Category: Creativity
-
Be mindful of what you look for, because you might find it
During the first few weeks Terry Crews was on set for The Expendables, he felt miserable. While the actors were in the major action scenes, his character was playing a minor role. He was brought in as a replacement for Wesley Snipes, and chosen for the role because of his muscles. He sat around in…
-
Action vs. declaration
The smallest action is worth a thousand bold declarations. A declaration merely tells somebody else what you want; an action shows them what you want and your drive to make it happen. Championship coach Bill Walsh puts it this way in The Score Takes Care of Itself: Someone will declare, “I am the leader!” and…
-
Cross-subsidization
A full-time job (or other paid gig) sustains a creative hobby financially. A creative hobby sustains a full-time job energetically and with collected expertise. Keeping each objective clear is important. A creative hobby is free from financial pressure. A job is free from personal inclinations, and can keep the practitioner (you!) disciplined, professional, and fulfilled.
-
Doing your work your way
John Calhoun joined Apple in the 1990s. He approached his work by making quick prototypes, whereas his coworkers would often carefully plan and design their software, whiteboarding it out before writing even one line of code. He writes: From my approach of diving in rather than planning I began to regard myself at Apple as…
-
A business needs its own magazine
Backstory is the name of a bookstore in London, UK. This bookstore publishes a self-titled magazine that I picked up recently. It’s good. More importantly, it makes sense. Backstory works with a community of people including distributors and authors, so this magazine is a channel for them to highlight the community and as a launchpad…
-
Retitling
In 2000, Robert Solomon released his book, Brain Surgery for Suits: 56 Things Every Account Person Should Know. In 2016, that piece of work was re-released as the title it’s best known for, The Art of Client Service: The Classic Guide, Updated for Today’s Marketers and Advertisers. Same work, new packaging, with two additional chapters. …
-
Typing vs. writing
If you’re a writer, you’re writing 24–7–365. Everything you read, see, and experience is material for your writing. Pay attention and live deeply. Take lots of notes—on index cards, on your phone, on a napkin, wherever. Draw stuff. Make voice memos. Keep it all organized. Some days, you’ll have 15–30 minutes to type it out…
-
Signs of maturity
A bias for calmness and inner peace. A stronger confidence that things will work out in the long run. Patience. An open-mindedness to what’s new, while still preferring your own taste. An ability to feel small for a short time, knowing that’s what it takes to be the bigger person. Appreciating youthful energy, as you…
-
Rules are made to be rewritten
Tim Ferriss recently took a four month sabbatical from his podcast. He needed to figure out what his plans were for it. He felt his enthusiasm for the show waning. As he told Kevin Rose, “If I get so apathetic or bored that I stop doing the podcast, that’s the end of the income period.”…
-
A letter from the past
8 years ago, I wrote a letter to my 35-year-old self. I expected to find it embarrassing (some of it is!), so I was surprised to find that there was some good stuff in there. I really emphasized, “Your opinion of you is really the only [thing] that matters.” In a way, I told myself…