#85: How to Get Content Ideas Without Overthinking

Jeff Harry (00:00.206)
made a video that got a couple million views that I made in 20 seconds. I'll work on something really hard for hours. And then like, you know, maybe 20 people watch it or whatever. There is a video that you've watched that you're like, oh my gosh, you're speaking directly to me and someone is waiting for your video, but you need to create it. After I probably doom scrolled, probably for two months. At some point it was just like this.

sucks. No wonder we feel so overwhelmed. No wonder we can't create. I gave up chat GBT last year. I was not critically thinking and that's the same idea with like consuming so much. think something that's really powerful for anyone that is considering creating or

Rhona Pierce (00:36.408)
That's true.

Rhona Pierce (00:49.9)
Everyone's consuming content to get inspired. Jeff Harry thinks that's exactly why most creators feel stuck. He's built a career around play, psychological safety, and the radical idea that boredom might be your biggest creative advantage. Today, we're unpacking why the best ideas show up when you finally stop scrolling. Jeff, welcome to Workfluencer.

Jeff Harry (01:14.238)
Ooh, I'm excited about this. Let's get into it.

Rhona Pierce (01:17.774)
Right, so for those who haven't met you yet, what's the Jeff Harry story in 30 seconds?

Jeff Harry (01:24.398)
The Jeff Harry story in 30 seconds is I saw the movie big with Tom Hanks when I was a kid and I was like, you can play for a living. So I started writing toy companies in third grade until I got into the toy industry. And then I was like, this is horrible. And I left the toy industry, came to the San Francisco Bay area, started playing with Lego for a living as a way to teach kids engineering with Lego. And that evolved me into starting

to get companies to play. And now I speak about play and I'm a global play expert that is all about making work suck less through play.

Rhona Pierce (02:06.958)
Amazing and for listeners because I know viewers can see you're actually wearing a Lego bowtie Tell me about that. What's story behind that one?

Jeff Harry (02:16.152)
So when I used to play for the Lego inspired STEM organization, someone, one of my colleagues at the time was just like, I dare you to wear one of these bow ties. And I was like, dude, I'll wear it. I'll wear it anywhere. And I wore it to a conference and it was such a nerd magnet. And it also reminded me not to take stuff so seriously because we're all wearing costumes of some sort. So whenever I put it on now, it just reminds me that

Don't take yourself so seriously and also attracts all the nerds. So it's like you want to talk and or talk all day. What do you want to talk about? You know, attack of the Titans, like any anything. I'm like the nerds arrive because I'm a nerd and then we resonate without me even having to say anything.

Rhona Pierce (03:05.896)
I love that. So walk me through your journey as a creator, because you know we talk about creators here. Like what prompted you to start and what has kept you going?

Jeff Harry (03:17.998)
So I started heavily on TikTok during the pandemic. So it was basically like March. And it's like, you remember, it was just so bored. Everyone was so bored. And after I probably doom scrolled, probably for two months, while also watching Tiger King and any other thing I could consume, at some point it was just like, this sucks. So like, just consuming. mean, all of us have felt that, right? Where you're doom scrolling.

And you feel like you've eaten like way too many Cheetos and you're like, gosh, like this is horrible. Right. And you're just at some point, I got so frustrated that I was just like, I just want to create for the sake of creating for myself. I don't really care if anyone watches it, but I want to make stuff. So then I just started making stuff partly out of like anger and partly out of like I am not seeing. On video, on tech talk, on Instagram, on YouTube.

what I would like to share. So I'm just gonna make stuff even if I have no one to follow me. And then it was fascinating what happens when you do that.

Rhona Pierce (04:25.942)
I love it. Hey, have you subscribed? Let's fix that. It's the easiest way to support this show. I know I'm not a huge fan of followers and stuff like that, but just for context, how many followers are you up to now on TikTok and all that?

Jeff Harry (04:41.902)
That's not that many. I probably have like 25,000 on TikTok, 20,000 on LinkedIn, 24 or something thousand on Instagram, all in the 20s for some weird reason. And when I first was creating, like no one was watching, right? But it was even more fascinating for me, even when I didn't have a lot of followers, because I remember when I left,

When finally like the pandemic lifted and we were able to go back to conferences, I would see people, some people I knew and some people I didn't know. And they were like, I love your content. I've been following your content. And this is when I had like 2000 followers. And I was like, you're paying attention. Like, is anyone because you a lot of times when you create, you just feel like you're throwing it into a void. Right. And you have no clue what's going to happen. And then you have no clue what's going to go viral and what's not going to go viral.

