Category: Creator Confidential

• Spring cleaning the inbox

  This post is for those of you, who like me, have a particularly full inbox. Here’s a useful technique: search for the keywords of common newsletters, receipts, and marketing emails. Then bulk check them off, mark them as read, and archive them. You can do this with dozens (or, in my case, hundreds) of emails…

  Herbert Lui

  May 28, 2026

  Creator Confidential

• Are your creative projects livestock or pets?

  Livestock helps a person make a living. Cows need to make milk, chicken eggs, and sheep wool. These animals were part of a business decision. While a farmer may grow fond of their livestock, there will eventually come a day when the farmer needs to send them to the butcher. It’s business. A pet is…

  Herbert Lui

  May 26, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories

• The power of a supportive environment

  Should you pursue something you enjoy, or something you’re good at? Which is more worthy? In Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, a high school student asks this question to a character named Seungwoo who works as an employee at a big corporation and also writes a blog. Does this person enjoy work more, or writing…

  Herbert Lui

  May 25, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories

• Whoever holds your dream gets to take it away

  If you’re a writer, maybe your dream is to write a book that hits the New York Times bestseller list. That’s a fine dream—and was mine, at one point!—though it comes with a caveat: whoever can put you on the list, or block you from it, is in control of your dream.  Let’s imagine that…

  Herbert Lui

  May 24, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories

• Waking up from the trance of avoidance

  A couple of years ago, when I was employed at Figma, I reflected on the years I worked independently. I wrote, “When you work independently—as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or creator—in the early days, you actually could become more dependent on the people you know.” I’ve since returned to working independently. While I remember this lesson…

  Herbert Lui

  May 23, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories

• Incline to the improbable

  In late 2021, my partner and I moved to Hong Kong. Several months in, I chatted with a friend I went to high school with in Canada. He couldn’t believe I had moved there.  The music I listened to in high school, the language I spoke, my interests and friends, none of them suggested to…

  Herbert Lui

  May 21, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories

• A technician’s expertise

  Several months ago, I moved into a new condo. Shortly after, I noticed the arm in my condo’s dishwasher was loose. It seemed to chug along fine without. Then, a real hiccup, a few days ago: the dishwasher stopped 10 minutes into a cycle and displayed an error code. In searching for what the error…

  Herbert Lui

  May 20, 2026

  Creator Confidential, Turning Stories

• Scheduling, payoff, and clarity

  As I return to my business writing practice, I’ve also been getting in the groove of finding new business opportunities. Using the Consistency Journal, I’ve found three things that get in the way of me practicing every day: Scheduling: You need to make time to practice. You can do so ahead of time, or you…

  Herbert Lui

  May 19, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations

• Bloat

  One tradeoff with being prolific is bloat. If you’re being prolific, and someone was to sort through your body of work, they’d find some good stuff amongst a bunch of pretty bad stuff. In other words, it’s a lot of work for them to sort through. One solution is to judge your work after they…

  Herbert Lui

  May 18, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential

• Five conditions that amplify your best efforts

  Try jumping on a trampoline, on concrete, and on a sofa. You’ll quickly see different results, even with the same effort. Those are conditions.  Each condition helps you achieve something different. Is your goal to get as high as possible, as steadily as possible or to create the safest landing? As you’re reading this, there’s…

  Herbert Lui

  May 17, 2026

  Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories