through the website. And if you wanna know more about coaching, we can have a conversation. If you're interested in the personal transformation of the book as you said, please go buy the book.
[00:42:00] It's butterfly goo book.net, and you can buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble. You can even order it from your local bookstore. Always a big fan of supporting small businesses as I am a small business.
Beth: Yes.
Rachel: One thing I've noticed on Amazon is if you just type in Butterfly goo, you'll also get a lot of stuff like literally butterfly habitat kinds of like, how do catch butterflies?
put my name Rachel Burr with Butterfly Goo, and then see what it shows up. I think you'll have much more success. It is funny, I think that the idea of Butterfly, it is just so foreign as a book title. Amazon doesn't know what to do with it.
Beth: Oh, and I know you have your book with you.
Can you hold it up because we will Sure. If you're watching this on YouTube, you'll see that this book is beautiful. It's such a lovely cover. Yes. Thank you.
Rachel: Yeah, I had a wonderful wonderful designer help me and she was, very creative and she was able, through her partnership to help bring out the ideas from within me to [00:43:00] create something that was not only beautiful, but I felt was a very clear representation of the work and the journey that I was inviting people to come with me.
Beth: I love it. it's such an eye-catching book jacket. When I saw it, I thought, oh, yes, that's the perfect jacket. There couldn't have been a better visual for you to put on the front cover So I hope that your book just takes off and that we see you on the New York Times bestseller list.
let's see how that goes. I love it.
Rachel, thank you so much for coming today.
You've been an absolute delight to talk to you today. So my creative friend, this is. A quest you're on. What are you needing to do? If you're at the beginning of your journey, maybe you're in that middle of the denial part. What are you denying? Is it time for you to turn that page, start a new chapter and begin your quest?
I dare you to [00:44:00] listen to that nudge that you've been feeling and just get busy. So no matter where you decide to go on your path, on your quest, wherever you decide you are being called, you know my hope for you every day is that you will stay creative. Thank you so much for joining us today, Rachel.
Thank you so much, Beth. I just had a wonderful time. Love it.
So everyone bye for now and stay creative. We'll see you again soon.
Tune in for an inspiring conversation that encourages you to answer the call of your creative journey. In this episode you’ll fill your mind with thoughts on creativity, leadership, transformation, self-reflection, creative or executive coaching and personal development.
Enjoy and fill your creative self to the brim!
00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:24 Meet Rachel Burr: Experience and Philosophy
02:21 Rachel's Journey: From Psychology to Coaching
04:53 The Importance of Creativity in Leadership
09:09 Understanding Your Core and Self-Reflection
17:14 The Concept of Transformation and 'Butterfly Goo'
24:36 The Hero's Journey: Embrace Your Role
24:46 Engage with the Book: Takeaways and Self-Reflection
25:07 The Playground of Life: An Invitation to Play
27:25 Facing the Inner Critic: Championing Yourself
28:21 The Creative Process: Embracing Fluidity and Subjectivity
30:37 The Quest: Bravery and Transformation
32:10 Hearing the Call: Starting Your Journey
35:09 Overcoming Blocks: Taking Action
36:50 Metacognition: Managing the Gremlins
38:27 Final Thoughts: Embrace Creativity and Transformation
How to find Rachel Burr and her book ‘Butterfly Goo’
Website:
https://catamentum.com/
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelmburr/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/catamentum/
Rachel’s book: ‘Butterfly Goo’
https://butterflygoobook.net/
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