You know, I made a video that got, I don't know, like a couple million views, I guess, that I made in 20 seconds. In Germany, while I was, yeah, or is it German in Switzerland while I was waiting for my sisters to come out of a swatch watch shop, right? I just made this stupid video and then I posted it. Meanwhile, like I'll work on something really hard for hours, if not the whole day or think about it for like a whole week.

And then like, you know, maybe 20 people watch it or whatever. So there's no rhyme or reason or I haven't figured out the rhyme or reason to it. So I am now just creating because I'm like there's I feel like there's a genius that's like visiting me, you know, almost like like a fairy that's like, hey, you know, I have something for you. Would you like to create it? And then if I feel compelled, then I'll make it. And then I don't know where it goes from there, but.

Hopefully it impacts on people's lives.

Rhona Pierce (06:37.452)
I think it does because 20,000 on every platform is saying something. When you look back at your content and like what's one of the riskiest things you've posted, not necessarily the most viral, but like the riskiest thing and what happened afterward.

Jeff Harry (06:55.918)
let me think. I post a lot of political content, so and political, funny content. So as a speaker, like I speak for a living, I travel around, I talk about how to make work suck less through play, right? But as a speaker, that's not smart for me. So a lot of my stuff is risky because it could be potentially divisive, right? So I know that there are certain conferences in the past

that probably didn't hire me because they looked at my content were like, we can't hire this person because you know, they're they're not playing the game, right? I see a lot of speakers that just post the most safe stuff and they're playing the game and then they get hired over me but I just can't not say something especially during this time in the world, right? Where like if I didn't say something I would feel horrible for the rest of my life. It's like

I can't not say stuff, but also I've all this has always been me. So I'm like, you know, you're going to you're going to have all of me. I literally just put together a talk today called What is it? How do you get anything done while the world burns? Right. Because I want to lean into the controversy. I feel like we shouldn't be tiptoeing around it. So a lot of this stuff that I do is risky and a lot of it potentially causes me to lose work.

But I don't care at this point. like, I did the Camino last year where I basically like walked 190 miles in, I don't know, like nine days. And if there's one thing I got from reflecting and being bored like that, it was realizing like, this is the time where you need to speak up and use your art to speak truth to power.

Rhona Pierce (08:47.296)
I love that. So there's this assumption that the more content we consume, the more inspired we'll be. And yet so many creators, myself included, still hit a wall, right? We're still stuck. What do you think is actually happening there?

Jeff Harry (09:05.238)
Yeah, from a positive psychology standpoint, like that's what I studied. You're in a negativity spiral. You're in a negative spiral of of. And I've been there like I'm looking at my couch where sometimes I've sat for six hours and just doom scrolled, like not even paying attention to the world around me, right, and just feeling horrible about myself. And what you're hoping you're hoping that you'll see one inspirational.

video and then that will get you to actually act. But usually what happens is you see all this content and you're like, well, everyone else is making stuff. So it's already been invented. I don't need to make anything. Right. Not knowing that even if someone has made stuff, something you could be like, well, I can make something slightly different from that. That is a totally different perspective. I could even stitch that and I could share it. And there's like 10 people that really need to hear this

point, right? And I'm sure you've heard this many times before where you're like, only 200 people looked at my video today. Well, if 200 people walked into your room, or if you speak into Georgia people, you feel nervous because there's a lot of people, right? So we, I, I think, at least for me, the days where I get bored, or I'm active to start my day, like I walk around the lake, I do something movement oriented.

Right. Where I can't just doom scroll and I allow myself to almost get like fidgety because I'm like, got to create that helps me to actually create rather than me being like, let me do the scroll to start my day. Because the studies have found when you you start with looking at Instagram or TikTok and you see negative news to start your day, you're 30 percent more.

or 30 % less productive, and I think maybe 35 to 40 % less happy. So then you're less likely to create. So we just have to be aware when we wake up and we grab our phones, because we all do, right? What am I doing? Why am I grabbing it? And what purpose is it doing to help? Or is it better for me to just sit for a little bit and be like, what do I wanna create today and lean into that?

Rhona Pierce (11:26.638)
my gosh, I feel like you're calling me out on this one. it's like, cause that's like every morning. First thing you do is grab the phone. My excuses. Cause my dad, says good morning every morning. He's far away. So I'm like, let me reply to my dad's good morning text. And next thing you know, or even before that, I'm probably on LinkedIn, Instagram. And my dad's here like, are you okay? Are you okay?

I haven't even replied to the text, which was the reason why I grabbed the phone. But yeah, totally on board with that because it's like the way whatever you see first, that really sets the tone for the day. So it's like, you have to be kind of like intentional about how you start or like what you're scrolling through if you have to scroll.

