The Unmistakable Creative Podcast: Recent Episodes
Srinivas Rao
"Unleash your creativity with the Unmistakable Creative Podcast. Dive into inspiring conversations with the most innovative minds in the world. From authors to artists, entrepreneurs to educators, we explore the mysteries of the creative process, overcoming obstacles, and the power of storytelling. Tune in and ignite your creative spark. New episodes every week!"
This post has been updated to test the WordPress update functionality. Original title was Test Bulk Post 1: The Power of Automation. Now updated with new content and changed status from draft to publish. Update performed by agent_2 on December 15, 2025 as part of autonomous testing workflow. This post has been updated to test […]
Dr. Anna Lembke shares insights on dopamine addiction. Dr. Anna Lembke shares insights on dopamine addiction.
This is the final debugging test for prompt serialization. This is the final debugging test for prompt serialization.
This is a test post to debug prompt serialization after applying fixes. This is a test post to debug prompt serialization after applying fixes.
This is a final debug test to confirm prompt serialization. This is a final debug test to confirm prompt serialization.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts. This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed. This is a test post to debug how prompts are being passed.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world. An insightful blog post exploring how to manage dopamine addiction in a modern, tech-driven world.
This is a test blog post generated without images. This is a test blog post generated without images.
This is a test blog post generated with images. This is a test blog post generated with images.
This is a test blog post generated with images. This is a test blog post generated with images.
This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts. This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts.
This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts. This is a test blog post with images generated from prompts.
Exploring the serene beauty of nature juxtaposed with the bustling vibrancy of urban life. This blog post showcases stunning visuals of mountain landscapes and cityscapes. A serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks Some content about a serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks. A bustling cityscape with vibrant […]
Exploring the serene beauty of nature juxtaposed with the bustling vibrancy of urban life. This blog post showcases stunning visuals of mountain landscapes and cityscapes. A serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks Some content about a serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks. A bustling cityscape with vibrant […]
Exploring the serene beauty of nature juxtaposed with the bustling vibrancy of urban life. This blog post showcases stunning visuals of mountain landscapes and cityscapes. A serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks Some content about a serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks. A bustling cityscape with vibrant […]
Exploring the serene beauty of nature juxtaposed with the bustling vibrancy of urban life. This blog post showcases stunning visuals of mountain landscapes and cityscapes. A serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks Some content about a serene mountain landscape with a calm lake reflecting the peaks. A bustling cityscape with vibrant […]
This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some content about anna lembke addiction research. dopamine science Some content about dopamine science. This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some […]
This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some content about anna lembke addiction research. dopamine science Some content about dopamine science. This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some […]
This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some content about anna lembke addiction research. dopamine science Some content about dopamine science. This blog explores the science of dopamine and addiction based on the research of Anna Lembke. Anna Lembke addiction research Some […]
This is the content of the blog post. Image of dopamine receptors Illustration of neurotransmitters Some content about image of dopamine receptors illustration of neurotransmitters. This is the content of the blog post. Image of dopamine receptors Illustration of neurotransmitters Some content about image of dopamine receptors illustration of neurotransmitters.
This is the content of the blog post. Image of dopamine receptors Illustration of neurotransmitters Some content about image of dopamine receptors illustration of neurotransmitters. This is the content of the blog post. Image of dopamine receptors Illustration of neurotransmitters Some content about image of dopamine receptors illustration of neurotransmitters.
This is a test blog post to verify functionality. A futuristic cityscape Some content about a futuristic cityscape. This is a test blog post to verify functionality. A futuristic cityscape Some content about a futuristic cityscape.
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo, “I’ve seen an Agent punch through a concrete wall. Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their speed are still based in a world that is built on rules.” This quote perfectly encapsulates AI’s primary limitation—humans write the rules, and […]
Effective note-takers have 10 essential habits that enables them to unlock the value of their knowledge. Note-takers typically fall into one of two categories: People Who Collect Notes take lots of notes but struggle to turn that knowledge into actionable insights. While they often capture information and jot down ideas, their notes frequently go underutilized, […]
What if you could operate with the sharpness and speed of someone who seems almost superhuman—making connections, taking action, and moving forward like never before? Imagine facing a challenge—whether it’s a project at work, a critical decision, or even something as simple as remembering a key detail at the right moment. Now, picture being able […]
Few activities in knowledge work consume as much time and add as little value as managing emails. When I interviewed Cal Newport after the publication of his book, A World Without Email, he shared a startling statistic: You Spend 14 Days Per Year Managing Email According to Newport, knowledge workers check their email once every […]
In my recent interview with Laura Mae Martin, Google’s executive productivity advisor and author of the new book “Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Well-being”, we delved into the strategies that have propelled Google to the forefront of innovation and efficiency. Laura shared three key secrets from Google’s playbook that can help you […]
46 Reflections on a Life Half Over Ten years ago, I was going through a rough patch in my life. One day, I met an old man at a coffee shop. Whenever someone asked him how he was doing, he'd always say, "It's the best day of my life."You might think he had won the […]
In the ever-expanding digital cosmos we navigate daily, the influx of information isn’t just overwhelming—it’s outstripping the capabilities of the very tools we’ve relied on to manage it. As a writer and podcast host, I’ve hit this wall time and again, watching my trusted note-taking apps and productivity tools become less useful under the weight […]
Do you ever feel like you’re on a self-improvement treadmill, consuming book after book, podcast after podcast, yet your life doesn’t seem to change? You’re not alone. But why is that? Could it be that our understanding of success is fundamentally flawed? Fortunately, the universal laws of success can help you overcome this hurdle, The […]
To remain valuable in our economy, therefore, you must master the art of quickly learning complicated things. This task requires deep work. If you don’t cultivate this ability, you’re likely to fall behind as technology advances. Cal Newport- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World In the AI era, creativity is merely […]
Note: In this post, the ‘human’ referred to is none other than yours truly. I posed a challenge to chat GPT to craft a blog post detailing its interactions with me. The ensuing journey of discovery and reflection felt akin to choosing the red pill, stepping into a world where AI transcends its traditional boundaries […]
Ten years ago, my friend Sam Dogen wrote a blog post that subtly jabbed at me. Back then, my ego was delicate and fragile, unable to accept that he might be right. For years, I thought he was an asshole Fast forward to when Sam reached out to be a guest on Unmistakable Creative. By […]
Recently, I found myself in a conversation with my dad about the impending end of my car lease. During this discussion, I suggested the idea of not having a car at all. Surprisingly, he thought it was a great idea. This moment made me realize that this was just one of many assumptions we never […]
I feel like we live in an age of limitless information right now, but we never seem to acknowledge that there’s a shortage of context. You know, in many ways, it’s why I started doing Between the Scenes. I realized in the short time I have on the show, there’s only so much I can […]
SEPTEMBER 28 Let’s shift our perspective from the often-discussed challenges of ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) to delve into its unsung advantages, positive strengths, and unique benefits. You possess a mind that operates differently, a cognitive landscape teeming with hyperfocus, reslience and other superpowers. Mental health conditions like ADHD give people a powerhouse of potential. […]
Every day, our lives are shaped by a multitude of decisions, each shaping our journey. Whether it’s a seemingly minuscule choice, like selecting a morning beverage, or a monumental one, such as exploring career paths, each decision carves out the path of our existence. The process we engage in during these moments of choice is […]
In this fascinating deep dive into the world of self-improvement, you’ll get a front-row seat to the wisdom of Wylie McGraw, a Performance Accelerator. His journey is anything but ordinary – from his days as a competitive baseball player and bull rider to his time as a combat veteran leading soldiers in the most intense […]
The concept of achievement culture is deeply woven into the fabric of our society, shaping how we define success and perceive our self-worth. However, Jennifer Wallace, the highly esteemed author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic, urges us to reconsider this paradigm. In our detailed conversation, she provides thought-provoking insights into the toxicity […]
Creativity is a powerful force, shaping our world through innovation, problem-solving, and personal expression. It has led to breakthroughs in fields as diverse as science, technology, art, and business. But how can we tap into this wellspring of imagination and originality within ourselves? One effective method is through reading, which can stimulate our creative minds […]
Have you ever felt like you’re drowning in information but can’t remember most of it? I’ve been there. I love learning and have gathered so much knowledge from experts, books, and podcasts. But, I often wondered how much information I was actually retaining. That’s when I found the ‘How to Take Smart Notes’ system – a […]
Scott Belsky claims that we have entered a new era of frictionless creativity. However, many people fear that AI spells trouble for creatives. Could AI be an unexpected collaborator in our pursuit of innovation and excellence, or is it a harbinger of doom for creatives? Misconceptions about AI’s Impact on Creatives Despite several misconceptions, AI […]
Imagine a world where a personal assistant knows everything you do, remembers every piece of knowledge you've acquired, and assists you in applying that knowledge when it's most needed. This is not a fantasy, but a reality that is transforming the way we work, learn, and innovate. Accumulative Intelligence with Mem: Your Personal Knowledge Assistant […]
Cal Newport is a professor of computer science at Georgetown , and author of “Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World” “Digital Minimalism,” and “A World Without Email.” If there’s one theme that runs throughout his books, it’s rethinking the way we work to increase productivity and the quality of our output. […]
In “The Art of Impossible,”author and peak performance expert Steven Kotler invites readers on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, illuminating the path to unleashing one’s creative potential. By examining the concepts of motivation, learning, creativity, and flow, he provides a roadmap for converting seemingly impossible goals into achievable realities. Kotler decodes the secrets […]
In his revolutionary book, “Building a Second Brain”, Tiago Forte introduces us to the intricate choreography of the creative process, a rhythmic interplay between divergence and convergence. This dance is a delicate equilibrium, a dynamic exchange between the intake of information (divergence) and the crafting of something novel from it (convergence). Here’s the twist: if […]
As we navigate through 2023, one thing has become abundantly clear: generative AI is poised to play an integral role in our future working lives. One of the most significant developments in this space is the emergence of a new role: the prompt engineer. Prompt engineering will be an essential skill regardless of our profession.
