I had a great time a few weeks ago recording an interview with my friend Hamza Khan. Hamza’s a global keynote speaker and bestselling author of The Burnout Gamble and Leadership, Reinvented, and he hosts a podcast entitled Ideas Into Action. I actually joined him back in April 2019 for episode 11:
And I was happy to be a repeat guest for episode 25:
We mostly talked about Creative Doing and creativity this time, and here are a few of the prompts I’d shared in response to Hamza’s questions:
- “Why did you need this book?” Remove Imaginary Barriers to Your Work and Do Your Work without Your Equipment.
- “Could you talk to us about the relationship between obsessing over details and quality and just the manageability of that process? If people had to prioritize consistency or quality, where would you suggest they start? And how should they navigate that relationship?” Complete Your Operation in Seconds, Obsess over the Details, and Stop Obsessing.
- “Do you have any specific prompts, mantras, practices that get you into the headspace, where you can be at your best—your most present and creative?” Lose Yourself, Relax Expectations, Relinquish Results.
Here’s what Hamza had to say about Creative Doing, particularly about the prompt to Lose Yourself in your work:
“For me, it has been a very activating book, it has really gotten me to dust off the cobwebs… I’m really approaching this podcast now, with a level of intentionality and embrace of the creative process that was inspired by this book. It’s even gotten me thinking about my own speaking career. It’s gotten me to think about almost every aspect of my career right now.”
Hamza also liked Set a 10-Day Quota and talks about showing up:
I’m dusting off the cobwebs after two and a half years from our last time recording an episode of Ideas into Action. I’m aware that I’m not as good as I could be as a host right now, but this is a process and I intend to show up. I intend to continue doing this in perpetuity.
When we reconvene for episode 100—episode 1000—we will look back at this and be like “Holy smokes, we’ve come a long way.” You gave me permission in one of your chapters over here, chapter 7.5, Set a 10-Day Quota. I love this. It says, “One hundred days can sound like too much of a commitment, so I suggest starting with 10. If you feel on day 10 that it’s manageable, then continue to day 100.” And I read that and I thought to myself, “Wow, I’m obsessing over quality too much. Let me just focus on consistency and then start to work on quality.”
That was really the intention behind the book. What’s awesome is Creative Doing played a small part in Hamza putting this podcast out there again, and I was lucky enough to make a second appearance. When each person shares their creativity, they help unblock it for other people too.
I’ve got an idea in my head for a post about how creativity is an infinite game, even when it feels finite.
Oh, and once you’re done listening to the episode, for the record…
We also talked about Virgil Abloh, and about Jerry Saltz’s observation in How to Be an Artist, “It Takes Only a Few People to Make a Career.”
There’s a lot more I want to write about our conversation, but mostly, thank you Hamza for giving me a chance to be on the pod. Recording episodes 11 and 25 was awesome, and I’m excited to listen to episode 1,000 and all of them in between.