Gifted Underachievers

In this groundbreaking segment set in the Interview Lab of the Gifted Underachievers clubhouse, James asks Dobes to explain her ability to come up with alternate revenue streams. She’s got courses, books, and the infamous Pleasure Journal. The questions are simple: Why did she think these items were a good idea? How did she develop them? What about audience, pricing, and marketing? Can “passive in...

We are always looking for better data on who our audience is and where they live. James has found that his part of the Gifted Underachievers competition experiment is providing better data on both leading to smarter submissions targeting. Meanwhile, Pat discovers that the benefit of these contests is not did I win or lose, but the structure means you learn if you were a finalist and you will recei...

We’ve all felt an innate sense of coolness—even, perhaps, superiority—when watching some dink act like a dink to a hip cashier at any checkout line. And then felt the swipe of comeuppance when we act like a dink in an attempt to display our inherent coolness. James had just such an experience while wearing his brand new Canadian toque. Question for Listeners: * What was your last Karen (or Ken) mo...

Welp, Pat tries to give James a little ‘flu guidance,’ which leads to James calling Pat a ‘Nancy no-mates know-it-all.’ Then we’re off and running down a discursive tangent that includes 19th Century female literary protagonists, Song of the South (a 1949 movie that Disney CEO described as “Antiquated” and “Fairly offensive”), and coffee shop misbehavior, culminating in Pat accusing James of livin...

As every creative knows, the big-ticket, long-term creative projects that sell for thousands require some time to conceptualize, produce, and sell…and that’s if the creator already knows who their audience is. So for those of us who work on projects with long turnaround times, what can we do in the meantime to bring in the monthly basic income that keeps the lights on and puts food in the cupboard...

As the calendar flips over to January 2026, the Gifted Underachievers discuss their plans and goals. Pat’s ambitious to stop the hamster wheel she’s inadvertently created. James wants nothing more than to courageously attack a Durian and get some time to write his own stuff. What about you? Questions for Listeners * Do you have any New Year plans or pledges you would like to share? * If you were a...

After creating a list of his daily and weekly tasks looking for those that could be outsourced, James realizes he needs to hire a maid, valet, and cook. Pat reins things in nicely, which creates the space to explore how each Gifted Underachiever’s creative adjacent work patterns—long hours, multiple clients, no days off—have brought them into systems that are unsustainable. They then reflect on gu...

In this segment, James quotes from the Robert Persig classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: “When we master some aspect or skill of the creative process it loses its magic because we now understand it. But somehow, a new magic is born from the first death of magic, because we are constantly driving forward.” The Gifted Underachievers go on to talk about Jimi Hendrix, Slash, and other...

We’ve got so much to be thankful for this Yuletide Season...as we underachieve our way through one gong show after another in this adventure we call the creative live. To celebrate, we’ve got an elf and a giant tree and absolutely no scruples about making this Christmas our easiest one ever. How about you? Questions for Listeners: * Any plans for December 25th? * Anything you’ve managed to avoid?...

Content warning: Strong language. Here in the Gifted Underachievers clubhouse, we have realized that the ability to constantly adapt and transform is a key piece of earning our livings from creative (or creative-adjacent) work. This insight was sparked by developments in the year 2024, when James’s usual work pipelines became blocked and he had to step back from beating his head against the same b...

James is named a finalist in the biggest ‘self-esteem camp’ of literary journal contests he’s ever encountered and says a resounding ‘No!’ (thank you). Meanwhile, Pat updates us on her contest efforts while adding yet another identity to her complex mélange of personality traits (you’ll have to listen to find out what the latest one is). Lots o’ fun and lots o’ laughs. Questions for Listeners: * H...

Proving the truism that the human capacity to take in information, process it, analyze it, and then make a stupid choice is a gift, the Gifted Underachievers identify the most elitist muffin and share more than a few laughs. All good fun. Questions for Listeners: What is, for you, the most elitist muffin? Special Offer: Buy us a Coffee to go with your Elitist Muffin and Win a Book! Here in the GU...