Discovering the art of taking smart notes can be a game-changer for your writing process. This was my experience when I came across Sonkhe Ahrens' lecture on smart note-taking. Learning that Nicholas Luhman, one of history's most productive writers, used this method was a revelation. Applying these concepts, revolutionized my writing process. Currently, I have […]
Unlocking your creative potential may seem like a daunting task, but the key lies in embracing non-linear thinking. By -breaking free from the constraints of linear organizational systems and allowing yourself to explore ideas without the pressure of immediate action, you can unleash a wealth of creativity and productivity. In this post, we will delve […]
Discover the power of workflow optimization in enhancing productivity and success in your professional life. This article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding, auditing, and revising your workflow, helping you focus on high-impact work and achieve better results. Simplify your processes and eliminate unnecessary complexity with our key takeaways on workflow optimization."
As I watch my 7-month-old nephew explore the world, I'm reminded that adults can learn as much from children as children can learn from us. It's not just about imparting knowledge and wisdom; sometimes, the greatest lessons come from the youngest among us. My nephew has been an incredible teacher, reminding me to be softer, happier, more curious, and wiser. In this article, I share the most valuable things I've learned from him. Through his innocent and uninhibited approach to life, he has taught me the importance of vulnerability, patience, and play. He's shown me how to appreciate the simple things, find joy in the everyday, and cultivate deeper connections with those around me.
Discover how waiting can hold you back from achieving your aspirations and hinder you from living the life you truly desire. By exploring the negative impact of waiting, you'll gain insight into how taking action can empower you to accomplish your goals and reach your full potential.
As I reflect on my 45 years of life, I am reminded that the lessons I've learned are personal observations that have shaped my worldview. While these lessons have been invaluable, I recognize that they may not apply universally. I encourage you to question and consider each lesson in the context of your own life […]
In this post, you'll learn how to make a super-smart second brain by organizing your knowledge in a cool way and taking awesome notes. With an AI second brain, you'll be able to come up with ideas faster than ever before!
In this post, you'll learn how to make a super-smart second brain by organizing your knowledge in a cool way and taking awesome notes. With an AI second brain, you'll be able to come up with ideas faster than ever before!
This post examines seven factors that influence every decision made, which include reversal cost, security versus freedom, opportunity cost, external validation and internal fulfillment. Additionally, it is discussed how seeking external validation can lead to weakened boundaries and resentment. Through an understanding of these factors one can become more skilled in making decisions and increase the likelihood of making the right ones.
.The utilization of Chat GPT and DAlle in the creation of a parody video of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air illustrates the potentials of AI technology. OpenAI's large language model, Chat GPT, was employed to rewrite the lyrics for the classic 90s TV show theme song. Additionally, DAlle, an AI-powered tool, was used to generate all scenes and characters featured in the video.
Rather than becoming entrenched in preconceived notions of how life should be, it is beneficial to consider alternative perspectives and different ways of approaching life.
This article outlines a strategy to help create a month's worth of content in a week using the "second brain" concept. It suggests breaking the content into four categories: research, planning, creation, and distribution. It then provides tips on how to make the most of each step in order to maximize efficiency and productivity.
Our devices are both sources of digital distraction and essential tools for modern-day knowledge workers. "Computers are a necessary tool in our lives. They help us work and learn, they connect us to colleagues and loved ones, they can inform us and bring us music and laughter," says David Sax in his book The Future […]
Many individuals are apprehensive about artificial intelligence (AI); however, it is likely to have a beneficial effect on creative endeavors. Those of us who become proficient in its use will gain access to capabilities that were previously unavailable. AI can provide a remarkable boost to creativity.
Over the past decade, I have received a variety of writing advice which has been instrumental in securing me a book contract.
We have seen a pandemic, massive job losses in tech, and rapid advances in AI in the past few years. "The sheer scope of what's shifting and unknown is simultaneously awe-inspiring and downright daunting," said April Rinne in her book Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change. Constant change is our new normal. Despite […]
After looking at my goals from the past few years, I realized I'd set unrealistic and unattainable goals. Unattainable goals kill your motivation. Optimism unchecked by realism leads to fantasizing about things that you never accomplish. As crazy as it sounds, goal-free living can make you much happier, while setting goals can make you miserable.
From understanding the importance of context when it comes to perseverance to embracing the idea of a flux mindset, here are 22 life lessons I've learned in 2022.
This article explores the concept of a second brain, which is a way to store and organize information offloading mental burden. It looks at the traditional approach of using folders and physical notebooks and compares it to the more modern approach of using a personal network of knowledge, which can reduce the time spent managing information and increase the time spent using knowledge to achieve goals. It also compares the hierarchical second brain to the personal network of knowledge.
Timing plays a role in every aspect of our lives. Whether it's a job interview, your first date, starting a company, or completing your daily tasks, timing impacts the outcome. If you meet the right person at the wrong time, a relationship won't work. A hiring manager's fight with a spouse the evening prior could […]
Photographer: Mindy Sabiston | Source: UnsplashPhotographer: Mindy Sabiston | Source: Unsplash Our relationships are the greatest predictor of our long-term happiness. Romantic relationships bring us unparalleled joy when they work and a lot of grief when they don’t. There are so many things I wish I'd known when I started dating that would have saved […]
This article discusses the consequences of being diagnosed with ADHD later in life, as well as the early warning signs that may indicate someone has the condition. It also explores the paradoxical nature of ADHD, which can be both a blessing and a curse, depending on the context. Finally, the article touches on the emotional and cognitive paradoxes that people with ADHD often experience.
