Herbert Lui

Blog on creativity, marketing, and the human condition.

  • About
  • Creative Doing
  • Newsletter
  • Reflecting on my failure to write a NYT bestselling book

    Over a decade ago, I attended a charity gala at The Spoke Club in Toronto. I was wearing a tailored suit, having a great time with friends, and, after a couple of glasses of bubbly, feeling celebratory. My career was off to a strong start. My articles went viral at Medium and were picked up…

    Herbert Lui

    January 12, 2026
    A Matter of Time, Contentions, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Remember the idea now, not later

    What if an idea mattered more now, than it did later? What if the process was more important than the result? A notemaker scribbled his thoughts on the corners of newspapers and envelopes. He would, inevitably, always lose them. When his grandson asked him why he did this, he replied, “I’m not writing this down…

    Herbert Lui

    January 11, 2026
    A Matter of Time, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories
  • The power of proof assets

    Every so often, you send an important professional document to someone. The most universal experience is applying to a job, which you do by sending HR your resume. Your resume is a proof asset; it describes your experiences, accomplishments, and expertise. If you lead a business, you send many documents like this. For example, you…

    Herbert Lui

    January 10, 2026
    Contentions, Creator Confidential, Promotion
  • When you delay a task, your mind makes it more intimidating

    Delay has a way of making a simple, ordinary, task seem more intimidating.  Your mind rationalizes: you must think the task is hard, that’s why it’s taking so long. That’s why you’re hesitating. The more time you give your mind, the more intimidating the story sounds. Maybe you’re even procrastinating, because it must be scary. …

    Herbert Lui

    January 9, 2026
    A Matter of Time, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations
  • Good things happen when you can be flexible with timing

    A company holds its holiday party in March. The venues are cheaper. Holiday party fatigue is over. The team looks forward to it, especially if January and February were thrashy. If you want to save money on travel, your best bet is to be flexible either with where you want to go, or when you…

    Herbert Lui

    January 8, 2026
    A Matter of Time, Around the World
  • New year, New Material

    My friend Hamza and I do a podcast called New Material. We just published our latest episode: Hamza was about to start his practice of writing every day at his new blog, so that was the topic of discussion. He published his first post shortly before we published the episode. His first few posts have…

    Herbert Lui

    January 7, 2026
    Creativity, Creator Confidential
  • Miracleless growth

    A good friend of mine had recently pivoted their career, from growth marketing in tech to the culinary arts. In their exploration, they’d realized they didn’t want to work as a chef or start a restaurant. Instead, they introduced their dishes through self-initiated supper clubs. They found their first customers by inviting friends and their…

    Herbert Lui

    January 6, 2026
    Creator Confidential, Expectations, Promotion, Turning Stories
  • Make your dream something you can’t fail at

    Some children have dreams of winning awards; they practice their speeches in front of mirrors, speaking into their toothbrush as if it was a microphone. Tilda Swinton’s dreams were much more ordinary. Her ambitions were to live by the sea, with a garden she could grow vegetables in, somewhere in Scotland, where she was born…

    Herbert Lui

    January 5, 2026
    Creativity, Creator Confidential, Expectations, Life, Turning Stories
  • Why not today?

    Whether it’s January 1, or January 4, or any of the other 363¼ days of the year, today is a great day to make a resolution. You don’t need to wait for a specific window of time. If you’ve made changes all year, the new year is a great time to celebrate those changes and…

    Herbert Lui

    January 4, 2026
    A Matter of Time, Creativity
  • The scribbled sheet of paper that changed fashion

    Before he joined Louis Vuitton as its menswear artistic director, Virgil Abloh had lunch with Bernard Arnault. Bernard’s family owned the majority of LVMH, the parent company of Louis Vuitton and many other luxury brands, and he worked as its CEO.  A lunch with Bernard was, effectively, a rite of passage. In her wonderful biography…

    Herbert Lui

    January 3, 2026
    Creativity, Creator Confidential
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