Every critic of mine is required to pass this set of 3 questions. If it meets all 3 requirements, then I will consider this criticism welcome and valuable. I will use it to better myself and grow at my craft. No offense taken. But, if it fails to meet any of these requirements, it gets thrown out with the trash. (I guess they were just having a bad day..?) I refuse to spend any more mental energy on it.
In 2020, we have access to countless resources and ideas. This is an incredible opportunity. We get access to learn and see what others are doing and become inspired by it. But this environment can quickly breed us to lose our own voice, and begin thinking the way others have achieved success is the right way. You must not forget yourself in the equation. Just because your hero took a specific path, doesn't mean you should. You need to do it your way for it to be honest and connect with others. ...
I am currently undergoing some shifts in how I plan my work and projects. Usually, I am really good at this, but lately, it's been tough to stay on top of it all. It's easy to let things slide and tell myself that I'll 'get to it' soon. I keep waiting for the ideal environment to fall in my lap instead of forging it myself. Here is what scares me. All this time I have spent without creating a clear plan for myself has, in fact, been spent . That time is now gone. I'm never getting it back. It is...
This morning, I am stumped. I have no ideas about what to write to you this morning, but I am showing up anyway. Because that is what I have committed to do. Sometimes, that is all we can do. I am a firm believer in incremental steps being the only way to grow into something substantial. I don't feel bad about it, because I am a human. Sometimes, other things will take your attention or you just won't have it in you. This is okay. But it doesn't mean you don't fulfill a commitment. Even if it ju...
Monday mornings can be tough. But I don't think they need to be. This morning, you can prime your mindset to have a great week. No matter what hardships might come, you get to choose how you respond. So today, start with gratitude. Think about what you do have. For the people you have in your life. For the inspiration, you've drawn from your favorite artists or athletes or whoever you admire. Be grateful for the life you have. Tomorrow isn't promised, so what will you do with today? Have a great...
Let's talk about aliens. When you think of an alien, do you think of flying saucers? Of a giant head and pitch-black eyes standing on two legs? Does it have remarkable technology? Is it threatening? The truth is no one has ever seen an alien. (At least, no one can prove they have) But isn't it interesting the assumptions that we make about what aliens would be like if they showed up on earth? An alien could look and act more like a cute puppy. But that is not what our assumptions tell us. To bri...
What feels like play to you and work for others? What feels like work to you and play to others? These are essential questions to ask when you're starting a new project. When something feels like play for us, we are more likely to succeed in achieving it. And this inverse is also true; if it feels like work - you will eventually get burnt out by it. I think a great metaphor is exercise. Bill might assume that going for a run is the best way to get fit. His brother runs a lot and stays pretty fit...
Have you ever looked at what someone else is doing and thought "I could do that too... In fact, I could do it better."? This is natural. Humans have been bred since the dawn of time to compete for resources. Nowadays, we compete less for wild animals, and more for people's money, time and attention. The problem with this idea is that if you're too focused on what others are doing, you will begin to lose focus on where you want to go. If you're driving down the highway, you can peek at the cars a...
Yesterday, I talked about practicing generosity. Today, I want you to take what you did yesterday and apply it to yourself. What I mean is, when we are always thinking about ourselves, we sometimes are thinking the wrong way or about the wrong things. Personally, my obsession is work. I think about work and work ideas non-stop, and I get a lot of my self-esteem from how I perform in my projects. Obsessively thinking this way is an extremely unhealthy cycle. I've learned this the hard way many ti...
Generosity is a topic I don't see or hear much about these days. To be honest, I think that we are all living in a default 'survival mode'. And if you live in 'survivor-mode' all the time, you won't be very good at giving to others. But I believe we miss something meaningful when we focus too much on ourselves. We are made for connection with others, so we shouldn't get so caught up in ourselves that we miss what is happening with those around us. So today, if you've been really focused on yours...
When you say, "I don't know," you're taking the place of confidence in any interaction. You're being honest with yourself and whoever you're speaking with. It also frees you up from being some sort of expert about everything, which no one truly is. So today, instead of feeling the need to 'fake it till you make it,' what if you responded with "I don't know. Tell me more about that." or "I don't know. Let me find out." It is a good feeling, and you will be less stressed this week....
I am a huge productivity nerd. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a huge geek when it comes to systems and methodologies and lots of ways of thinking about how to get work done. Out of all the systems and ideas I've tried, only one has given me 5,10,100x return on my time. This trick is called batching. Batching is where you look at all the tasks you do in a given day, week, month, or quarter and do similar style tasks all at once. So this can look like answering emails at work. Instead of seeing t...
Experimenting with your projects is an essential part of doing good work. The truth is when you try new things, the people who are following (or in my case, listening) to your work will not always like the changes. It feels like you're flip-flopping on your commitment to bringing them a certain kind of content. They think this because... you are doing precisely this! You're totally changing the promise of what they signed up to get from you. As a creator, you must acknowledge this and take it in...
I used to journal every day. Unfortunately, I've fallen off the wagon for the past few months. Today, I woke up and decided to give it a shot again. And let me tell you, It feels good . My mind (as I'm sure your mind) has been in a sea of noise for months now. With the pandemic, a social justice movement, and a lot of political unrest, it is difficult to fully grasp your part in the story when you have infinite amounts of information flying your way all the time. When I journaled, the world sudd...
