✉️ The Creative Life Newsletter
The artist’s journey is long. I write a newsletter to help you stay on it 👉 https://jim-kroft.short.gy/0925A/Jim-Kroft-newsletter
____
🎤 Welcome back to The Creative Life Podcast.
This episode is a counterpart to last week’s — but where that one was raw, unscripted, and full of spontaneous ideas in real-time, this one is more structured and delves deeper into the underlying themes.
It all began with a moment that shook me: walking into my creative space and feeling I had nothing to give.
But that feeling turned out to be a doorway — not into emptiness, but into the deeper truth of why we drift from our creative Self, and how we start finding our way back.
Drawing on ideas from Jung and Joseph Campbell, I explore why a creative block isn’t a dead end but an invitation. An inner signal that something in our life, our work, or our attention needs to change.
If you’re a creative feeling overwhelmed, flooded, or disconnected from the work you love, this episode offers a path back to building up new momentum & a way to reconnect with your centre of meaning:
Thank you for all the support for getting here, guys - here's to Episode 50!
Jim
LINKS
📬 Substack - The Creative Life Newsletter https://www.jimkroft.substack
📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music: spoti.fi/4aHoI0Y
📷 Instagram: https://bit.ly/3Scy6S3
🎙️Podcast: https://bit.ly/3OycQVO
🎙️ The Creative Life
Episode 49: Why We Stop Doing the Thing We Started
This week, I’m exploring one of the hardest parts of creative life — why we stop doing the thing we started. Every project begins with excitement and momentum. Then comes the middle, where time, distraction, and doubt creep in. The work that once flowed starts to feel heavy, and the question becomes how to keep going when the spark fades.
Recorded in one take from my studio in Berlin’s old power station, this episode looks at:
If you're struggling to finish something you've started, this episode is for you. I know this state very well—not just from the six documentaries and six albums I completed, but from the many projects that fell by the wayside. Today, I share everything I've learned from both sides of the struggle, drawing out the universal lessons for your own creative journey.
As ever thank you for being here,
Jim Kroft
LINKS
📬 Substack - The Creative Life Newsletter https://www.jimkroft.substack
📺 YouTube https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music: spoti.fi/4aHoI0Y
📷 Instagram: https://bit.ly/3Scy6S3
🎙️Podcast: https://bit.ly/3OycQVO
📬 Substack - The Creative Life Newsletter
Welcome back to The Creative Life Podcast
This week’s episode is about the routines we’ve grown too attached to — the ones we built to survive another time in our lives but never thought to question.
I realised mine were no longer serving me. They were built for who I was, not who I’m becoming. So I tore them up and gave up alcohol, not as a test of will, but to serve my creative energy better.
It made me notice something larger. We’ve become strangely comfortable living with fatigue, low moods, and dark thoughts, without ever challenging the lifestyle that goes with them. We accept the symptoms without questioning their cause.
What followed for me was a period of reawakening: better sleep, clearer thoughts, and a renewed excitement for life and work. In this episode, I share what I changed, why I did it, and how breaking old patterns can open space for who you’re meant to become.
This isn’t about productivity. It’s about reclaiming the energy and clarity that make you feel alive.
What you’ll learn:
I'm your host, Jim Kroft, thank you so much for being here
Let's dive in!
📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music:
📷 Instagram:
🎙️Podcast:
✉️ The Creative Life Newsletter
The artist’s journey is long. I write a newsletter to help you stay on it
👉 https://jim-kroft.short.gy/0925A/Jim-Kroft-newsletter
Welcome back to The Creative Life Podcast!
Yesterday I walked into work with three thousand photos to edit, but an urge to create.
Logic said “stick to the plan.”
But something deeper said: create now.
This episode is about that moment — when you’re torn between the work you should do, and the feeling something wants to break out of you.
In it, I share what I learned about giving in to instinct, chasing the spark when it strikes, and protecting creativity in a culture that encourages over-planning.
What we'll dig into:
I'm your host Jim, thank you so much for being here!
If you'd like to support the podcast, please take a moment to rate and review - it helps so much.
Let' dive in!
📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music:
📷 Instagram:
🎙️Podcast:
Today's music is from Artlist.
📬 Substack - The Creative Life Newsletter
https://www.jimkroft.substack
Welcome back guys!
If you'd like to support the podcast, taking a moment to rate and review is so very appreciated!
Jim
TODAY'S EPISODE
We’ve been sold a lie: that creativity is a goal, something you reach if you hustle hard enough, suffer long enough, sacrifice deep enough.
But here’s the truth: that path doesn’t just fail you — it erodes life itself.
This episode is about breaking free from the outcome-obsessed culture that keeps us trapped on the treadmill of productivity, and rediscovering creativity as a way of living — something to embody, nurture, and expand every single day.