Task completion is a poor measure of productivity, as it can lead people to confuse productivity with effectiveness. productivity is about making an impact on what matters most to you, rather than simply being efficient
Task completion is a poor measure of productivity, as it can lead people to confuse productivity with effectiveness. productivity is about making an impact on what matters most to you, rather than simply being efficient
The best way to avoid some mistakes is to learn from the ones other people have made. These are things I wish I'd know when I started writing.
Automation will lead to the elimination of repetitive activities and make once valuable skills obsolete. It's not a matter of if, but when, if you do not develop the skills that will make you immune to automation. In a recent interview on Unmistakable Creative, author Tim Klein said the following.: Labor economists have known for […]
There's so much I wish I'd known when I started college. But you can't rewrite history. All you can do is learn from it and pass those lessons on to the next generation. This is my advice for college freshmen.
At some point in the last 10 years, you’ve probably wondered if there will ever be a day when you can upload your brain to the Internet. Now you can thanks to our ability to organize knowledge in networks. Networked thought: an inflection point in the “total-recall” revolution In his book, Total Recall, Microsoft researcher […]
Creative people are often paralyzed by the curse of knowledge, fear of public opinion, or other internal problems. One way around this to to apply lean startup principles to creative endeavors by starting a minimum viable project.
Many people are enamored with the idea of getting something they want. Few want the work that comes with it and the reality of what's involved.
When you become extraordinary at something you do well instead of average at something you do poorly, you're more likely to succeed with any career, creative pursuit, or entrepreneurial endeavor. Why don't we do this?
For all the press it gets, passion is overrated and curiosity is underrated. When you follow your curiosity instead of your passion, you're more likely to discover what you're truly passionate about
In this conversation with Sonkhe Ahrens, you'll learn everything you've wanted to know about how to take smart notes and the Zettelkasten Method.
Economies no longer recover from recessions, they evolve to adapt for the future. Unless you develop these essential skills for thriving in the 21st century, you will be at a disadvantage or, worse, get displaced.
When people read books, take courses or work with coaches, they copy and paste someone else's path to success, create derivative work that's dead on arrival, and assume the advice, not their interpretation, was flawed. But more often than not it's because they didn't modify the advice to make it work for them.
Wes Kao is the co-founder of Maven. Prior to starting Maven, she was the co-founder of Altmba and helped with cohort-based courses for Outlier.org, David Perell’s Write of Passage, Tiago Forte’s Build a Second Brain, and Morning Brew. In this exclusive interview, she explains what it takes to design transformational online learning experiences.
From an early age, we’re all conditioned to search for the right answers. After being a straight-A student in high school, I was accepted to UC-Berkeley, the number one public school in America, in 1996. But I graduated with a 2.97 GPA and was subsequently fired from almost every job I’ve had in my professional […]
Living without regrets is bad advice that sounds good. Regret is powerful because it helps us learn from our mistakes and make better decisions in the future.
What if you could be lazy and productive simultaneously? Productive people realize they should be lazy about things that don't matter. By optimizing for laziness, they're able to prioritize efforts with a disproportionate Impact .
In this interview, Julien Smith explains how to identify massive opportunities and capitalize on technology trends in any industry.
After you stop using folders for personal knowledge management, you realize what a lousy method they are for organizing information. When you stop using folders, you stop managing knowledge and start generating it.
April Rinne has a story that is simultaneously heartbreaking and inspiring, which also enabled her to build a flux mindset: an essential skill for long-term success.
Information overload wreaks havoc on our digital lifes, increases stress, and makes us stupid, unproductive and poor.
One of the best ways to stay on track and achieve your long-term goals is to align your daily tasks with them. You can do this creating a list of short-term and long-term goals, and then prioritizing them in order of importance. Short-term goals are important because they help you stay focused and motivated. […]
Rapid execution is a skill that will transform your life and your career. It can help you be more productive, accomplish big goals, and alter the course of your life.
Liz Wiseman is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley. She's a leadership expert who teaches leadership to executives who become more effective at work and become what she defines as multiplier leaders and have a meaningful impact on their teams. She is a frequent guest lecturer […]
- Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life “Models are the gravitational centers around which our social lives turn. It’s more important to understand this now than at any other time in history. If you look hard enough, you will find a model (or a set of models) for almost everything-your personal style, […]
Time is our most valuable and least renewable resource. Everybody has the same amount, but nobody ever seems to have enough Unlike money, you can’t save time in an interest-bearing account where the amount you have increases because of compound interest We download productivity apps, implement productivity hacks and read time management books to save […]
10 years ago, Kevin Kelly said that if 1000 true fans supported your work, and each paid you $100 a year, you could earn a living, not a fortune. But the internet is different today. People are overwhelmed by information overload Their inboxes are flooded with blogs, podcasts, and newsletters, and their social feeds are […]
Every person I’ve interviewed in the past 10 years has taught me invaluable lessons about what it means to live your life with intention, meaning, and purpose. But, knowledge only becomes wisdom when we reflect on what we’ve learned. I create a list of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from podcasts guests every year […]
Even though the title of this article has the word rules in it, you should treat them as recommendations for success in the creator economy. All advice is more effective when you apply the principles in an original context.
Most ideas fail because people are building products their customers don't want. Learn how to make sure you ideas don't fail in this article.
John Petrocelli is the author of The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, a professor at Wake-Forest College, and director of the Bullshit Studies Lab (yes, that's the real name). In this interview, he explains the definition of bullshit, why we are so susceptible to it, and how we can detect it.
Ron Friedman is the author of Decoding Greatness: How the Best in the World Reverse Engineer Success. In this interview, he shares an often overlooked story about what it takes to achieve at the highest levels and how to use principles of reverse engineering. Reverse Engineering: An Untold Story About High Achievement Photographer: Graham Ruttan […]
When we understand the fundamentals of power, it’s something available to all of us. But only if we know what it is, how it works, and how to shift it in our favor. Julie Battilana grew up in Marsay, France, in a family of Italian immigrants. Early on, she recognized an unfair division of […]
Every creator needs a personal knowledge management, content creation and content promotion system. This article will teach how they work and how to build yours.
If you're struggling to manage your time, it's likely because of poor workflow design. When you design the right kind of workflow, it will make you more efficient, prolifiic, and productive.
The Zettelkasten method is a note taking strategy that changes the way you read and write. It will make you more prolific, productive, and reduce the effort required to create new content.
When I met my most influential mentor Greg Hartle, he had 150 followers on Twitter and he was six weeks into a project called “$10 and a Laptop” with a simple premise and three goals. Visit all 50 states Work one on one with 500 people Start a business in an industry he knew nothing […]
Most us didn't learn how to take notes the right way. A good note taking strategy increases our productivity. And it makes writing easier and more fun.
Do you have a podcast, but are looking to take it to the next level? Interviewing guests for your show can be a great way to find new content and grow your audience. With this guide, we’ll show you how to conduct a podcast interview by asking questions that will yield interesting responses from your […]
The steps in James Clear's writing process enabled him to build a large audience and sell over 1 million copies of his book Atomic Habits. It's a basic writing process that anyone can use, regardless of your writing goals.