When Anne first approached us to do a segment, she write, “Gifted Underachiever, that label fits me, right against the skin. I might have used it at different times to beat myself up, believing as I tried to get different efforts off the ground that I wasn’t living up to my potential. I sometimes thought, if I could just find the right co-conspirators I could do great things. Turns out there was s...

Here in the Gifted Underachiever Clubhouse we were inspired and uplifted by a conversation with our very special guest, gifted achiever Isaac Hirotsu Woofter. An award winning actor and filmmaker, Isaac’s work has been selected in dozens of Festivals, received countless nominations, and won 11 awards. Best Film (x3), Best Ensemble (x2), Best Actress (x2), Best Screenplay (x2), Best Director, Audie...

Some of us find money a central motivator in our creative projects, which can lead to taking on almost anything that pays. For your gifted underachievers Pat and James, this means a cycle of creative or creative-adjacent projects where our engagement is determined by what we’re offered (or pitch on) and how well it pays. But can we be more autonomous and deliberate about how we fund our creative w...

If people are born into a creative life, what is it that draws them to one art over another? If the fates had been different, what creative domain would a person choose? Pat and James both believe that they were slated to do something creative in their lives and discuss what that means. The talk widens to people who are stars in one creative field and very accomplished artists in another. Unfortun...

The United States of America is gearing up for one of their biggest retail frenzies of the year, aka Thanksgiving. But here in the Gifted Underachievers Clubhouse, we’re overlooking the troubled roots and current expression of this feast day and feeling gratitude for having gotten this far through the year. James takes a break from managing the culling of the turkeys while he and Pat discuss what...

Pat and James dive deep into perfectionism and how it limits the creative mind and creative capacity. The Gifted Underachievers then break perfectionism down into three types: * Those who never start because they are never ready. * Those who finish the work but never release it. * Those who release the work but let it languish from neglect. One possible answer: Think like a comedian who is willing...

Are you a chaotrope or kosmotrope? For most of his early life, James was an extreme chaotrope. At a young age, Pat carried a briefcase (obvious kosmotrope). And yet, James found the religion of defeating chaotic workflows while Pat turned out to be pretty damn cool…and exceptionally organized. In this segment, the Gifted Underachievers discuss identifying chaos in their respective work habits and...

The dynamic duo have learned that sometimes their creative eyes are much bigger than their creative capacities. This realization came about during a chat about the Gifted Underachievers merch store and how it may have been better to launch lean than try to fill out multiple categories. In essence, go from the exciting idyl to the satisfying achievement. How? * Be specific. * Know your capacity for...

We’re less than a month in to the contest experiment (that is, entering contests with our creative work as a way to potentially make money, get published, raise profile, etc.). In this segment, James astonishes Pat with his assertion that the experiment so far is “exciting,” even “Thrilling.” He describes his stringent research process for finding a good “fit” and weeding out scams. Pat, on the ot...

What’s your first instinct when you encounter a new opportunity? Do you tend to say yes, no, or “let me think about it?” Should we always say yes? If you’re interested but lack the capacity to go all in, how can you negotiate the terms of your engagement? The Gifted Underachievers discuss various ways to respond to a new creative opportunity, whether it’s an offer of a job, a project, or a collabo...

All is not well in the Gifted Underachiever Clubhouse as James threatens to yet again derail a segment with his spurious “science facts” and Pat draws a very heavy line: Stop it or Die. Will the GU odyssey end here? Or will harmony prevail? Questions for Listeners: * When’s the last time you had a work fight? * Who won: you or the enemy? * Do you like James’s “science facts?” Click “Leave a commen...

Special guest hosts Bart and Jimmy (if you are a literary agent: ignore any references to Pat and James) explore recent reporting by Jane Friedman that literary agents are feeling upset that acquisitions editors are taking too long to reply to submissions, if at all. In fact, some agents are proposing a mandatory three week turnaround time for submissions. Yep, the same people who tell writers tha...

Pat and James explore the sensation of being creatively ‘blocked’ or, perhaps more aptly, getting stuck creatively. Then the Gifted Underachievers press on with a deep dive into how to get unstuck…creatively. First, Pat and James describe being blocked as something that often happens in the moment, as the creative work is in progress but we are broken from our flow. It could be a sensation that th...