The Practice

November 6,2024

last update: 2024-11-07

Shipping, because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it.

Creative, because you’re not a cog in a system

Work, because it is not a hobby.

Trust Yourself

You’re Stuck in a pattern of being you. What you want to be is beyond that.

Our consumeristic economy keeps us stuck in a pattern of consumption. With Immediate Gratification.

Getting into a new practice takes leadership.

Creativity itself does not repeat. But the creative process has repetition. Believe in it and commit to it.

Lead. Because you want to make things better. Because you care.

Find a practice.

• Skill is not the same as talent
• Perfectionism is not the same as perfect.
• Passion is a Choice

You’re creative because you have courage. The courage to put your work out there for everyone to judge. You took the chance to make something better.

Art is when you make something that changes someone.

The Story That you Tell yourself is entirely yours. You decide to tell the story. Change the story by changing the first action.

We’re conditioned to believe that the outcomes need to immediate and without the outcome everything is meaningless. But most high impact work does not have immediate outcome. It is days, years, months of toil. of passion that generates results. Creative work need not be measurable. And failure is okay.

Decisions and outcomes. Good decision doesn’t necessarily mean good outcome.

You can just do things.

Have faith in your practice and wait for your outcome. It was never going to be easy.

The outcome is the side effect of the practice itself. Learn to love the practice. Be Relentless with it.

Generous

Your contribution–The one you want to make, the one you were born to make–that’s what the world needs.

Learning is a voluntary experience that requires tension and discomfort.

You’re here to make change. We need to make things better, and we need someone to lead us.

Time is fleeting and you only get today once.

To say no to something with your full heart you need to have something that you say yes to.

The Professional

A lifeguard does not jump into the water because she’s the perfect swimmer or because she was certain she’s the most qualified person to do the job. She did, because it was her job. Because she promised she would.

Worry comes from a need for guarantee over the outcome.

It comes because you are attached to the outcome.

The difficult part is becoming the type of person who goes to gym every day.

Don’t be a hack.

It’s Okay to be amateur. But don’t be the person who always thinks about how little I can get away with.

Hacks don’t make something beautiful. They make something that they can get by.

The masses aren’t the point. They might be a side effect.

But, the mass means average. And that means reducing your quality.

Delight an audience that really cares about the work you do and what you put out there.

Intent

What change do you seek in the world?

Each intention has a purpose attached to it and that is what drives you to chase the results.

We’re doing work to help someone, to make change happen.

You can’t reach everyone. Be clear about who you’re doing it for.

Often the change that you want to for others is not the change they themselves want. It is important to understand the consumer of your change and impact.

Clearing the “What’s it for?” question before doing the job makes the intention and impact clear.

Being Mindful is being intentional about yourself and the thought.

Authenticity is a farce. Only a tantrum is authentic. Everything else comes from intention and consistency.

Consistency is how you move forward. Not Sameness. Not repetition. But the intentional drive to improve consistently.

No Such Thing As Writer’s Block

Credentialing is a Roadblock. A lot of things in life don’t need permission from authority.

You can just do things.

Writer’s block is real. It is also a choice.

Searching for certainty is at the heart of the block.

It won’t be certain.

It will be when you pick up that pen and words start flowing.

Our stories make us who we are. They’re about how the world works, what our role is and what could happen next. The stories we tell ourselves are important because they shape us.

Every creation feels resistance. Inventing and shipping original work is fearful.

“Yes, and…” is important in improv. “No” is a buzzkill it leads to nothing productive.

We don’t ship because we are creative. We are creative because we ship.

Keep promises. You cannot be successful if you cannot make promises and keep them

Promises are a beacon to keep yourself grounded and deliver.

Criticism is when the world responds to your creative work. Criticism is important. But it is more important to acknowledge that the world might not know everything about the pain of shipping something.

Thank your generous critic. Because they took their time to give you something of value to you.

Shipping something that people have paid for is scary. Because now they can criticize strongly. Which is scary.

It is hard to be open to feedback, to be flexible, and to stay nimble when you’re too busy defending the work you’ve already done.

Simply to chop the wood and carry the water. Again and Again.

It is infinitely easier to criticize than to put something out there.

Avoid Shortcuts.

Build it for the smallest viable audience. Make it for someone. not everyone.

Make Assertions

Assertions are fundamental to creating something new.

The practice demands assertions where there are no guarantees

Assertions are how you build your own genre.

Strong Opinions, Loosely held. Is how you assert and still be flexible

Earn Your Skills

Your skills are what make you special.

Being well-rounded is not a complement. it’s a curse.

You are a mutant with special abilities. Lean in on it and sharpen it.

Decide what you are going to assert in the world.

Be the “Best in the world”.

Do the reading. Go into the room not as a empty vessel. But as someone who’s done the reading, who understands the dynamics involved. Go the extra mile for it.

Good Taste comes from domain knowledge. It’s the ability to know what your audience or clients are going to want before they do.

Seek Out Constraints

Constraints make art possible.

It’s dark and cold outside the box. But the edge of the box is leverage.

Changing the world != Changing Everything.

Ideas come from strain. Strain between opposing forces.

The path forward is about curiosity, generosity and connection.

There is no magic. Start where you are. You can just do things.