Jeff Harry (12:12.78)
Yeah, or just or just be aware that a lot of it's not real. It's not real. Like, as you know, Instagram isn't real. Like all those people that are, you know, making a dish in like five seconds, it takes eight hours. It's just not real, right? Or someone that's like, let me start let me show you my regular day. That's not their regular day. That's just BS. You know, like it everything seems so clean and so amazing or like

my gosh, and I do this as well where I'm like, well, how many followers this person have? my gosh, there is so much higher than me. Like, I know people that have hundreds of thousands of followers, not happy with themselves, not happy at all, because they're thinking about the people that have a million followers. So again, we have to let go and I'm giving myself advice while I'm telling this to others.

We have to let go of the results aspect of this, the outcome aspect of this and be like, why do you want to create for yourself? Right. And I'll give you a great example of things that are just not real. So so I have I don't know. Maybe I have like, I don't know. Yeah. Eighteen thousand to twenty thousand followers on LinkedIn. I'm not sure what the number is at this point. Right. That sounds like a lot. The way I got a significant amount of them, probably like fifteen thousand of

is one day I was speaking at a conference and I was feeling myself. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm getting paid a lot of money to speak. There's a lot of people in the room. There's like 500, 500 or 600 people in the room. I got paid pretty well to do it. It was in Boston. And then I flew to another conference because I'm like, yeah, because I'm doing so great. I can't wait for the next conference. I fly to this other conference and there's no one in my audience.

There's zero people in the room. I go from feeling like I'm the greatest speaker of all time to being like, I'm still a loser. my gosh, I'm such a loser, right? And I take a photo of myself in the room. Like there was no projector, there was no mic, there was nothing. was just like, there's some just, it was a horribly run conference, right? But whatever the case may be, there was zero people in the room. I take a picture of myself.

Jeff Harry (14:27.496)
in the room and I just send it to a friend of like, you know, look at this. Like nobody showed up like this is super humbling. And then I was like, well, I might as well just share this on LinkedIn because this is just so absurd. Right. And this is a good reminder of me of like, stay humble. You never know. And that that went viral for some random reason, which I still do this day. I don't know why. Right. And people are like.

friending me and be like, oh, I loved your story. All that must have been stuff. It wasn't actually that tough. It was just me being just amused with the situation. That's a perfect example of like I didn't plan this. I probably didn't deserve that many followers. was a random post, you know, so like, again, the numbers are absurd. They don't make any sense. And even if you create a maze, I know people that create amazing content and do not have a lot of followers.

and they still are very impactful.

Rhona Pierce (15:25.75)
I think it really boils down to kind of like what you were saying earlier. We're so, we're consuming so much like negativity and stuff like that, that anytime there's this like story that's like, my gosh, this was so bad. This horrible thing happened to this person and you share it. It's like, wow, he or she is so authentic. I love that. Let me follow them. And it's like,

That was one moment in your day. it's like, but if you would have posted to the other one with, look, here I am speaking to 500 people, you probably lose followers because people are like, huh, he thinks he's better than us. So it's like, it's just, I'm always amazed. I just came back from a conference and I got a ton of love from people that you don't usually get as a creator. Cause

People are happy to tell you when they don't agree with you. Not so much when they agree with you. But it's also like people are like, my gosh, you're such a happy person. It's like, yeah, in general. like five minutes ago, I was in the bathroom freaking out and my friends were there because of whatever reason I was freaking out. It's like it's just the Internet is not a real place. All that to say all of that. How do you know when you're

consuming to create versus consuming to avoid.

Jeff Harry (16:50.122)
I I know I'm consuming to create because as soon as I see it, I want to create, I start creating it. So like I'll see the video and then I'll be like, let me stitch the video right now. Right. Or let me download this video that I'm to make content based off of that. Right. I know when I'm consuming just to consume and I usually don't because again, let's talk the psychology of it. Right. A lot of times you don't realize you're doom scrolling until you're doom scrolling.

an hour later, right? Like it doesn't even, you don't even recognize it, right? A lot of times. So a lot of this is just practicing awareness and being like, okay, now I recognize I'm doom scrolling. Am I going to put my phone down right now? Am I going to watch three more videos? And you know, what am I going to do to stop this spiral at this moment? I think the other thing that we have to realize, and I think a lot of times we haven't comprehended this, is

We consume more content in one day than people in the 1800s consumed in their entire lifetime. Their entire lifetime, we consume that in one day. So no wonder we feel so overwhelmed. No wonder we can't create. And that's where this ties in with play and boredom, right? Where if you like, like the other day I went out.