One of the most efficient ways to remember what you learn is by taking notes on podcasts. In this Mem tutorial, you’ll learn how to create perfectly formatted transcripts from any podcast and have them automatically imported into Mem. One of the most efficient ways to remember what you learn is by taking notes on […]
Do you want to make your life easier? Do you want to be more productive? If so, there is a simple technique that will help. It’s called the universal inbox and it allows you to store everything in one place. This means that all of your emails, tasks, notes, reminders are accessible in one location. […]
Tags and templates can be incredibly useful when you use them properly. The problem is that most people don’t, so their tags make finding information in a jumbled mess of notes virtually impossible! In this mem tutorial I’ll show how to optimize your personal workflow by using tags for quick retriever access – increasing productivity […]
Taking smart notes can be a time-consuming process, but there is an easier way of doing it than I previously mentioned in one of my videos. In this video, I’ll show how to speed up the taking process for making quick and easy notations on anything from paperwork or sketches while still getting all the […]
Most people take notes the wrong way. They copy and paste quotes from the books they read, but don’t do anything else. But it’s far more useful to rewrite them in your own words. When you rewrite pieces of text from the books you read or articles you come across online in your own words, […]
With bidirectional links, writer’s block becomes a thing of the past. You’ll never have a shortage of ideas because you can capture insights without immediate action. You have an abundance ideas, so you’re never staring at a blank page. What are Bidirectional Links? A bidirectional link is one that looks both ways. Imagine a maze. […]
In this mem tutorial, I”ll show show you how to combine progressive summarization with taking smart notes. Progressive summarization is a great way to digest information, but it takes time and effort to do well. In the meantime, taking good notes can help you get more value from what you read or hear in the […]
The human brain is a powerful machine, but it can’t handle everything. As the world becomes increasingly more complex, people are finding themselves overwhelmed with information and tasks that they need to accomplish. Mem. AI helps you maximize your output by prioritizing the most important things on your plate so that you have more time […]
Having easy access to important information is essential for success. When your information is easy to find and understand, you can focus on your work without having to worry about where your notes are or what they say. A second brain is a tool that can help you store and organize your ideas. Mem.ai is […]
As creatives, we tend to fall in love with our ideas. As Ryan Holiday says in Perennial Seller, “Creative people, naturally produce a lot of false positives. Ideas that they think are good, but aren’t. Ideas that other people have had. Mediocre ideas that contain buried within the seeds of much better ideas.” That’s often […]
No one picks up a self-help book or goes to a seminar thinking they will join a cult. But that's often how seekers become self-help junkies. That's how I ended up in a cult.
Podcasts can be a gold mine of valuable insights, ideas, and knowledge. But if you don't capture that knowledge, you won't be able to capitalize on it. You have to learn to take more effective notes on podcasts.
Everyone thinks they need more money, time, information, etc. But there is one invaluable trait that will help you make the most of any situation in life: Resourcefulness. Learning how to be resourceful will do more for you than all the time or money in the world.
You've probably resolved to lose weight, make more money, or finally start that creative project you've been putting off for years. When drowning your sorrows in champagne on New Year's Eve or nursing a hangover on New Year's Day, you may not realize that changing your behavior leads better results than setting goals.
If you focus on what you can be good at, you’ll accomplish far more than you would otherwise. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the mid-1990s, he did something counterintuitive for a company that was three months away from bankruptcy. He slashed several product lines, even if they were generating revenue. Then he drew […]
Budding entrepreneurs, artists, and creatives spend a lot of time trying to find the right product for the market: an app that people will use, or a book that people will want to read. But they don't spend nearly as much time thinking about whether THEY are the right person to build the app they want to build or write the book they want to write.
Just like building a startup, one of the hardest but most important things about building an audience is managing your psychology. You need to understand the personal characteristics of a commercially successful artist.
Folllow your passion sounds like good advice. But there are many hidden dangers to following your passion that people overlook.
Hillary Weiss shares how we can take brazen ideas and use them to captivate our audience. Since 2011, she’s helped countless brands all over the world get seen and heard earn thousands of dollars.
There are few things more countrerpdocutive than checking email frequently. But it's so common that people don't question it. And it doesn't need to be this way.
A common pattern I’ve noticed in many creative people is struggling to make ideas happen. Their actions do not match their intentions, and this is usually because they don’t have a daily routine. Below I’ll show you how to create a daily routine that has enabled me to write four books, record over 1,000 podcast […]
Outliers are bad role models for most of us. But we use them as our role models because their stories are the ones we read, read, and watch. And that causes to set unrealistic goals that we don't accomplish.
Mitch talks about likability, its correlation between popularity and happiness by sharing secrets to boosting your likability through things like understanding what makes people tick; developing empathy for others; making people feel good about themselves; using humor in moderation, and many more ways!
It's hard to know what you're doing when you start a business. There are so many unknowns and you can't predict the future. You learn as you go, but there are some things I would do differently if I started my business today. Learn some of my biggest mistakes and you'll be more likely to avoid them.
Learn how the most successful and prolific artists produce at the level they do. Develop the habits and skills that will transform you into a prolific creator.
The first 6 weeks of the year are some of the most important. Use them wisely because they could determine how your year turns out.
This year has been unlike any other that most of us have seen and hopefully will ever see again in our lives. But the most difficult chapters of our lives often contain the most valuable lessons.
Too many people think they need to follow the 10000 hour rule to become masters of their craft. When I talk to creative people who feel overwhelmed, distracted and struggle to manage their time, they all have one thing in common: they try to do too many things at once. They move one mile in […]
Michelle Poler inspired a movement, Hello Fears, by facing 100 fears in 100 days. She went skydiving, she held a tarantula, she did trapeze, and even wore no pants on the subway. Michelle has made it her mission to overcome the fear of being afraid and find true courage.
Jeff Harry is helping adults tap into what drove them as a kid by entering a state of play and rediscovering their true selves. Through play, we can add more joy to our lives and feel just like a kid again.
Ryan Holiday is one of the most prolific authors of our generation. He averages one new book a year along with running a company and publishing new content monthly for a wide range of publications.
Building an audience takes more than traffic and optimizing conversions on a website. You have to understand the pyschology of building an audience.
Sarah Vandella demystifies and de-stigmatizes the adult film industry. She talks about her 13 years of experience in the industry while sharing some thought-provoking insights on sexuality, sex education, and relationships.
Of all the areas in our lives, none shape our behavior, health, and happiness as much as our environment. We are byproducts of our environment. We can’t always control the circumstances or outcomes of our lives, but we can shape our environment. If your environment makes you feel stable, balanced, and grounded, you’re more likely […]
An interview with Alex Jamieson and Bob Gower, where they talk about the fundamentals of radical alignment, reducing interpersonal friction and interacting with those around you.
You can live your life by trying to increase every metric. Or you can seek to make it meaningful. The choice you make will have a profound impact on your hapinness.
By doing less, we get more of the most important things done. We elimiate the trivial many so we can focus on the vital few things that add meaning and purpose to our lives.
Religious scholars, philosophers, psychologists, and humans have been searching for answers to their questions for thousands of years. They’ve searched churches and bars, books, and seminars. They’ve asked Google, Siri, Alexa, and God. There’s one universal question in every human’s search for answers: how do you live a good life? This Article Won’t Change Your […]
There's a lot that goes into making a living from your ideas than having the idea. You have be persistent, test viability and much more.
Throughout my childhood, I dreaded going to the temple on Sunday. Every experience I had with religion was a time-consuming obligation to my parents that felt more like superstition than faith. While talking to one of my dad’s friends, I was surprised to find that the three most well known texts from Hindu Mythology (The […]
The most effective book notes are practical and actionable. By learning to take better notes you'll be more likely to remember and take action on what you read.
A decision you make today could affect your life tomorrow, a week from now, or 10 years now. Destiny is the ripple effect of every decision you make over a lifetime.These 5 decisions will have a disproportionate impact on your life and are often the most challenging ones you'll make.
The versatility, flexibility, and simplicity of the 100-day project are what make it work for pretty much anyone. Aside from the rule of 100 small actions for 100 consecutive days, you decide on all the other rules so that they fit your interests and circumstances.
The pressure to meet their expectations and avoid the judgment of parents, peers, and community has put Indian people in a cultural arms race for impressive biodata.
The people I've interviewed come from all walks of life. They include incredible artists, entrepreneurs, billionaires, presidential candidates, and porn stars. My guests have expanded my horizons, made me aware of my personal biases and given me an education that kicks the crap out of the one I got in school. But above all, after 1000 interviews, I've learned that everybody has a story worth telling (not just those who are rich, famous, and successful by the standards of society's life plan).
Even if you don't want to be a blogger, a writer or an author, the benefits of a daily writing habit can be invaluable to your life.