Whether you’re building a project, chasing a dream, or simply trying to reconnect with joy in the process, this episode is about choosing immersion over obsession — and reclaiming your creativity as part of life itself.
What's Inside:
I'm your host, Jim. If you're ready, then let's dive in!
📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music:
📷 Instagram:
Today's music is from Artlist.
Welcome back to The Creative Life Podcast!
Life is a drifting from — and a returning to — ourselves. At any moment, we can almost read it like a gauge: where am I now?
In this episode, I share what I learned after breaking from my own routine — travelling across Scotland, spending time with family, and stepping away from the tyranny of schedules and screens. What began as guilt over losing consistency turned into something else: a reminder that pauses can reset your course and bring you back to what feels creatively alive.
If you’ve been feeling out of kilter, burnt out, or trapped in hustle culture, my hope is that this episode helps you reconnect with that spark that’s still inside you.
Ideas Inside:
If you'd like to support the podcast, dropping a comment and leaving a rating is greatly appreciated!
I'm your host, Jim Kroft, so if you're ready, then let's dive in!
Jim
📬 Substack - The Creative Life Newsletter
📺 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/jimkroft
🎧 Spotify Music:
📷 Instagram:
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★🎙️ This episode of The Creative Life is for Solo Creators.
Whether you're building a podcast, growing a YouTube channel, or writing a newsletter—staying motivated on your own can be tough.
In this episode, I share some hard-won encouragement for those walking the path alone. If you're feeling tired, unseen, or unsure if it's worth it, I hope this brings a little courage, uplift—and a spark of renewed zeal.
With love from the road,
Jim Kroft
The Creative Life Newsletter
The artist’s journey is long. I write a newsletter to help you stay on it
👉 https://jim-kroft.short.gy/0725E/Jim-...
🎙️ You Will Lose Your Way
How to find the path back to the work — and to yourself
Every ambitious project comes with a hidden truth: at some point, you’ll lose your way. Not because you’re weak. But because you’re being asked to go deeper.
In this episode, I reflect on the drift that happens mid-journey—the moment when momentum fades, doubt creeps in, and the original spark feels out of reach. I share my own struggles with finishing and releasing my new album Chromatic Zero, and the realisation that creating the work is only half the task. The other half? Finding the courage to carry it all the way.
🔹 Why drifting isn’t failure—it’s initiation
🔹 The 10-step creative arc that repeats across every project
🔹 Questions that help me course-correct when I’ve gone off track
🔹 How to face the darker spaces that call you to evolve
If you’ve lost your way, this is your reminder: you’re not at your end—you’re just getting started, my friend.
—
✨ Subscribe to The Creative Life for weekly reflections, songs, and stories from the path.
🎵 New song out soon: At Your End — 7th release from Chromatic Zero
📝 Newsletter & music: jimkroft.substack.com
Welcome back to The Creative Life.
There’s a moment every artist faces — not just once, but again and again.
You’ve put in the hours. You’ve pushed through resistance.
And then one day, you ask the question:
Should I just… stop?
This episode is about that question — and what happens if, instead of giving up, you keep going.
It’s a reflection on the reckonings we face as creatives — and how those moments can either end a journey… or begin a new chapter.
Whether you're in the thick of doubt or on the cusp of your next phase, I hope this brings some fire to your step — and courage to go on.
What you’ll take away:
Thank you for all the support, everyone - if you have a moment to rate and review it is greatly appreciated!
Jim
🎵 Jim Kroft on Spotify
📝 Newsletter: The Creative Life
📸 YouTube
💬 Instagram
Welcome back to The Jim Kroft Podcast.
After 117 consecutive weeks writing my Substack, I’ve learned this:
Consistency isn’t about willpower.
It’s about building the kind of system that sustains you when life doesn’t.
In this episode, I break down the 4 practices that helped me join Substack’s top 1% for consistency — without burning out or losing the joy of writing.
Whether you're starting a creative routine or trying to reconnect with your voice, this episode offers tools you can actually use — and a mindset to help you keep going.
What you’ll learn:
Let’s get into it.
All music in this episode is mine — stream it on Spotify.
Jim Kroft Links:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | X
Jim's Substack: "The Creative Life"
Welcome back to The Jim Kroft Podcast.
Today’s episode is called “An Artist’s Assault on Niching Down.”
It’s for creatives who never fit the playbook—who felt something calling, even if they didn’t yet know what it was.
While others picked their lane and built a brand, maybe you were staring out the window—hungering after life in all its wild, unknowable complexity.
Niche down? Or Niche out?
This episode explores what gets lost when you niche too early—before you’ve lived enough to know who you are.