And I just forgot my phone and I was like, OK, I don't need it. I'll just walk around. You know, I'll get it at some point. I had more random conversations with people because I didn't have anything to do but just be present. I didn't have a book. I didn't have anything. I could just people watch. And there's something magical about that that we forgot that we used to have when we were children, right, where we could just fully be present. So I challenge people to do that.

Go out without your phone or just have it off and just see what happens when you're bored because what actually occurs when you're bored is then all of a sudden you start getting all these ideas, these nerves cited ideas, these ideas that make you nervous and excited. And it's just like, yeah, why don't you make this video? And you're like, no way, I can't make that. And you're like, maybe I can. And the whole concept then of you just

Jeff Harry (19:11.202)
taking the leap and making whatever that video is that you're scared to do for you, right? That shows you that what fear actually is false evidence appearing real, right? That it's not actually real. And then you dive into this pool of fear and you realize, it's not that bad. I made this video. Now I can make other videos, right? So it's this constant listening to those, getting bored, listening to those nervous-sided ideas, and then taking that leap.

even if it's not for anyone else, just for you.

Rhona Pierce (19:45.042)
it's I've actually started paying more attention to like, what happens when I actually slow down and hear myself think it all started with like, I have, I'm looking at these notes that I have here, which my handwriting is beautiful, but not here, because these are notes from I have a notepad in the shower that you can put and I like right there because it's like, I don't have my phone, I don't have anything there. And I've also started like

putting my phone on Do Not Disturb on Sundays, all day Sunday, it's on Do Not Disturb. I'm like, I don't know if something happens to anyone, I'll find out on Monday. It's like, there's nothing I can do anyway. And you get so like, I get so many creative ideas. I write scripts, I don't even like know AI for anything. It's just like, your brain is back to like you were saying when we were kids and we didn't have

any of this stuff. Have you found that like the same thing that happens like when you finally slow down enough to like hear yourself think?

Jeff Harry (20:42.552)
Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Harry (20:49.994)
Yeah, yeah. And that's the that's the boredom, right. And I love that you said the AI part. I gave up chat GBT last year. Like I and I shouldn't have because like, you know, like everyone, you know, I'm not getting ahead like everybody else. Right. But I realize it was making me dumber. Like I was not critically thinking. And that's the same idea with like consuming so much. Right. And here's like, I think something that's really powerful for anyone that is considering creating or currently creating. Right.

There is a video that you have watched that you're like, thank you. my gosh, you're speaking directly to me. You're speaking directly to my soul. I love this video. You have everyone has that video as well in themselves, right? And someone is waiting for your video, right? But you need to create it. So just knowing that not only is it a gift for you every time you create for yourself, but it's a gift to other people.

I also realize that I have so many ideas, so like I'm 40 videos that I haven't made that I want to make. Right. But and I realize they're almost like stuck in my brain like a pipe. And until I make this one, I can't get the other ones out. So that's another thing. Sometimes you just have to like I have a video I want to make on a list of you, the U.S. ice skater about her and how she embraces play and how she's from Oakland.

It's way past when I should make it, right? But I still need to make it because I want to make it for myself. So it's never you're never too late, right? And just make the thing because you want to make the thing.

Rhona Pierce (22:31.284)
I love that. And that's another thing that like I have myself have found myself caught in that just this week. I'm telling my team, I just came back from Transform. We need this video now. We need this video now, now, now. And they're like. But why, though, like you could post it later this week, it's like they kind of told me like and they have my permission to call me out on these things. This is why this is the type of environment that I've created out.

at the company and it's like, do we really need to rush this? It's like, are people still not going to be talking about Transform a few days later? I was like, you know what? That's true. I'll release it when it's ready, guys. Take your normal regular time. No need to stay up late just because it's like we have to do this now. It's like that that pressure in your head. It's like I want to do this video because I want to do this video. I want to share my experience and I'll share it when it's ready.

Jeff Harry (23:30.944)
love that. I also resonate with that because it's like recognizing the false sense of urgency and also this idea that you always have to make. But you don't always have to make. mean, you know, there's so many content creators that are like, this is how you get a million followers. And you're like, and then you look at them and you're like, they don't have any followers. You're like, why are you even giving advice? Right. Or even the ones that are there, like you got to post like seven times a day.

Well, when am I doing work? Have I got to post seven times a day? Right. So again, you got to figure out for yourself, why are you doing this? What makes sense to you? Like what cadence makes sense to you? I have a friend that posts regularly during the week, never post during the weekend. I have other friends that only post during the weekend. You got to figure out what you want. Some people love going live. Others do not. Right. Play with this stuff. Play with different platforms.