Self-help literature encourages people to set Big Hairy Audacious Goals, commonly known as BHAG's. But for many, these goals are more pipe dreams than possibilities. Unless you've already become the next Steve Jobs, Oprah, or Beyoncé, a better alternative would be a small meaningful attainable goal (SMAG).
This conversation with with Alex Jamieson and Bob Gower is on the fundamentals of radical alignment, reducing interpersonal friction, and interacting with those around you. Let’s dive right in! What did Alex and Bob’s parents do for work and how did it end up influencing the choices they made in their life and career? Bob’s […]
Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) is one of the most iconic and unmistakable creatives of our generation. He's transcended the limitations of his labels and achieved creative success across multiple art forms and industries
Creative habits are the compound interest in building a career in the arts. These are the habits of highly effective artists that can make the biggest difference in your life and career.
Have you ever had one of those times in your life when you feel as if you're firing on all cylinders? You're focused, productive and in the zone. What you're experiencing is the power of creative momentum.
To be successful in any field, you need to have a point of view that stands out in a noisy world. It's the one thing every succesful creator or visionary throughout history has in common.
Look at your life (your significant other, your jobs, your accomplishments, etc). Was there a single element that didn't require you to take a risk? We have to learn to take risks to get anything we want.
Few things are as powerful as curiosity when it comes to innovation and creativity. Curiosity is the compass that leads to interesting people, places, and ideas.
Adversity is a part of life. Nobody gets through it without a setback, devastating loss or getting punched in the face. We can't control an event. But we do get to decide whether we will let our temporary circumstances become our permanent identity or transform adversity into opportunity.
Every year I write a post on my birthday about things I've learned and want to remember.
Many people are making a transition to working at home after years in an office. With the right productivity tips it can increase you efficiency and effectiveness.
It's hard to see in dificult times. But if we look for it, we can find an upside to crisis. Pehaps this one is an opportunity for creativty and personal growth.
What you consume determines what you create. Without discernment, everything you take in is just noise.
This is the second time I quit social media for 30 days. At the beginning of February, I handed my assistant my accounts and asked her to do the following: Change all the passwords and don’t give me access. Connect tools like Buffer, so we could share content to our fan pages. The one and […]
Compared to the world we lived in 10 years ago, sources of distraction are playing a much bigger role in our personal and professional lives. Walk into any public place from a grocery store to an airport, and you’ll see people with their heads buried in screens. And the modern workplace has become an interruption […]
These research-backed productivity strategies have been essential to every goal I've accomplished in the last 7 years. They're simple, powerful, and effective.
For the last ten years, I’ve read 100s of books and interviewed more than 700 people. We have an ongoing joke at The Unmistakable Creative. My guest choices are usually a reflection of some problem in my life. I guess you could say I’ve been trying to figure out what we should have learned in […]
With a minimal budget, an idea and some imagination, I was able to make a documentary with the Iphone. Here's what I learned from the experience.
You might have tried mind map before. But didn't get much out of them. Use them the right way and you'll be amazed what you can do with them.
In the last 10 years, the gap between creativity and technology has become narrower by the day. The time to go from idea to execution has decreased dramatically. This has increased the ROI of creativity at work.
96 percent of personal development efforts fail because of good intentions and bad strategy. Fortunately, you can overcome this with the use of objectives and key results.
The Biggest Mistake Every Creator Makes When Building an Audience Your life must be a progression towards ownership—first mentally of your independence, and then physically of your work, owning what you produce. — Robert Greene People obsess over building a following on social media. They see a successful person get thousands of likes or hundreds […]
How do you define success? This isn’t an easy question to answer. But it’s likely your current definition of success wasn’t a deliberate choice. For most people, our definition of success is handed to us from the world around us. That makes it difficult to be successful on your own terms. How You Lose Sight […]
How would you describe your digital life? If you don’t know how to organize or declutter your digital life, you would probably describe it is noisy, overwhelming, and distracting. Many people sign up for 100 newsletters, listen to 50 podcasts, and click on every link that rolls through their news feed. Their consumption habits are […]
Do you ever say you’re going to do something and then “I’ll do it later” becomes never getting around to it. If you’re like most people, you fail at honoring your commitments in small ways. You do this throughout your life and while often unintentional- it comes at a cost. You do one of the […]
We all know intellectually that we should never take being alive for granted. But all of us do. It was a Wednesday afternoon in the Summer of 2018. I was sitting at my desk wallowing in self-pity over: Not having plans for Friday night. Being 41 and single. The likelihood that I’d be going to […]
We’re two months away from the end of the year. It won’t be long before you’re looking back at this year, making plans, and setting goals for the new one. But 96 percent of personal development efforts fail. Setting goals and making resolutions might feel good. But it doesn’t lead to anything if you don’t […]
In the pursuit of more we overlook the fullness and completeness that are already within us waiting be discovered. Our drive to enlarge our net worth turns us away from discovering and deepening our self worth. — Lynne Twist, The Soul of Money From an early age, we are programmed to live our lives in […]
The geography of a creative life is filled with peaks, valleys, dead ends and detours. When you're building a career in the arts, there is no map. You use a compass. You don't always know where it's going to lead or how you're going to get there. It's almost guaranteed that your life won't go […]
There’s one difference between creative people who finish creative projects and those who don’t. People who finish understand that the creative process isn’t linear. Throughout our lives, we’re conditioned to take a linear approach. The entire structure of our formal education is linear. There’s minimal deviation from the options in front of us and little […]
The biggest cause of information overload for most people is a lack of organization. Even though your brain is not a hard drive, people treat it like one. Between a dozen inboxes, notifications, and text messages, we wake up and drink from a digital fire hose. And we wonder why we’re so scatterbrained. Then, we […]
I have a confession. Despite the fact that I write about and even teach workshops on how to get better at it, I suck at managing my attention. It’s led to poor grades, being fired and so much more. But a few years ago, I figured out how this simple morning routine changed a lot […]
How I can become great like Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, or think like Elon Musk? A few years ago, a computer science student asked a version of this question on Quora. One the people who answered was Justine Musk: Someone who has a unique view of how to think like Elon Musk. It’s a view […]
What is a Mantra? According to an article on the Chopra Center’s Web site, the mantra definition is this: Mantra is an instrument of the mind—a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation. Like a seed planted with the intention of blossoming into a beautiful perennial, a […]
We read self-help books, listen to podcasts, hire coaches, and go to therapy, in an effort to change or fix all the things we think are wrong with our lives. This is why my team jokes that every guest on our podcast is a reflection of some problem I’ve been trying to solve in my […]
Most of us live in a perpetual state of dissatisfaction, stuck in an eternal gap between who we are and who we want to be. But, without this dissatisfaction, humans would not progress and evolve. A dissatisfied person solves a problem. And humanity benefits from their solution, which in turn, enables them to solve other […]
People ask me what I’ve learned from talking to all these people. And this morning, I woke up somewhat jet-lagged with a flurry of thoughts. First, as Nikki Groom taught me, everyone has a story worth telling, and anybody can teach you something. I’ve received education from bank robbers, drug dealers, psychologist and billionaires. I […]
As a kid, I was obsessed with how fickle time was. I wondered why our summer vacations in India felt like they were never going to end, and I wondered why the school year would go by so fast. (I later found out this is the basic idea behind Einstein’s theory of relativity). As you […]
I was broken in every sense. I had a boyfriend that I really loved that broke my heart. I had no money. I didn’t know where my next meal was coming from. And that was a turning point for me because that was when I decided that all these other things, a job, a boyfriend, […]
In the last 20 years, we’ve replaced books with screens, voices with the text, and sitting together in person with broadcasting the details of our lives as though we are reality TV stars. We’ve done this at a breakneck pace, never really questioning whether it’s actually making our lives better. I’m not sure it is. […]
