If you've ever asked yourself - as almost all of us have - "how can I find and follow my calling and my passion," then you're going to get a lot out of this conversation. Elle has a book describing her own search for an answer to this question which is called "The Crossroads of Should And Must" which explores the tension between the expectations that parents, friends, and culture put on us (what she calls "should") and who we are and what we know to be true (what she calls "must").

Today on the podcast,

* She breaks work down into 3 categories: jobs, careers and callings. So many of us are stuck in one of the first 2, looking for a way to get to the 3rd.

* Accountability comes up again - a common theme in a lot of these conversations as a really key part of the creative process, to help get us across the finish line and actually COMPLETE our ideas. For Elle, the key is attaching a human to it - she says "if someone I love is counting on me to deliver something, I won't let them down."

* Another familiar theme that comes up again is structure- some creatives resist structure, but I am a firm and passionate believer that structure doesn't hinder creativity, it helps it. Elle talks about how she uses structure-- one of her little hacks is setting a kitchen timer in 17 minute increments, and during that 17 minutes she can't deviate from the task at hand.

Enjoy!

This episode first appeared on CreativeLive as part of the 30 Days of Genius series. Show notes and links for this episode can be found at www.chasejarvis.com/podcast.

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