I love TikTok because it's a great editor tool. And then I just post the same video on every other platform. A lot of people wouldn't recommend that because like it's a different for different platforms, right? So I'm not following the rules and I don't even know if the rules apply, but I'm creating because I find it playful. I find it enjoyable. It brings me joy, right?

That's why I have eight wigs that I wear when I do half my videos, right?

It's not for anybody else. It's not for anybody else. And I think when you can get over that and get over like the views and the likes and stuff like that. And again, I'm giving myself advice while I'm saying this. Then you can create from a place that's real. And that's the stuff that resonates most.

Rhona Pierce (25:21.998)
I love that. And I love that you said wigs and I'm looking, I just lined up all of my wigs. Cause after this I'm recording a video. I have, it's a brand, it's a sponsored video, but they said the magic words. There are no rules. You can be creative as you want. I'm like, bet you will. The wigs are coming out because I haven't been able to use them for a year. So the wigs are coming out. Stay tuned for that one soon. Um, so a lot of us, I would say most of us start by copying what we see.

Yeah. Like, have you ever noticed yourself like mimicking others and like what specific things helped you shift into your own voice instead?

Jeff Harry (25:59.736)
I stop watching them. So like if I know that I'm sounding and I can hear it, I'm sounding like I'll just stop watching all of their content just because like it's not helping me at this point. They've inspired me and now I need to create my own stuff. So that has helped me tremendously. Also, I'll just make stuff that I find amusing. So I'll be giggling while making it.

So that's a good sign, right? But if I'm making something and then I'm like, I know I'm making this for somebody else and I'm not getting paid to make this stuff. So like, I don't have to make this. I'll just stop making it. Right. Like it's just not. And that's where you can actually start to hear your own voice. Like set boundaries around.

Rhona Pierce (26:51.552)
I love that. What about like when you hit a rut or you feel like everything you make is trash? I know I have those moments. Like what are the actual things that you do kind of like step by step to play your way out of it?

Jeff Harry (27:05.666)
Yeah. Well, sometimes if you're in a rut, just be in the rut, like sit in it for a little bit. Right. I think the thing that is challenging is a lot of times we're like, well, how do I get out of it right now? And it's just like, there might be a reason, you know, it's a weird analogy, but it's like, you know, when water turns to ice, there's a moment where, or there's a time period where it's just

nothing, nothing happens. And you feel like there's no progress. It's just water. And then all of sudden, it starts to become ice. That's the same vibe, right? Where you're like, I'm in this rut, let me recognize why I'm here. Let me sit in it. Let me walk around. Let me do other healthy things that are not content creating, rather than me being like, let me just focus on it more because you won't figure it out that way. And then you'll find your joy again.

Alyssa Liu, who I brought up earlier, is a great example of that. Skating her whole life. Skates in to Nagano or is it or maybe it was Russia in 2022, got sixth place, hated it, hated skating, and then she quit for like two, two to three years and then only came back because she wanted to play because she wanted.

to enjoy skating again. And then when she came back, she had certain rules, like her father can't come into the skating ring. This is all about her making her own music, her own style, and that, and she created a playground for her to play. So maybe that's the way, maybe we can learn from her, right? It's like, how, why am I in a rut? because I'm forcing myself to make stuff when I don't want to, and let me make the playground where I'm not putting pressure on myself to have.

to create the next viral video and just make stuff because I want to make.

Rhona Pierce (29:06.232)
So many great examples that for whatever reason we don't follow, because as you were talking about, Alyssa, I was thinking about Simone Biles when she was like, out, I'm out. I'm not doing this rest of this Olympics. Yeah. Got all the hate in the world. But she's like, I'm not doing it. And then she came back and did her thing. But it's like, sometimes you just have to be like, it's over. It's not happening right now. Not doing it. I'll come back when I can. Yeah.

Jeff Harry (29:33.804)
And you bring up a really interesting point because like, why do we make content in the first place? I know I made content because I wanted to feel seen. I wanted to feel heard, right? I wanted to feel valued and appreciated. And there's something about constantly creating that sometimes can be unhealthy because some of the most insecure people that I've met have the most followers, right? They have so many followers.