Every day you make thousands of choices about how you are going to spend the most precious resources you have. This is something that may seem simple to you, but it isn’t. If we knew and actually paid attention to this, most of our lives would look very different. The quality of life you want […]
How much is enough? When we fail to consider the consequences, what ensues is greed, unchecked ambition, perpetual dissatisfaction and a life from which there is no escape from the hedonic treadmill. Regardless of how rich you are, you feel poor. Regardless of how much you have, you need more. No matter how great you […]
There are two types of creators in the world. Sporadic ones and prolific ones. The world we live in today disproportionately rewards the latter. I’d like to introduce you to two people- Ian and Sarah. I created them as representations of the two primary types of creatives I see. Ian represents the vast majority of […]
This article is the first installment in a new series. Over the next several weeks, I'll be picking one podcast guest, applying what I learn from them to my life, and share my lessons learned with you. We kick off the series with decision-making expert, the "Duchess of Poker"- Annie Duke, who taught […]
Have you ever had a morning when you woke up with the best of intentions? You say to yourself, "Today is the day when I'm going to write the novel, paint something, etc., etc." An hour later you're scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed, uploading pictures of your breakfast to Instagram, and tweeting about the […]
When I finished business school in April 2009, the economy was in a tailspin, 90 percent of my classmates didn't have job offers, and NOBODY was hiring MBA's. Employers were receiving thousands of resumes from overqualified candidates. Some people spent all of their time looking for a job. One of our classmates said she'd […]
Today we live in a world where a person can go from idea to execution faster than ever. This creates an unrealistic expectation that they'll be successful just as fast. It might take a day to start a blog. But it will take far longer to build an audience. It takes a trip to Guitar […]
Knowledge work is not an assembly line, and extracting value from information is an activity that’s often at odds with busyness, not supported by it. - Cal Newport, Deep Work It's time for us to get rid of the 8-hour workday. For more than 20 years, I struggled to manage my attention so much I […]
Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule, and learn to distinguish between what you can and can't control, that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible. - Sharon […]
For the average person, their consumption habits aren't deliberate, their digital environment is on default, and there are a thousand things competing for their attention. Prolific creators, on the other hand, have gone out of their way to eliminate the competition for their attention and made deep work a big priority in their life. Attention […]
How would you feel if you could achieve massive performance gains in every part of your life? This is what you’ll learn to do in Zero To Dangerous: A Flow-Hacking Training Program for High Performers. Imagine what would happen if you could get more work done in less time and produce a higher quality of […]
In 2010, my friend Sid Savara sent me the following email: You should go full speed ahead on the blogger interviews- and really dedicate yourself to it. I think your interview series would be extremely successful if you made a completely separate blog for it. Your personal development writing and other people's guest posts […]
When you start working on an ambitious goal like writing a book, starting a blog, or building a company, or even picking up a new hobby, to stay motivated to accomplish any goal can feel like a real struggle. For the entirety of my 20's, I picked up a brief interest in something and […]
A few months ago I met a girl at a party who told me about the novel she'd been working on for five years. Five years is a long time— what was taking so long? She dismissed the question with something along the lines of, "You can't just sit down and write." […]
Ultimately, every idea is associated with a project, whether personal (a birthday part you are planning) or professional (a new product launch), every project revolves around ideas that you want to push into action - Scott Belsky, Making Ideas Happemn Many creative people have too many ideas. As a result they work on a thousand […]
At the beginning of 1986, my dad had two job offers. One was in Vancouver. The other was in Texas. Coming to the United States had been part of his plan for a long time. Our boxes were packed. But since we had no idea where we were going, they didn't have any address labels. […]
Jonathan Fields Rather than going into this and saying this is an iterative process where every time I do something my primary metric is growth and learning, most people go into it where their primary metric is, "this must succeed." You wake up on January 1st, determined that this will be the best year of […]
In a world where we've quantified the value of people's artistic endeavors with reviews, rankings, fan, and follower counts, modern-day artists have become excessively concerned with validation from strangers on the Internet, and metrics over mastery when it should really be the other way around. It seems counterintuitive that you could reach an audience of […]
With every new technology, there are two questions worth asking yourself. 1. What does this make possible that wasn't before? The combination of the commercial web browser and the ability to process a credit card payment over the internet made it possible to create eBay, Amazon, and just about every other business where you've paid […]
As a culture, we underrate the value of starting small and overvalue grand ambitions. This is reflected in graduation speeches, book titles, and celebrating those with aspirations to make a dent in the universe. But in doing so we do ourselves a great disservice. Our most ambitious goals appear to be so daunting that we […]
A few days ago I sent an email to my readers asking why they had clicked on a podcast, but didn't listen. After the following response from a reader, it was clear that we need to tidy up our digital lives. I'm so entirely sick of having to listen to everything! I open my […]
A few days ago, I was talking to John P. Weiss on The Unmistakable Creative about what it means to live an artful life. The simplest definition of an artful life is one that's filled with art. It's filled with art you consume, art you create, and art that touches hearts. It isn't about […]
When I asked some of my readers what their greatest challenge was, one theme came up multiple times. You have ideas. Lots of them. But they don't translate into results or reality. Up until 2013, I was in the same place. I wanted to write a book, but couldn't seem to do it, […]
We need the water of stillness with which to nourish our creative selves. Repeatedly artist, writers, scientists, and philosophers have written of this need, not only for this process of creating but within the work itself. - Anne De Le Claire The value of silence in a world full of noise is underrated. We need […]
People believe that the creative process is the result of divine inspiration or is only for professional artists. But you can apply creative thinking and the steps of the creative process to a variety of fields. You don’t have to be a creative genius or artist. As Chase Jarvis says, everyone is creative, which makes […]
Making art is a habit and the compound interest of a successful creative career. Because we don't see all the work that came before, we believe in the myth of the overnight success or "I've made it" moment. But people who have had successful careers in the arts create hundreds if not thousands of […]
The modern workplace is sick. Chaos should not be the natural state at work. Anxiety isn't a prerequisite for progress. Sitting in meetings all day isn't required for success. These are all perversions of work- side effects of broken models and follow-the-lemming-off-the-cliff worst practices. Step aside and let the suckers jump. - Jason Fried Tim […]
Authors like myself, AJ Leon and many others have challenged the authority of gatekeepers. We've chosen ourselves and stopped waiting to be picked. The implicit message of this is that gatekeepers are doing everything they can to keep you out and limit access. But contrary to popular belief, gatekeepers don't sit on their ivory towers […]
Whether or not you have a goal of writing books or starting a blog, there are several reasons why anyone can benefit from a daily writing habit. Writing forces you to reflect, observe, and think more critically. It gives you access to your thoughts and in turn the ability to become the author of […]
There are no shortcuts to high performance. - Steven Kotler When we see people who reach the top of their fields, who achieve elite performance we wonder if they have some sort of magic bullet. Perhaps they have the one hack that will change our lives. On Alex Banyan’s quest to understand how the most successful people in the world launched their careers, he was searching […]
How do you talk to your kids about pursuing a career in the arts? It's not an easy conversation for any parent. In the spring of 1996, I was accepted to the USC School of Music as a performance major. It was the culmination of a journey that started when I was in […]
There are a lot of people who spend a great deal of time talking about the work they plan to do and the art they're going to make. At least once a day, I see an announcement that somebody is starting the book they're going to write, the podcast they're going to launch, etc. As […]
In his book This is Marketing, Seth Godin encourages people to "Begin by choosing people based on what they dream of, believe, and want, not based on what they look like. As I sat and reflected on the themes woven throughout the podcasts and all of my work a set of principles emerged. If […]
Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is naturally satisfying to you. This contrasts with extrinsic motivation, which involves engaging in a behavior in order to earn external rewards or avoid punishment. (verywellmind.com) As […]
