Category: Creator Confidential
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Rich Paul on flying private, salary with LeBron, and fronting
I came across Rich Paul’s memoir at a bookstore the other day, so I picked it up and I’m really enjoying it. Naturally, I also started digging into some of his appearances at YouTube. I really liked his panel with Junior Bridgeman and Earn Your Leisure. Junior has a great story too, but some notable…
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“Should I be doing that instead?”
There’s a saying that the best workout plan is the one that you’re actually going to do. It’s a great approach to exercise. As a principle, it can be just as effective when you apply it to other parts of your life as well. What works for somebody else isn’t going to be what works…
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Choose someone else
In case you’ve been waiting to be chosen, there’s plenty of great advice on choosing yourself (or picking yourself). There seems to be much less advice about the natural next step: choosing someone else. These days, you and I and everyone else is a gatekeeper in some way. That means we also have the ability…
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The real thing
If you want to write a book, write the book. Don’t build an audience. Don’t look for an agent. Don’t write a proposal. Don’t look for a more prominent person to ghostwrite for. Write the book. Do the real thing. When you can’t do the real thing—you’re not well-trained or qualified enough—get as close to…
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To break through perfectionism, take a small step in any direction
In Hidden Potential, Adam Grant writes (I’ve reformatted for a better list read): In their quest for flawless results, research suggests that perfectionists tend to get three things wrong. In Adversity for Sale, Jeezy writes: I always tell people when you’re feeling stressed out, lost, and overwhelmed, you’re better off taking a small step in…
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“That’s too bad, but nothing for me to be ashamed of”
Raymond Carver, who worked many jobs (including as a janitor, and a textbook editor), writes: I have friends who’ve told me they had to hurry a book because they needed the money, their editor or their wife was leaning on them or leaving them – something, some apology for the writing not being very good.…
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“My record sales ain’t much as theirs, and we still ride the same coupes”
There is a path to creative work that doesn’t require record sales, relevance, or any financial pressure; it’s a path of longevity. In Push’s case, the path works because he doesn’t make money with his music; he does it through his brand partnerships and his businesses. These outside streams of income keep the pressure off…
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Endurance
The ability to stick it out is criminally underrated. Not only will you outlast the competition, you will also gain an experience that demonstrates your ability—and bring it to the next thing you do.
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Books are an organized hobby
Anne Trubek writes: Books are now, I think, and will continue to be more clearly over the next two decades or so, a minor form. Like opera, or theater, or ballet. I adore all of these art forms. I spend money of them, as I do on books. As do millions of others. And we…
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Three things about your competitors
If a tattoo artist does a good job the first time you get a tattoo, you’ll be interested in getting more tattoos. They’ve just created an opportunity for other tattoo artists. If somebody reads a book about creativity, they’re probably actually more likely to read another book about the topic—not less. While competitive energy can…