The Power of Creativity with Kyle Scheele | Buffini Podcast
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Kyle Scheele, a motivational author, speaker, and artist, doesn’t believe that creativity is reserved for a chosen few. In his words, “Anytime you make anything new, that is a creative act.” He argues there are no “creative people” and “uncreative people” — there are only humans who either embrace creativity or talk themselves out of it. And most of the time, he said, the only thing in the way is our own belief system.
Recently Scheele was a guest on Brian Buffini’s podcast, “It’s a Good Life,” where he discussed his unusual career trajectory, as well as tips on how real estate agents can tap into their creativity to not only have a great business but also a meaningful life.
Naivety Pays Big Dividends
When he was 18 years old Scheele started selling t-shirts at his high school. With a combination of gumption, naivety, persistence, and creativity, he succeeded in convincing the popular clothing store, Urban Outfitters, to carry those shirts as well. Since then, his imagination and creativity have captivated the world as a content creator and influencer with projects such as hosting the world’s first fake marathon and gaining a million TikTok followers in just 25 hours.
By any measure, including his own, it’s been a surprising career. But that ingenuity and belief in oneself is something that everyone can tap into, he said.
“Our brains are not truth-seeking machines, they’re belief-justification machines,” he noted. “If you decide you’re not creative, your brain will start building the defense. Soon, you shut down ideas before they even have a chance.”
Letting Go Makes Space for the New
Scheele is also known for his Viking funeral projects — first as a joke for his 30th birthday, then as a global project where he burned 21,000 written regrets sent in from around the world. One offhand line became a rallying cry, he noted.
He documented that in his book, How to Host a Viking Funeral: The Case for Burning Your Regrets, Chasing Your Crazy Ideas, and Becoming the Person You’re Meant to Be.
Scheele said he believed the idea really resonated with so many people because too often we hold onto the things, such as old identities, mistakes and fears, that keep us from growing.
“One of the things that I learned from surveying 21,000 people about their regrets is that people regret things that they didn’t do way more than they regret things that they did,” he said.
Lean In (and Don’t Overthink Things)
Creativity means risk. It means choosing a path, cutting off the alternatives, and putting your work into the world where people can judge it.
“Any step is better than no step,” Scheele said. “If the first step feels overwhelming, it’s probably too big. Shrink it. Move forward anyway.”
Looking back on the opportunities he nearly avoided, Scheele says the same thing about every major breakthrough: “It was easier than I thought it would be.”
As it turns out, he added, most of his fear was not based in reality, but in his head.
“I think that you are on this planet for such a short amount of time in the grand scheme of history,” he added. “Your life is a breath in the wind. It’s a blip on the radar.”
“Just lean in, make a difference, make a dent in the world, be kind to other people, try to make the world a little bit weirder and a little bit funnier and a little bit cooler than it was when you got here. That’s a good life to me.”
Click here to listen to the entire podcast.