Honor Your Commitments: Start by honoring the ones you've made to yourself. Then honor the ones you've made to others. You'll gain trust, enhance your reputation, and increase your credibility. If you're struggling to honor your commitments, make less of them. Make Something Every Day: The more you make, the better you'll get. The […]
With good art, we can soothe our pain, soften our hearts, and lift ourselves up when we’re down. It inspires us, enlightens us, shapes us, and molds us. Without good art, the world would be leeched of it’s color. Creative self-expression is one of the ultimate indicators of our humanity. When I’ve lost […]
There are some simple habits that will transform anyone into a prolific writer. But first, let's talk about why it's worth it to become one. Within 6 months of developing a daily writing habit, I made more progress than I did in the previous 3 years combined. When I reflect on my career as […]
Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then unhypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly. - Anne Lamott Anyone can become a fearless writer. My favorite nonfiction writers all do one thing really well- they sound like genuine humans who I'd want to hang out with. They're […]
Building an audience is harder than it's ever been even though it's one of the greatest times in history for creatives, You can compete with the mainstream media, write sensationalist clickbait, or put "Trump" in the title of your latest article. You might even get someone's attention. But it's not a viable long term strategy […]
In 2008, there were stories everywhere on the internet about people who went from blog to book deal. Blogs were what podcasts are today. Everybody and their mother was starting one. They thought they would become famous and get a book deal. But they didn't see how much work it took. Ramit Sethi says […]
Ideas don't spread because through the kindness of strangers on the internet. They spread because of people who care, people who feel like you've made a difference. They spread you when people would miss you if you were gone. The internet is undergoing a fundamental shift. The tools are becoming more powerful and easier to […]
One of the pervasive myths in society is that of the starving artist. Because of it, parents discourage their children from pursuing careers in the arts. People choose the safest path instead of the one that satisfies them. We admire successful artists and cultural icons, but discourage such pursuits. As Jeff Goins says, “Real artists […]
When people start online projects like blogs, podcasts, etc,. They try to build their audience by seeking attention from strangers on the internet. It's a bit like walking up to a stranger in a coffee shop and asking them to read your book. It's a bit weird. People joke that their mom is the only […]
Truth is subjective. What’s true for one person may not be for another. After 41 years, I’ve learned the only constant changes, and the only certainty is uncertainty. In no particular order, these are the 41 things I almost know for sure. 1. Nothing is more precious than the time we have left with the people […]
You will disappoint people. You'll offend them. You'll say things you regret. You will unintentionally hurt people. You will let someone down. You'll make mistakes, some of which you can't reverse. You'll piss someone off. You'll cut someone off. You'll break their heart. You'll make them cry. Someone will disappoint you. They'll offend you. They'll […]
According to Steven Kotler, "Flow follows focus. It can only show up when your attention is in the here and now." The other critical ingredient for flow is time. Steven says that it takes 90 minutes of uninterrupted time to reach flow. I've found through experience that this is true. For most people, the idea […]
If you build a second brain, you’ll be amazed by what’s possible with it. Building A Second Brain is a methodology for saving and reminding u of the ideas, inspirations, insights, and connections we’ve gained through our experience. It expands our memory and our intellect using the modern tools of technology and networks. – Tiago Forte […]
A creative life isn't about book deals and best-seller lists, Oscar-nominated films or Grammy-winning albums. Those things are byproducts of a creative life. It's about acting on an impulse to express something inside of you. It's about doing that thing you can't not do. It's a commitment to meaning over metrics, wonder over worry, […]
For every best-selling book an author writes, every Oscar winning film an actor stars in, every Grammy-nominated album a musician produces, and every Nobel prize winning discovery by a professor, there are hundreds if not thousands of hours of work that never sees the light of day, doesn't resonate with an audience, or make it […]
What if your goals are the source of your misery? It's an odd question given that the internet is littered with success porn, self-help is a billion dollar industry, and we're taught at every moment in our lives to be goal oriented. But in doing so, we fail to take into account the eternal gap […]
As you age, you start to value your time more. You start to look around and wonder where you're wasting it and where you are spending it wisely. It becomes clear to you what is a priority and what is not, who is a priority and who is not, and who makes you a priority […]
The other day I received a harsh review about the podcast because I've shared personal challenges and stories with my podcast guests. This listener said he never writes reviews. But he found this so annoying; he felt compelled to write a harsh review. Critics Math According to what Jon Acuff all "critics math", 1 critic […]
Chances are, as a creative person, you have dozens of ideas for art you want to make, projects you want to launch, and much more. But bridging the gap between ideas and execution can be incredibly challenging because you don't know where to start or if you're even working on the right idea. People who […]
We are quickly moving towards an era in which it will take longer to figure out what you want to do with a tool than it does to execute your idea. Think about how easy it is to do something like publish a blog post today. Between drag and drop web site builders and CMS […]
There has never been a better day in the whole history of the world to invent something. There has never been a better time with more opportunities, more openings, lower barriers, higher benefit/risk ratios, better returns, or greater upside than now... Today is a truly wide open frontier. We are all becoming. It is the […]
It's possible that when you think of artificial intelligence, you imagine Minority Report or IronMan. But artificial intelligence is already deeply embedded in many aspects of your daily life. Your Netflix recommendations, Amazon purchases and Facebook feed are all driven by algorithms and artificial intelligence. If you're reading this on Medium, it's possible it showed […]
You are always telling yourself a story about money. The day before yesterday, I walked into Starbucks for my afternoon coffee, paid for mine, gave the Barista an extra 15 dollars and asked him to pay for how many other orders that would cover. One of those customers subscribed to The Unmistakable Creative Podcast, and […]
We chase our self-worth through all forms of external validation, vanity metrics, career accomplishments, life milestones, etc., etc. But there's not a single external accomplishment that will permanently alter the perception you have of yourself. We spend our lives trying to bridge this eternal gap between who we are and who we want to be. […]
There is an eternal gap between who we are and who we want to be. So we read books, listen to podcasts, take courses, attend seminars, and hire coaches to bridge that gap. Of course, what nobody tells you is that you'll never bridge the gap. Four years ago I wrote a letter to my […]
Earlier this week, I was speaking to a group of caterers, event planners and restaurant owners. Budgets don't necessarily constrain food as a medium of expression. The preparation, presentation, etc. are all ripe with possibilities for getting creative. The only limit is your imagination. A few weeks ago I signed up with a fantastic graphic […]
If you’re a creative person, you probably have hundreds of ideas and projects you’d like to work on. But many of them never see the light of day. If you learn to organize your ideas the right way, you’ll be much more likely to bring them to life. The tool you use is not nearly […]
The metrics on social media platforms are gradually destroying our creativity. Aspiring creators are prioritizing clicks over craft and metrics over meaning. Some startup founders get caught up in press instead of profit. As I said in An Audience of One, "The very tools that have made unparalleled amounts of creativity possible are paradoxically inhibiting […]
For the last seven weeks, we've been teaching the Fearless Writer's Workshop to roughly 30 students. While I've imparted my knowledge from 10 years of writing, they've been the ones to do the work. They've gotten a lot out of it because they've put a lot into it. Showing UpSeth Godin says that showing up […]
Tom Brady was the 199th pick in the 6th round the year he was drafted to the NFL. The other quarterbacks in the draft had won national championships in college and been superstars. Of those quarterbacks that were drafted before him, one was cut from the NFL after his first game, and the others didn't […]
Have you ever started a new habit with the best of intentions and missed one day, only to abandon the habit entirely? Changing your behavior and adopting new habits isn't about superhuman will-power or monk-like discipline. It's about designing systems. By designing the right systems, you'll never miss a day of creative work. Honor […]
Everything you’re searching for is within you. But, As a culture, we constantly look outside of ourselves for answers. We read self help books, listen to podcasts, go to church, hire coaches, and attend seminars. We look for so many things outside of ourselves: validation, satisfaction, permission, love. We base our happiness on factors we […]
At the start of the year, I quit social media for 30 days. I adopted a philosophy that Cal Newport refers to in his new book as “Digital Minimalism”. I didn’t upload a single picture to Instagram or write a single Facebook status update. I took an occasional peek at my tweetdeck, which lasted no […]
