The minimum viable action step. The minimum viable action step (intentionally singular): What is the one complete action step that can move you towards your goal (again, singular)? It's tempting to try to do many things at the same time and not complete the minimum viable action step on any. We don'
The choice that you don't want to make. As a professional, you make the choice that you need to make, not necessarily the one that you want to. The choice that you want to make is something you earn by doing the work that you need to do. The entitlement felt for making the choice you want without
The skill of focusing on one goal, one project. It's the easiest thing in the world to get distracted, to see the next shiny thing and move towards it, leaving in its wake, your project, your work, and your goal. And it's even more difficult to focus on the important work when you are an
Solving problems. A plumber can't show up and say his work is done until the water starts flowing from the tap. There is no prize for attendance, there is no prize for almost done, there is prize only for effectiveness, for getting it done. The traditional approach to work and
Fear makes us diminish ourselves. When we act out of fear, when the voice of the critic is loud in our head, we become sheepish, we feel like hiding away. We become our most limited self, the one who doesn't want to stand for something, the one who wants to play safe. We
The work that matters. What we do as entrepreneurs is the hard work and emotional labour of tackling ambiguity. It's unlikely that this work can be easily listed on a to-do list. The nature of ambiguity and the emotions associated with the work make it less likely for the mind to list
Calling it a day. As entrepreneurs, there are days when we just can't get the needle to move. We may be distracted, unfocused, tired or stressed. If we were in a job and having a day like that, we might ask our boss to call it a day and come back again
The sprint within the marathon. You rarely see a professional marathon runner doing a sprint while running a marathon. It simply doesn't work. They know that if they sprint, they are highly unlikely to complete the marathon, leave alone win it. But when it comes to our work, we feel tempted to do
Imposter syndrome imposter: a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others, especially for fraudulent gain. syndrome: a group of symptoms which consistently occur together, or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms. What are the symptoms? We hesitate. We hide. We are hypercritical of ourselves.
Plumbing and non-plumbing work. There are certain tasks that we can get done without facing much emotional resistance. These tasks are equivalent to a plumber doing his/her job. No matter how they are feeling, they know how to fix the pipes so that the water starts flowing. On the other hand, there is
Emotional labour. Emotional labour is when we push against resistance to move forward in our work. It's when we get the work done even when we don't feel like doing it. It can't be seen unlike physical or mental labour but it's critical work
Human doctor... ...or lawyer or teacher or boss or employee. In trying to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, etc. we forget the fact that we are humans serving humans. And as humans, what we seek is connection. The more we can make the people we serve feel seen and heard, the better
The creative process. The creative process is unpredictable, irrational, and chaotic and it involves a lot of hard work, physical, mental and emotional. The creative process is iterative and it takes multiple iterations to make something that works. In the process, there are multiple things that don't. Each failed iteration gives
The simple answer is the most elusive. It comes more from taking away than from adding more. That's why constraints are really helpful for creativity and entrepreneurship. Constraints help us focus by limiting the canvas. Paintings can't be made on an infinite canvas, nor can our project. Choose your boundaries, and your work
Trust your self. There are no guarantees with creative or entrepreneurial work. We can never predict the outcome of a creative or entrepreneurial endeavour. Rather, if we can predict the outcome with certainty, then it can be said that the work was not creative to begin with. Instead, what we have, as creatives,
You are more than you might think you are. The social constructs tend to make us feel restricted and we get used to adjusting and compromising to fit into them. When we do that we lose our identity as an individual and it starts becoming relative to those who are around us. But when we look beyond these constructs,
Tackling loneliness. Working alone as entrepreneurs can become lonely. It's important to appreciate this fact and act upon it before it starts impacting our mental and physical health. The best way to tackle the loneliness is to connect with people like us. It is worth the effort to take initiative
The hard work of navigating ambiguity. As entrepreneurs and creatives, that's our primary job: We navigate and tackle ambiguity and try to bring something concrete out of it on the other side. The job is like intentionally getting lost in the forest and trying to find our way out. We take decisions by facing
Deep Work and the Maker's schedule! It's easy to feel productive by checking off a bunch of small, and most likely meaningless, tasks in our to-do lists. We shoot off a few emails, have a few meetings and the day starts feeling busy and productive. On the other hand, the important work is like
It might not work. A 5-year-old has no problems doing things that might not work. That's how kids learn to stand, walk, talk or do anything at all. And we don't put them down when they fail; instead, we encourage them and push them forward. The industrial-education complex was designed
3 kinds of income. The immediate one: It could be a monthly salary or income from part-time projects which pays the bills. We need this income to be certain and enough. Most work would be on spec and that's okay. We are not trying to be professionals here, we are simply doing
Uphills and downhills. There are two kinds of activities that we can encounter every day: ones that pick up momentum on their own and the others which need conscious efforts to gain any momentum. The ones that need momentum, like writing a book, or building a business, or working on a project, need
One hour a day. That's how you get started. That's how you achieve your goals. Fix a time. Fix a place. Set a timer. Then, no matter what, spend one hour a day on the goal you want to achieve.
The ghost behind the curtain. Fear is the real enemy. It stops us from doing things we want to do. It stops us from living the life we want to live. It stops us from being our best selves. The only counter to fear is taking action. Once we take action, once we remove the
Those who show up. Those who show up, face rejection, face ridicule, face criticism. But... they are the ones who make things happen. They make things better by making better things.