But it's never enough, right? It's just never enough. So, okay, well then why am I creating? I'm creating because I want to feel seen, heard and appreciated by myself, right? So what do I have to do for myself to validate myself? Because like, I'll tell you, every viral video that I've made hasn't filled the hole in my heart.

right? Hasn't made me feel more loved. It only makes me think like, now I got to make another viral video. So it's never enough. So what am I doing? Why do I want to make this video in the first place? And I would I just be happy making it for the sake of the process of making it. And there's something magical about this. I recently saw an interview with Mike Tyson and Mike Tyson with they were like, What's your favorite memories of

of fighting or boxing. And you're thinking it's just like when he was like a multimillionaire, when everyone knew his name. No, was actually when he was like 18, like eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with his trainer and just like hanging out. Those are his most favorite memories. It's the process. If you ask any band, they love it when they were in that crappy car, crappy van, driving around, performing for 30 or 40 people.

not to the huge, you know, stadiums they're doing now. They remember those classic moments, right? So how do we enjoy that part, the process part, and let go of the outcome part? Because when you get the outcome, a majority of the time you're not happy.

Rhona Pierce (31:43.84)
Is that what you remind yourself of or tell yourself like in private whenever a post flops or you get hate online?

Jeff Harry (31:52.472)
Well, it's funny when I get hate online, I'm like, great. You know, it's AI bots. So it's just like, you want to pump the video. Great. And it's funny because a lot of those videos that get a lot of hate, they get a lot of views. then I kind of forget about those because I'm like, I've already moved on. I've already created the thing. I forgot. I think it's Mandala. These mandalas, monks, I believe in Tibet.

would make these mandala sand art. They would work on it for like a month straight. And as soon as they were done, the most beautiful things, they didn't take a photo of it. They didn't hang it on a wall. They didn't do they take it outside and let the wind just blow it away. Right. That's how we got to show up. We got to create and then let it go, because frankly, anyone that's responding to the video.

They're not responding to you. It has nothing to do with you. The amount of hate that I've I've seen on videos where people are arguing with each other, they're just arguing with each other. And I just so happen to be the video that they're going to argue on. But it has really nothing to do with me. I almost see it as an analogy of like a homeless dude that takes a poop on your stoop. He didn't pick your stoop because he hated you. He just randomly picked it. So like that's how I kind of see a lot of this stuff.

I what brings me satisfaction again when I'm in a healthy space, right? Because a lot of times I'm in a negative space. Heck, I might go to a negative space right after this video, right? Right after we do this. But it's when I create and I'm happy with it before anyone else sees it. That is like I recently made a video about Dolores Huerta and the whole Sage R. Chavez thing. And I was really nervous about it and thinking about it for a week.

But finally, when I made it, was just like, I'm just so happy that it's out. It's out. Whoever looks at it, I don't know who resonates, who doesn't resonate with it, but I was able to verbalize what was in my soul. And that should be satisfying.

Rhona Pierce (34:05.152)
I love that. So for someone who's like listening to this and they're feeling like, okay, yes, I want to try this. I want to try creating from a place of play and not performance. What are like two to three small experiments that they can try this week?

Jeff Harry (34:23.244)
Yeah. So the first one is really the challenge of getting bored, right? Like, so let's go walk around. Let's let's run away from our phone for a little bit. That's one of them. Another one is actually doing you could tap back into your inner child by thinking of I even do this reflective exercise when I do talks where you think of what did I love to do as a kid? Like, what are my like here? We'll just do it right now. I wrote it. What was one of your favorite ways to play as a kid?

Rhona Pierce (34:57.452)
I just, I don't know, I loved playing like I was a teacher and teaching all of my dolls, just like sitting them there and just like talking to them.

Jeff Harry (35:06.904)
I love it. I love it. So when you look at you laying out the classroom and lining them up and thinking of the curriculum, what values do you think of? Like, why did you play in that way? And I'll give you an example. I used to combine all my board games together and make an epic board game. That was my play and I would have my sisters play with it. They hated it, but I loved it, right? But what I loved about it, my values when I look at that play was creativity, connection,

collaboration, my best three values, my best work comes from those values. So looking at how you were a teacher for your dolls, what will give me three values to describe that play?

Rhona Pierce (35:51.278)
I think it was just like connection. Like they were listening to me. Yeah. This is gonna say, it's not like I wasn't listened to at home, but it's just like, whatever. There was two other, I have two brothers. All the attention wasn't on me, but I guess I wanted attention. connection, Connection, they were listening to me and like feeling that I helped someone.

