Energy draining sources. These could be people, events, thoughts or anything else. They seem to be sinks for attention, and nothing good comes out of giving attention to them. Instead, they make it more difficult to be creative, productive and for us to show up as our best selves. The only way to
Be a force of nature. When we move forward to make things better, we will create tension and we will ruffle some feathers. Sooner or later, there would be pushback from people who are uncomfortable with the change we are creating. This pushback can stop us in our tracks, empowering the voice of the critic
This very moment. How do you become a professional? How much time does it take? No, not days, not weeks, not years. You can do turn pro this very moment. By shipping the work, now. Everything else is a distraction including going back to resources on how to turn pro. Leave everything else.
Rational vs. limbic brain. The rational brain is the commentator. The limbic brain is the player. It doesn't matter what the commentator says. What matters is what the player does.
Out of the boat. “It signifies more than being off track—it means you don’t know where the track is anymore. “Out of the boat” could refer to something as simple as losing all memory of ever having been on an exercise program, or it could refer to floundering in the wake of
Making growth wait. When we make ourselves busy with busy work, when we procrastinate and rationalise and don't take the action steps that would lead to growth, we know that no one would come and ask us why we didn't do that. And since no one will ask, we
There are no points for resistance. There are points only for doing the work, only for shipping. It does not matter how brilliant your idea is if it does not see the light of day. It does not matter what resistance says to you in order to convince you to procrastinate, the fact remains that the
Opt-in or opt-out? The hard work is making the system of things you want to do an "opt-out" system. Once it's an opt-out system, it will work. For instance, if you go to the gym daily, you have to choose to opt out from going today, rather than opting
Ebb and flow. Some days you flow. Some days you ebb. Without flow, there is no ebb. Without ebb, there is no flow.
The right kind of fear. Fear is not always bad. The right kind of fear is an excellent motivator. For instance, when we start taking the fear of missing a deadline seriously, we ship our work on time. Or, when we start taking the fear of our health deteriorating seriously, we start working out consistently.
Shipping is the cure. Resistance pushes us to delay shipping, whether it is ideas, projects, tasks or chores. And the more we delay, the heavier, the more miserable we feel. The cure to this misery is to build a habit of shipping. Until we activate the shipping mindset and move forward with the intention
At least one yes. If you toss a single coin, there is a 50% chance of getting a head or a tail. But if you toss 10 coins, there is a 99.9% (1023/1024) chance of getting at least one head. To move our projects forward, all we need is one yes. We
What can you teach us? Each of us knows something that is obvious to us but is complicated to someone else. These are things we have learned over years, even decades. They are so obvious to us that we feel that everyone else would also know it. But they don't. And that'
Being kind to ourselves. Some days, we can choose to let ourselves be. Some days, it can be okay to not be our best selves. Some days, it can be okay to not show up. It's tough being our own boss. And sometimes we can choose to be a kinder boss.
Asymptotes. You can neither be a complete amateur nor a complete professional. I think the two extremes are asymptotic. You can’t reach the end. But you can come pretty close to the axis on either end.
The big payday. I am all for working on the ambitious project, the big payday. But I am not for betting the house on it or relying on it to pay our bills. I think we can make space for more realistic projects that create sufficient income while working on the big shots.
I will (NOT) work harder. Instead, I can ask whether this needs to be done at all. And if yes, why? What's the cost of not doing it? Can we bear the cost? And if it needs to be done, does it need to be done now? Can it be pushed down for
Calling it a funk. When we are in a funk, when resistance is powerful, when we aren't able to get much done, there's a phase where we want to deny it, where we want to act as if there's no funk. But, the first step to getting out
The virtue in repeating our mistakes. When you show up and it doesn't work, when you raise your hand up and no one notices, when you create something and no one engages with it, it's tempting to think that you shouldn't repeat the "mistake". It's tempting
Continuous or Discrete? A 90-minute focus session makes time discrete. A 3-month project makes work discrete. A 2-week vacation makes life discrete. We all have access to continuous resources, time being one of them. Our job as creatives is to create something tangible, something discrete. You can say that I have 10 years
Breathing space. Creating a space to breathe allows us to rejuvenate, regain our focus and do better work. The hustle mindset seems productive in the moment, but it never is. It just makes us focus on being busy and avoiding the important work. When we create spaces where we are doing nothing,
The other side of the project. Yes, we, the solopreneurs and freelancers of the world, love doing the work, the writing, the coaching, the design, the editing and whatnot. That's what we signed up for. And now that there's no boss, there's no one to hold us back. The deal
When the time's not right. It's okay to retreat and come back to fight another day. It's okay to go back to find your footing and look at the challenge from another angle. It's okay to not get what you expect and call it a day. Quitting one project
Where do you need to be? In order to get what you want, where do you need to be? What would it take for you to get there? What stops you from taking action and moving now? Putting yourself physically in a space where you are more likely to get what you want is a big
And fear shows up. When we take definitive action towards change, when we put ourselves on the hook, when we leap, when we decide to put our ass where our heart wants to be, fear doesn't like it, not one bit. All sorts of rationalisations, distractions, unnecessary details will start floating in