Because drift, detours, and failure don’t hold you back—they build the voice and story only you can tell.
We explore:
This is for those still searching for their through-line, before reducing themselves to a category.
Let's dive in!
Your host, Jim Kroft
Music in today's episode
Jim Kroft
Artlist
Jim Kroft links:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram |
Hello, and welcome back to The Jim Kroft Podcast.
The creator economy promised freedom. For many of us, it delivered burnout, invisibility, and a slow erosion of meaning.
In this episode, I explore what we lose when we hand our creative process to machines. Because it’s not just about output — it’s about the transformation we abandon when we skip the hard part. When we let AI do the work, we sacrifice the very struggle that shapes our voice, our vision, our humanity.
This isn’t a rant against technology. It’s a defence of the self — and a call to reclaim the depth that only comes through doing the work ourselves.
In this episode:
🧠 How “content” replaced creation — and why it’s draining the soul from the work
🎭 Why personal branding has become a survival mechanism — and what it’s doing to our sense of self
⚙️ How AI’s promise of ease flattens the very process that forms our voice
🌀 Why performing for the feed leaves us burned out, fractured — and often ashamed
🔥 Why the only way out is through: real work, real struggle, and the transformation it offers
Let’s dive in.
Your host, Jim Kroft
(All the music today is mine and available on Spotify)
Jim Kroft links:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | X
🎥 New! Watch the Podcast on YouTube
I’ve just launched a dedicated YouTube channel for The Jim Kroft Podcast—where you can watch the episode and follow the key moments as they unfold. It’s brand new and shared only with listeners for now.
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🎯 One Clear Purpose Per Day
How I’m building a creative life without burning out.
In this episode, I share a breakthrough that’s reshaped how I work, create, and stay sane as a one-person business.
We all know the pressure: create content, stay visible, market yourself. But in a world where Alex Hormozi is spending millions a month on content and ad teams—and Gary Vee is shouting "post 24/7"—what does that mean for the rest of us?
The ones without teams. The ones juggling freelance work, family, burnout—and still trying to make something meaningful.
This episode isn’t about rejecting content. It’s about finding a rhythm that respects your limits and moves the needle.
I talk about:
If you’re a creator, artist, or indie builder feeling overwhelmed or behind—this is for you. Not a masterclass. Just a fellow traveller sharing what’s working right now.
🎧 Your host,
Jim Kroft
Find me here:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram
🎥 New! Watch the Podcast on YouTube
I’ve just launched a dedicated YouTube channel for The Jim Kroft Podcast—where you can watch the episode and follow the key moments as they unfold. It’s brand new and shared only with listeners for now.
________
How to Keep Going When Life Loses Meaning
🎙 The Jim Kroft Podcast
Ever feel like you’re doing all the right things—showing up, staying creative, staying committed—yet the meaning behind it all quietly disappears?
This episode is for every artist, writer, and maker who’s hit that invisible wall. When the results don’t come. When your energy drains. When you wonder, what’s the point of any of this?
I walk you through that space—not with quick fixes, but with hard-won insight from years on the creative path. This is about how to stay connected to your “why” when you’ve lost the thread, how to face the inner voices that sabotage you, and how to keep going—especially when it feels like no one’s watching.
Whether you're in a creative burnout, doubting your purpose, or simply trying to stay inspired in a world full of noise—this episode offers a way back to the work that matters most.
Here’s what we explore:
🔥 Face the Voice in the Dark: Why the thoughts you fear most might just be here to help you grow.
🛑 The Courage to Stop: How stopping is often the beginning—not the end—of creative movement.
✨ Break the Mould: Why the version of yourself you’ve outgrown is blocking your way forward.
🌌 Meaning Is the Work: Not something you wait for—but something you practice, daily.
🪞 Forgive the Shame, Catch the Cynic: How to stop projecting your pain—and begin transmuting it.
🌀 Stuckness Precedes Breakthrough: Why the feeling of being stuck is part of the cycle—not a sign you’ve failed.
This is a personal, scripted reflection on how to keep going—especially when everything in you is asking whether it’s still worth it.
—
🎧Your host, Jim Kroft
Find me here:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram
Should I Finish It or Let It Brew?
Hello and welcome back to The Jim Kroft Podcast.
This episode is for anyone caught in that timeless creative tension: should you finish what you’ve started, or let the idea simmer?
I take you inside the creative process behind making my new album—grappling with writer’s block, navigating false starts, and learning to keep going without the help of a label, rival, or sparring partner.
But this isn’t just about music. It’s about how we all move through uncertainty in creative life, and how finishing something often begins with simply showing up.
Because sometimes, waiting is the block. And moving is the muse.
Highlights from this episode:
Thanks for being here. And wherever you are in your creative process—keep going.
Your host, Jim Kroft
Jim Kroft links:
YouTube | Newsletter | Instagram | Spotify
Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Jim Kroft Podcast"
Do you have the courage to write badly?
In this episode, I dive into the messy, liberating truth that to create something meaningful, you first have to give yourself permission to be bad.
Inspired by comedian Steve Martin's playful approach to songwriting, we'll explore how embracing imperfection can free your creativity—and why intentionally writing badly might unlock your best work yet.
Questions we explore:
Highlights:
Thanks for the support as always, everyone! Jim
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★Hello, and welcome back to The Jim Kroft Podcast—a space where every setback is a setup for a creative breakthrough.
In this episode, “The Curious Catalyst of Being Trolled,” I get real about a moment when harsh YouTube comments turned into unexpected fuel for my dream to play live again.
Ever felt that sting of criticism or doubted whether you’re good enough? I share my raw journey of meeting my inner demons head-on, embracing the chaos, and transforming negativity into a driving force for growth. If you're a creative navigating the twists and turns of self-doubt and the pressure to be perfect, this episode is for you.
Highlights:
Let's dive in!
Your host, Jim Kroft
All the music today is my own, available on Spotify
Jim Kroft links:
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | X
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Jim Kroft Podcast"
Ever felt like you’re waiting forever to be ready to start a project?
Sometimes an idea or seed can live with us for years and, despite our best efforts, we just can't seem to kick-start it.
In this episode, I share the personal story behind the writing and recording of my new single "Vampires" which is out on the 31st of January on Spotify. Here's the PRESAVE!
It is a journey of overcoming writer's block, slaying the demon of self-doubt, having a reckoning with one's own "talent" and determining to move forward, irrespective of what price must be paid.
Sometimes you have to do something because the price of not doing it will be that it haunts you forever - that is the Vampire.
Questions we explore:
Highlights:
Today is a journey through the messy, beautiful process of creation and - and the realisation that if we are going to live with ourselves we are going to need to find not just deeper courage - but to start somewhere.
Your host, Jim Kroft
If you'd like to connect or comment on the Podcast, drop me a line!
YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | X
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★Release News:
The first single of my new album drops on January 31st.
Save it here on Spotify!
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Jim Kroft Podcast – you’re so very welcome here!
In this podcast, I explore the insights, breakthroughs, pitfalls, and eureka moments I experience as I navigate creative life. Whether it's through my film and photography work, as a podcast host and avid Substack writer, or this year – as I pursue my desperate dream of returning to music.
In Today’s Episode:
I explore the pivotal moments of writing my new album – overcoming writer’s block, embracing a DIY spirit, and adopting a self-reliant attitude. I’ll also share how I’m releasing the music after a year writing and recording (while juggling freelance life!)
Recognizing the chapter I’m in within my story has been instrumental in overcoming the demons of self-doubt and questioning that plagued me during the early stages of this project. This realization inspired me to deepen the concept of viewing our lives as stories, with each project representing a unique chapter.
I've noticed that much online life advice is AI-sanitized, stripping away individuality, the authentic mistakes that make one's life story believable, and the foundation for creating a meaningful impact.
It’s crucial to recognize the chapter we’re in and ensure we’re telling our authentic stories – if the world is going to listen. Each chapter has a purpose – what is that purpose, and how do we reach it?
Themes:
🌀 Overcoming Creative Blocks
🎸 Evolving Your Process
🚀 Embracing Independence
🌱 Reimagining Projects
⚖️ Balancing Art and Administration
Thank you for joining me, everyone!
Your host, Jim Kroft
(Connect with Me: YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | X)
Hello, and welcome back to "The Jim Kroft Podcast."
Many of us struggle with pre-Christmas exhaustion during December - just as we are manically trying to finish our year's work.
Low energy vs mountainous work is a bad equation.
This collision course can trigger emotional black holes.
Remember:
This is the season to embrace the dip rather than resist it.
What if, instead of criticizing yourself for not being where you want to be, you chose to be grateful for how far you’ve come?
This week’s podcast explores the tools we have at our disposal to guard against the illusions our minds sometimes play on us—especially when we get trapped in a moment:
We often criticize ourselves for bad moods instead of recognizing that they carry messages.
Can you listen to what they’re saying?
In an emotional black hole:
Today, I share everything I've learned about this space and pass on the tools I've developed from 20 years in the arts and a long journey in psychoanalysis to overcome these challenges.
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” — Chuang Tzu
Let’s dive in!
Your host, Jim Kroft
Follow me: YouTube | Newsletter | Spotify | Instagram | Twitter
(All music is original and available on Spotify under "Jim Kroft")