Data doesn't change people. At least, not on its own. Have you ever wanted to make a point so badly, but just couldn't convince someone else of your side? You could pull up spreadsheets and tell them every number and statistic to try and convince them of what you're trying to sell. We all know this won't work. Why? Because we all have our biases. We all have stories running through our heads of what is real, and the only thing that can change our minds is a more compelling story. So instead of t...
If you're in a bad situation at work or in life, it can be tough to see or notice anything else. Maybe you're unhappy at your job, or battling illness, or even managing life in this pandemic. How can we see anything else when facing these scenarios? As suffering goes, there are times in life that we neither can't run nor hide from it. If we try to escape something we have no control over, we are fighting the wrong battle. I believe one of the best things we can practice in tough times is examina...
People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing. -Naval Ravikant The quote above makes an interesting point. I feel like this all the time. But, I would agree with this inverse quote as well... "People spend too much time thinking about what they should be doing instead of doing" -Alex reversing Naval's quote I bet you land on one of these two sides. Which would you say you are feeling more today? Do you need to do more, or do you need to think about...
I am a positive person by nature. I see opportunities in almost any situation. But lately, I have not been feeling that way. My default response to most things has been negative. Now, I am giving myself some compassion here. The world has been in a state of injustice, pain, and sickness, and I'm sure that contributes to my perspective. Not to mention, staying inside all the time hasn't helped much either. The part that I want to focus on is that this shift didn't happen overnight. I've been slow...
I believe insecurity is the source of most of the world's pain. Insecurity causes wars. It causes painful words to be said. It causes necessary words to be left unsaid. It causes us to say 'no' to our true desires because we are afraid of what others might think. Defeating insecurity in myself, and helping others overcome theirs is one of my primary goals in life. Whenever I begin to feel insecure (which is often), I try and step back, gather myself, and ask: "How is this moment asking me to sta...
I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. -Michael Jordan Today is a simple letter. Whatever your goal is, whatever you want to achieve, don't give up. I'm reminded all of the time of the instant success we all want to see, but that isn't how it works most of the time. We generally only see the tip of the iceberg of someone's success, without all of the patience and hard work it took to get there. You can do this. You can get closer to achieving your goal....
"People like us do things like this" - Seth Godin When Seth first uses this quote in his book This Is Marketing, I felt a light switch turn on. This is what it means to communicate with your audience. A lot of the time, we try to be all things for all people, and when we do that, our work gets pretty stale and doesn't truly connect with anyone. But if you make your art, your product, or your service for a specific group of people, you need to talk directly do them. You also need to let go of all...
In the digital age of 'overnight' success stories such as Facebook, the hard slog is easily overlooked. - James Dyson The patience game is not very fun... until you win. Sometimes I get 'being patient' mixed up with 'waiting around.' The two are not the same. The patience game is all about what you're doing while you're waiting. How are you setting yourself up so that when the time comes, you're ready for the moment? Waiting around is just waiting for something to fall in your lap, and then when...
If you're willing to clarify your long term goals and stick to them, you will outlast 99% of other people around you. Why? Instant gratification will snare almost anyone these days, and it's only getting worse. So if you can delay gratification on things that sound good right now, and focus on the things that you want the most in the future, you will get much further along in your goals. What can you refrain from today to get closer to your goals?
The most prominent companies in the world are spending big money to get something from you. That is your attention. Never forget how valuable it is. So today, what are you going to pay for with your attention? Where can you redirect your focus to better places, so you get the right things done?
My friend and I were texting yesterday about some of our creative projects, and I asked him what he has been inspired by lately. "I've been inspired about the current events," he said. "There are just all these cool possibilities." It caught me off guard. The current events have been so heavy and challenging to sift through, but the way he has been seeing them is totally different. He is seeing opportunity in this moment. He is inspired by the challenge, not torn down by it. So how can you look ...
"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ― Toni Morrison There is a gap in the world, and it is your job to fill it. Your job is to go and find that hole. It will be located between your influences, idols, values, taste, and your dreams. If you take all of the unique parts of who you are and point them at each other toward a common center, that is your lane. For example, when I use to write music, I had to find my niche. I loved classical...
One of the most underrated parts of any project or goal is building a sustainable pathway toward it. It's easy to get really excited and try to do everything at once and use all of this energy you have right now on it, and then... you end up getting tired or bored and burning out. When I've worked with clients on podcasts, a lot of them say something like, "We want it to sound like The Daily or This American Life. How do we do that?" They can sure try to do that. But it won't be sustainable. Why...
A new week is here! For some people, this is an exciting feeling. For others, it's not very thrilling. What do you think separates those two? Someone happy for a new week understands the opportunity that the week holds for them. The person who doesn't feel great about it simply can't see what the week is for yet. That is why today, I want to ask you this question: What will I have achieved for myself, my project, or my goals by Friday of this week? If you identify something achievable and make t...
"Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us." ― Maya Angelou This letter is coming to you late this morn...
"Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." ― Pablo Picasso I use to think I could skip steps toward success. I've always trusted that my taste would lead me to great work. The truth is, your taste will only take you as far as your skill levels will carry you. How can you become better at the fundamental skills of your craft? How can you master the rules, so you learn the right ways to break them?
