Meet Elizabeth Blake Thomas | Director, Author, Keynote speaker and Creativity Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Blake Thomas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
We have 1440 minutes in a day. We have approximately 80 summers. We have 12 times a year to do something unique.

To me, my work life balance comes from working out how my life plays out in numbers.

I’ve not always been so aware and intentional with how I spend my time, but definitely as I’ve gotten older I’ve recognised how quickly it goes. This has lead me to consider how I spend my time more intentionally. Considering what I want to have achieved and when I would like to have achieved it by.

Nothing I plan is set in stone but as time moves by, I’ve become aware of people passing at all ages but sometimes friends who are only a wee bit older than myself. I want to make sure that I have really lived my life to its fullest potential.

By becoming aware of time frames, this causes my decisions to be intentionally planned, who do I want to spend my time with, what do I still want to do with my time.

I often plan how my days look, ensuring I meditate, journal, exercise even if for a few minutes each day. Building these small habits sets me up for a more focused day. This then feeds into my bigger plans.

I have five children’s books to finish, 6 movies to film, 4 scripts to write, so I set myself target dates to have achieved them by. Knowing a time frame for my work means I dont worry about time out, or time for me to just “be”.

My work then becomes more focused because I’ve allowed myself time to breathe and do different things.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m not a perfectionist! Which has been my saving grace to get me where I am today: An award winning author and director. A creativity coach and a keynote speaker. Nothing will ever be perfect and every day something influences what I do and who I am and what I learn, so if I waited for everything to be perfect I would never have completed what I’ve already completed.

When I put my mind to something, I make a plan and then I do it! This doesn’t just mean it’s going to happen, I have to put countless hours in and ensure I’ve done the best I can, but I don’t let anything stop me or put me off from completing my vision.

Everytime I’ve completed something I’ve learned from it. Every book I’ve had published has grown with either its quality or purpose. Each film I’ve directed has taught me something that I’ve been able to add to my tool belt of filmmaking.

My TED talk taught me a lot about myself. I pushed myself to a new limit that I haven’t been in for a while. I was totally out of my comfort zone, having to learn a 15 minute speech off by heart. Performing in front of people, as a director I’m behind the camera! Even as a keynote speaker, those words flow easily. But learning something verbatim, knowing how this could have an impact on so many people, meant that I wanted to make sure I did it to the best of my abilities. I practiced and practiced and took this responsibility very seriously.

Everything I do or create or present has a purpose, that purpose is to transform at least one persons life, encouraging people to think differently or see themselves in a different way.

I wished I had had a “me” growing up. Which is the reason behind everything I do. I want everyone everywhere to have the ability to learn through me. I’m a conduit for this knowledge and experience and I love sharing this in all mediums.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m a minimalist, which means I enjoy simple living and simple things. I’m incredibly environmentally concious and so for me the best thing I could do would be to pack up a picnic (using all the things I already own) and take a book and go and sit in nature. I would slow down my friends time and have lazy mornings with cups of tea, I would play my vinyls on the record player whilst we catch up and chat. I would make vision boards with them and discuss our hopes and dreams. We would head to the beach or the park with our picnic and lie around and discuss life!

There are so many free galleries in LA as well so we could venture there and just enjoy each others company.

I would remove technology from our world for that one week and just try to be as present in their company as I could. My friends would be visiting from the UK and so we probably wouldn’t stop chatting, this means we need places that allow us to talk and laugh all day long!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My dog, Chai is my lifeline to sanity, calmness and unconditional love. My daughter Isabella is my best friend and soul mate and definitely a sister from another life. We laugh, we cry and we support each other in everything we do. Finally my boyfriend Sean who is my biggest cheerleader in everything I do. He thinks I’m a “genius” (which he says to everyone) but seriously, he keeps me going everyday and ensures I never stop believing in myself.

Website: https://www.elizabethblakethomas.com

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