Jeff Harry (36:14.798)
and feeling that you helped someone. All right. So then I would challenge people to do that. Identify what those three values are. Connection, in your case, connection, being heard and helping someone. And then you can either just like be like, what can I do now that taps into that? Or you could go to your friends and be like, hey, I have these three values. I want to do this more. Can you nerd out with me? Can we have like,

a little tipsy storm, And have maybe some wine or chocolate or something and nerd out on this. Another suggestion, and this kind of ties in again with your friends, is you could reach out to three to five of your closest friends and ask them these two questions. What value do I bring to your life? And when have you seen me most alive? Another way of asking when have you seen you most alive is when have you seen me most playful, most, most creative?

most myself, right? So you ask those two questions of your three to five friends while you're hanging out with them, they start to give you all these ideas back. You write them down and trust me, of these, all of these potential innovative creative things might come up where you're like, I didn't even realize I gave advice like that. Maybe I could do that on a TikTok video. I didn't even realize I help you in that way.

I didn't even realize I'm very play oriented. I actually like to act. Why wouldn't I take on like multiple different personalities? I have a friend who just creates random characters. And now she has like 10 characters that she does live on TikTok all the time. Find that out by finding your play values and finding what value you provide to your friends and family.

Rhona Pierce (38:09.123)
I love that. Absolutely love it. So is there anything that I haven't asked you that you think is important for listeners to know?

Jeff Harry (38:19.95)
would you feel if you never created?

Like, how would you feel in like six months if you still are doom-scrolling? I thought of this, or I didn't think of this. was recently, you know, so I'm very active politically and I'm in the Bay Area. So I was at Bay Resistance, an organization, a friend of mine helped create talking about addressing ice, right? And talking about addressing the political climate. And they asked a really interesting question.

at the beginning of this organizing meeting that had like thousands of people there. They asked, how would you feel is if on November 1st or whenever the election is all these ICE agents bombard the voter polls and they stop voting from happening and they say that the voting has been affected by China or Venezuela or some random country.

How would you feel? And people are like, my gosh, it would be horrible. And then they asked, what would you do if you had seven months to prepare to address that? And people were like, and he's like, this is what we're doing right now. And that's the same kind of vibe that you have. Right now, you have this opportunity to create in such a phenomenal way. In November or December or whenever you reflect back on this,

Will you feel a certain level of regret for not creating during that time? Right. And not expressing your voice because somebody feels alone right now. And it might be your video that gets them to feel connected and seen and appreciated and feel part of community again. That is the task. That is the charge. As I heard in paradise, that is the whole.

Jeff Harry (40:16.204)
holy charge that you have placed upon you, right? And you can step into that. So, what do you want to do? That's what I would kind of put out to people. Like that's the level of impact you can have with just one video, just one video.

Rhona Pierce (40:31.896)
Thank you. absolutely, absolutely love that. And that gives me and everyone a lot to think of. But if you've ever watched the show, you know I end on a lighter note and there's always a segment. So I thought it's time for you to air out your most petty content creation grievances. We're focusing on the tiny things that shouldn't matter.

But today we're giving them the spotlight that they absolutely deserve. So we're going to sweat the small stuff. Are you ready?

Jeff Harry (41:07.822)
Yeah. Can you give me an example?

Rhona Pierce (41:11.598)
I'll see, you'll give me examples. So what's a post format that makes you irrationally annoyed every time you see it?

Jeff Harry (41:20.814)
Oh, a post for. Oh, there there there are two. One of them is this where the person just goes. And they just point and then they and then it's a whole other video. So it's just like, well, just show the video, like you haven't done anything besides point, you know. Yeah, that that was super annoying. I get the one with the text and there's text and the person just looks into them into the video that that's that's that's a bit ridiculous.

And then the other one, I mentioned it earlier, the ones where it's just like, let me show you a day in my life or let me show you how to make this meal. And it takes like 10 seconds. Like stop showing me your curated content. You do not do 100 sit ups and push ups to start your day and then create your own coffee. You walk your ass to Pete's and do what many of us do. All right. Stop lying to us to make you look good.

Rhona Pierce (42:21.166)
I love this. What's a word or phrase that creators use that should be permanently banned?

Jeff Harry (42:28.455)
a phrase?

Come with me. I hate come with me. I love the guy that now does it, that does the mocking of it. Come with me. Or what up YouTube? It's your boy. You know, like that energy. I don't know if it's the phrase, but it's just like smack that like button. Make sure to subscribe. You know what's going on. Like the way too excited, you know, and especially because they're just normal.

And then over there like, hey, how you doing? What up, YouTube? And you're like, dude, that's so not you. Or like, did you just turn it on? Like, what's happening? Right. You know.

Rhona Pierce (43:14.168)
I knew this would be the purpose segment for you. All right, a few more.

Jeff Harry (43:18.744)
Boy, Ozza, I hate that. Come with me.

