Part 1: Does your brain have too many tabs open? A map for creative brains in business

This is for anyone who over explains or blanks when it comes to talking about themselves or their work.

Someone asks "what do you do" and your brain opens a million tabs and whatever you say never feels quite right.

Most creative founders & artists don’t think in straight lines.

They think in images and connections, where one idea activates another, and then another, they can hold multiple threads at once, and see many possible outcomes for a project or the people they want to serve.

This mode of thinking is non-linear, it's a strength and is likely what helped you come up the idea for your business in the first place.

The problem with non-linear thinking is when you have to communicate this idea, project or business to someone outside your brain, you need to use language.

Language is linear, one word in front of the next.

So when a non-linear brain is asked a linear question like "tell me about your business" or "what do you do?", a lot of people get cognitive overload, too many options, too much context, no clear lead... and that's when people freeze, over-explain or default to generic language and jargon.

At that point, it’s easy to think you’re just bad at communicating, the shame spiral kicks in: Why am I so bad at this? Why can’t I just say it simply?

This isn't always a confidence issue or a communication issue, it's an issue based on decisions you haven't made yet.

People who sound confident aren’t smarter or more articulate. They’ve just decided what what information needs to be shared and in what order.

In Part 2 of this topic, I share a simple activity you can do to improve your ability to tell stories in the right order.

Aside from this... what’s new with me: I'm back in Lisbon, I love it here so much, I feel such creative flow here. And after co-hosting 15 weeks of events with Sharmadean Reid on The Stack World, it became really clear how much I love creating in community - thinking together, testing ideas in real time, and watching people actually put things into the world.

I’m pausing regular events for a while to focus on a book I’m writing, and to serve my 1:1 clients. (I have a couple of 1:1 spots opening in March if you want one.)... I'll periodically host events and also have a World Builder program that includes 1:1's with me as well as a group element coming up in March/April so hopefully will get to work more hands on with some of you then!

Hi from my wee work station!!