Herbert Lui

Blog on creativity, marketing, and the human condition.

  • About
  • Creative Doing
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  • Cross the swamp

    You start a project with clarity. Then, confusion creeps in. Divergences, dependencies, and distractions emerge—the results of good ideas, not bad ones. You’ll need to make many of these decisions, and they will be more difficult than you give them credit for. Sometimes, you lose focus of the goal, to the point that you might…

    Herbert Lui

    September 2, 2025
    Creativity
  • Patience creates new possibilities

    If there was a recipe for making sure I don’t sleep well, a high dose of caffeine would be a key ingredient. The first hour is great—then stress, anxiety, and rumination surge, continuing through the night. The advantage is, I won’t stop working. The disadvantage is, I can’t stop or rest, even if I wanted…

    Herbert Lui

    September 1, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Make space for projects that show momentum, by quitting the ones that don’t

    One of my friends is an entrepreneur with a wide ranging portfolio that spans real estate, franchises, ecommerce stores, and software. Some of these businesses have seen dramatic growth. Whenever we chat, he’ll describe a new business—often two or three—that he’s directly working on. I pay attention because I always learn something new. Sometimes, I…

    Herbert Lui

    August 31, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Creativity, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories
  • Restraint, and a better no

    At the start of each year, some people choose a word or motto intended to be a theme. I’m usually not one of them. However, the word, “Restraint,” came to me last year, so I made that a focus. It has remained the word for this year. While I’d made progress, I felt like there…

    Herbert Lui

    August 30, 2025
    Creativity, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Leadership looks sweet and tastes bitter

    One way to define a leader is someone who understands what needs to be done, and gets it done. Another way to say this: a leader sets a goal, makes a plan to achieve it, and executes on that plan.  A person doesn’t need a job title or power to become a leader. They take…

    Herbert Lui

    August 29, 2025
    Creator Confidential, Expectations, Turning Stories
  • Stacking the deck to win

    What’s the most important thing an executive coach can do to succeed?  Choosing the right clients. More specifically, choosing to only work with leaders who demonstrate a high potential of success before the engagement. In order to do this, the coach needs to qualify potential clients very intentionally. They decline to work with anyone who…

    Herbert Lui

    August 28, 2025
    Turning Stories
  • What do you want to focus on?

    What do you want to do, right now? What will other people think? What are some reasons you might succeed?  What are some reasons you might fail?  What are the emotions you feel? Does it matter? Who says something needs to get done? What’s the reason it’s important? What’s more important to you—being right, or…

    Herbert Lui

    August 27, 2025
    Life
  • The lion and the rat

    Here’s a good fable from Jean de La Fontaine: A Rat, in quite a foolish way, Crept from his hole between a Lion’s paws;The king of animals showed on that day His royalty, and never snapped his jaws.The kindness was not unrepaid;Yet, who’d have thought a Lion would need aid From a poor Rat? Soon…

    Herbert Lui

    August 26, 2025
    A Matter of Time, Turning Stories
  • Poetry vs. textbook

    If you want to write a book of poetry, don’t try to write a textbook.  The goal is to get the reader to think and feel. It’s not to give the reader a multi-volume, encyclopedic, collection on a topic.  If the reader is upset, you need to decide if they wanted a textbook and bought…

    Herbert Lui

    August 25, 2025
    Creativity, Creator Confidential
  • A bit of unconditional love, for the things you make

    Raymond Carver, a writing professor and author of short stories, had friends who published their work and apologized for it not being very good. “It would have been better if I’d taken the time,” they would say. Raymond responded: I wanted to say to my friend, for heaven’s sake go do something else. There have…

    Herbert Lui

    August 24, 2025
    Creativity, Creator Confidential, Turning Stories
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