Creative Lessons
Lessons that emerged from the work
Life By Invitation
No one is successful alone. Everyone is interconnected and interrelated. The majority of our modern lives are supported by others. The grocery store is a cornucopia of interconnected supply chains, deliveries, crops grown...It's only now that it's breaking down that we're seeing how much comes together to make our
The best (unknown) business books for entrepreneurs: Badass, Making Users Awesome
As entrepreneurs and creators in the market today, we desperately want to stand out. But what is it that differentiates a product or service from its competition? Is it marketing? Is it timing? Is it luck? Is it quality? This book, Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra, pulls back
Planning Your Time (Mondays)
If time is your enemy, it plans you. If time is your friend, you plan time.
Finding time for important projects
I've always wanted to write a book, in fact, in my future I always pictured myself having multiple books, maybe more than 5 or 10. I've looked up to authors like Seth Godin and Ryan Holiday, and while I felt a kinship to them I haven't really done anything to
Ensuring your voice is involved in your work
Deciding between the commercial value of your work and what you are most excited about is always a difficult balancing act. I, personally, have aired on the side of excitement – meaning, I have to feel some connection to what I do, there needs to be some thread there that interests
Trading Uncertainty for Desire
“Should” “Have to” “Try To” are all common phrases I catch myself saying. All of us do. We “want to”… “try to” be or do or accomplish something. Hidden in each of those phrases is the undercurrent of an alternative set of emotions: Shame, guilt, and self-doubt. When we find
Embracing Being a Generalist.
My interests come in go in waves, typically over about a two year time frame. I find something new, and I obsess about it and pretty much devour everything I can on the subject, to a point, then I move on. I go deep enough to get the general framework,
Breathing Room
I’m currently in Mendocino, a few hours North of San Fransisco. I’m staying in what used to be a comune, so that cabins are hand-built. There is a live creek that provides water for the property, and there are still dense pockets of forest, despite being cleared out
Afraid to "Let Go"
It's great to take your work and habits seriously, but what happens when you can't ever just "let go?" This is incredibly common for entrepreneurs and creators. They control themselves and their environment – allowing them to be productive but at the expense of their ability to turn off work at
When You're Quick to Start, Quick to Quit
You can develop your ideas for new businesses quickly, and that’s awesome. You build the “MVP” (an app, mockup website…) But then you have to start promoting it publicly to your Twitter following or newsletter… suddenly you lose interest. Then the product dies, half-baked. Then you move on. Repeat…
