Tim Ferriss recently took a four month sabbatical from his podcast. He needed to figure out what his plans were for it. He felt his enthusiasm for the show waning. As he told Kevin Rose, “If I get so apathetic or bored that I stop doing the podcast, that’s the end of the income period.”

So, Tim rewrote the rules for his podcast. One main emphasis is to keep it interesting for himself, which generally makes it interesting for his listeners as well. Even if it doesn’t, at least that’s the way he’ll keep the podcast going. He writes, “At the very least, it’s the only way to ensure I have the enthusiasm required for endurance.”

It’s great to see a person who runs such a huge, successful, podcast proactively rewrite the rules for themselves. You can only keep doing more of what’s working for so long. 

To suggest a financial metaphor: once you’re bored, you’re accruing some sort of creative debt. It’ll need to be paid for in the future (by rewriting the rules and experimenting!), or you’ll reach creative bankruptcy.