Rhona Pierce (43:24.386)
Mine is like, I just wanted to pop on here really quick.

Jeff Harry (43:28.714)
Or, no, what about this one? I might delete this later. No, you're not. You're not deleting this later. You just said that as your catchphrase to get us to watch more. You're not gonna, you never delete it. You never delete it.

Rhona Pierce (43:44.61)
I don't know who needs to hear this.

Jeff Harry (43:46.88)
God. well, I made a video where I just kept saying that over and over again in random spots, like in a Home Depot, just random places. I don't know who needs to hear this right now, but or this might sound controversial. wait, what about this one? This might get me canceled. But, you know, pesto, I put on everything. Yeah.

Rhona Pierce (44:10.83)
I made specific videos and post with I know exactly who needs to hear this and I'm not gonna tag them but Those work really well cuz I was so annoyed. It's like I don't know who you know exactly who needs to hear this video

Jeff Harry (44:32.194)
And it's also weird. I literally just made a video of all these sales guys, right? These sales speakers that are like, I'm going to 10 X, you know, let me tell you what's going on. And they have the exact same hair and the exact same vibe, right? And they have like, like you, you know, order to get the sales, you got to reap the bales, like all these rhyming things. And I was like, why do they keep making this same guy? Like,

Aren't all these guys talking about how they want to sound different and how to differentiate themselves. They have the same Vidal Sassoon haircut. Like how, how are you successful? Right? Why are you all 10Xing? So yeah, anyway, don't get me started, man. I could do a whole talk, I was just on this stuff. I didn't even know I had this in me. Now it's coming out. This is therapy for me. Thank you.

Rhona Pierce (45:25.454)
All right, last one. What's something that you used to do as a creator that now drives you crazy when you see others doing it?

Jeff Harry (45:34.958)
What did I used to do as a creator? I don't know if I did this that much, but I did it a little bit. I didn't get to the stuff fast enough. like kind of like, you know, is this, you know, so I'm creating this video for the, and it was just like, just cut through the BS, right?

Or you're like, Oh my gosh, look at my hair. Oh, yeah, especially me look at my hair. You know, I know it's crazy right now, but I wanted to share just cut all that crap out. Right? All the things that are building up. Just say what you want to say. Just say the thing. You know, sometimes I'll watch a video and then I was like, man, I should have looked at the comments because the comments are like, thanks for talking for two minutes that wasted my life or like you could have said that in 10 seconds, like

You know, some commentate, not all the haters, but some commentators speak real truth, dude, like like just caught to cut out all the stuff. I even now on TikTok cut out a lot of like my arms and things like that. Right. I recognize people are have such short attention spans. And then I also have to cut out sometimes my darlings, the things that I think are like really important in the video, because it doesn't just resonate.

And that, ties back to listening to your inner voice or inner child and knowing what you want. Forget about what everyone else wants, knowing what you want and creating from that place.

Rhona Pierce (47:08.052)
Amazing. I've really, really enjoyed this conversation. Where can listeners connect with you?

Jeff Harry (47:15.31)
All right, so I make a lot of ridiculous videos at Jeff Harry plays. So that's at J.E.F.F. H.A.R.R.Y. P.L.A.Y.S. And that is my handle on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blue Sky and YouTube.

Rhona Pierce (47:36.494)
Amazing and I will link all of that in the show notes. Thank you. Thank you so much for being on the show today

Jeff Harry (47:43.752)
Absolutely. and also, I just did a TEDx talk. Check it out. It's about dismantling patriarchy through play. So I'm all about, you know, I'm all about, I believe the matriarchy is the only way we survive. So I made a talk about it. TEDx talk called, well, just to type in my name in TEDx, Beyond Hierarchy, How Play Can Heal the Division Between Us. Thank you so much.

Rhona Pierce (48:08.47)
And I will definitely one watch that TEDx because I can only imagine how great it is. And second, I'll link it in the show notes so that everyone can also enjoy. Thank you again.

Jeff Harry (48:22.126)
Absolutely, this is so much fun and therapy to me, really.

Rhona Pierce (48:27.01)
you're enjoying the Workfluencer pod, share it with someone who's changing how we talk about work or who should be. And hey, if this episode gave you ideas or inspiration, leave us a five-star review. Reviews help other listeners find us. And honestly, it makes my day. This show is produced by Workfluencer Media. Visit workfluencermedia.com to learn how we help companies build video-first content systems that attract, engage, and retain qualified talent.

That's WorkfluencerMedia.com. Thanks for listening and I'll chat with you next week.