For today's blog post, we decided to compile a round up of our favorite tools we use to run The Unmistakable Creative Podcast. Communication Tools Slack - Team Communication and Shared Consciousness A few years ago, I interviewed Chris Fussel. In our conversation, he mentioned that in taking down Al Qaeda, the US military encountered […]
I’m a self-published author of two books, one of which became a Wall Street Journal Best-seller and led to a traditional publishing deal. I’ve also written two books with Penguin Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House, one of the world’s most well-respected traditional publishers.For most aspiring authors, there are two main publishing options: self-publishing […]
I've been writing a 1000 words a day for almost six years. And on any given day, 90 percent of what I write is terrible, incoherent nonsense that makes me wonder why I bother, why anyone would pay me to write a book, or whether or not I have something interesting to say. It's a […]
We have the capability to broadcast every detail of our lives. We can share every thought in tweets and status updates. We can give people a view into our world with pictures and videos. We are all the stars of our own reality TV shows and social media companies are networks that broadcast our lives. […]
With every moment of time, every decision about how you spend your energy and your money, you are making a statement about what really matters to you. You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources […]
To expect nothing seems counterintuitive for anyone who wants to make money as an artist. By any standard in a creative career, AR Rahman has been wildly successful. His albums have sold more than Britney Spears and Madonna combined. Even if you’ve never heard of AR Rahman, chances are you’ve been exposed to his music […]
All of us have a bank account. We track where our money is going and how much we're spending. But we don't necessarily do that with our time. If most people spent money the same way they spend the currencies of time and attention, they would be broke. If you know how you're spending your […]
One academic definitions of perfectionism is somebody that has unusually high expectations for success and repeatedly fails to hit those markers, so they continually think that they are are a loser and a failure. This is what our culture does these days. We set unusually high markers for success. We are presented with this perfect […]
If you’re in a course, don’t follow the instructions to the letter. The greatest work of your life requires a compass, not a map. Audio is a story-telling medium. Stories lead to what NPR calls driveway moments. A good question elicits a story. The more specific your question, the better the story. Interviewing famous people […]
You have the power to shape your reality. But too often you get caught up in the wild eyed dreams of the future without changing anything in the present. It's not massive change, but the little things that we do repeatedly that lead to big changes in our lives. An architect doesn't design a house […]
As I typed "January 13th" into my journaling software, I was trying to recall why this date was significant. Twenty-six years ago today I failed for the first time at something I cared about. The endless hours of practice, the feedback from the best teacher I ever had, and missing all-state band by one chair […]
Photo Credit: Trusty Joe As the gap between creativity and technology moves towards zero, and the ability to go from idea to execution becomes almost instant, what will matter more than knowing how to use a tool is knowing why you're using it. The real value will be based on your ability to imagine what's […]
Close to a decade ago, Kevin Kelly wrote about the concept of 1000 true fans. The idea was that if 1000 people supported your work and paid $100 a year, you might not make millions of dollars but could earn a reasonable living as a content creator. The creator economy has given content creators access […]
Ryder Caroll, the creator of the Bullet Journal Method, uses a simple framework to determine how he should spend his time each day. First, start by identifying everything that you're currently working on. You might be working on a creative project, taking an online course, planning a wedding or renovating a home. Then, consider the […]
There's nothing that has had changed my life more than writing 1000 words a day. Writing for an hour a day can improve the quality of your life, make you a happier person and enable you to accomplish things you once thought were impossible. This keystone habit has helped me write multiple books, hundreds of […]
As consumers get better and better at at ignoring mass media, mass media stops working. - Seth Godin The quote above is from Seth's book, Purple Cow, which was published in 2003. Fifteen years later, if you replaced mass with social, this quote still rings true. The tools that have supposedly connected us have have […]
When you look at that reality, you realize that despite not being at the end of your life, you may very well be nearing the end of your time with some of the most important people in your life. - Tim Urban Click to Tweet Above all things, we take the time we have […]
This article started off as an email that Kingshuk Mukherjee wrote for my Unmistakable Creative newsletter. Multiple people asked for it in an article, so here it is in expanded form. - Srini What follows are my 5 immutable rules for a terrible, no good, deeply unfulfilling 2019. Follow these rules and I […]
In 2013, I'd been blogging for almost 4 years. I'd also been running a podcast called BlogcastFM, the precursor to Unmistakable Creative, where I'd learned every blogging strategy out there. But I still couldn't get a book deal. That was when I finally stopped waiting to be picked. First, I emailed Mark Schaefer who […]
- Dani Shapiro Everything you need to know about life can be learned from a genuine and ongoing attempt to write. Nothing has been as beneficial to every area of my life as writing. It's made me a happier person. It's given me something to look forward to every single day. It's connected me to […]
Table of Contents Part 1- Developing The mindset Part 2- Designing The Right Environment Part 3- Doing The Work Part 4- Focus and Flow Part 5: A Gift to the World Every human being has an expression of their soul's calling, which can take many forms. Some people write books, some take pictures, and others […]
The culture of anonymous feedback made possible by the internet gives everybody the power to be a critic. It also gives everybody the potential to be a creator. Yet, in virtually every artistic medium there are more critics than creators. More people comment on articles than write them. The same holds for podcasts, books, music, […]
Table of Contents Part 1- Developing The mindset Part 2- Designing The Right Environment Part 3- Doing The Work Part 4- Focus and Flow Part 5: A Gift to the World Every human being expression of their soul’s calling, which can take many forms. Some people write books, some take […]
A few years ago, a college student posted the following question on Quora. How can I become great like Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, or Elon Musk? One of the people who answered the question was Justine Musk. She’s one of the few people that has had an inside look into what it’s like to be […]
With every life experience, your relationships, your achievements, and your failures are all open to interpretation. One of the most unique life experiences we have as human beings is the ability to pause between stimulus and response. And the quality of our lives is determined by the decisions we make in the space between stimulus […]
One of the most horrifying statistics for modern knowledge workers is how much time they spend on email. They send, receive, and respond to email for an average of 5.6 hour per workday. According to Cal Newport, our highest value work is rare, valuable, and cognitively demanding. Between open offices, emails, and digital distractions, the […]
Succeeding as a writer on the internet is not for the faint of heart. You have to spend years publishing your work, and potentially hear the sound of crickets chirping. You have to be thick-skinned enough to tolerate being vilified by strangers on the internet, and committed enough to believe that something will come from […]
In a recent interview, Seth Godin asked people to think about the best teacher they ever had. I reflected on mine, and the impact that he's had on my life, and how he continues to impact my life 30 years later, as a writer and creator. To say he was generous, would be an understatement. […]
The first time I interviewed Bob Goff, we talked about living a noteworthy life. If your life is noteworthy, you should take some notes on it. You should write about it. Writing every day changed my life and the lives of many of my friends, like Sarah Peck and Amber Rae. Our lives are composed […]
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness Summary I stumbled on Joyful at an airport bookstore, and I'm delighted I did. There are so many overlooked opportunities for joy right at our fingertips. And it's all backed by extensive Ingrid Fetel Lee's extensive research. They don't require tons of time […]
I get books in the mail from Amazon every week. My roommate says that it seems like I get a new book every day. I usually keep a running list of the books I want to read. I also learn about books I might be interested in reading from the following sources: Authors who are guests […]
Here's a fundamental truth about creating compelling work that many don't get: attention and accomplishment are incredibly different animals, and confusing one for the other will cause you to delude yourself into thinking you're making progress towards a goal. You can do work that people naturally feel compelled to talk about. Or you can […]
Navigating the geography of a creative life requires a compass - not a map. It's something you design without any instructions to follow or boxes to check off. There are no prerequisites or roadmaps that get you from point A to B. You can't put an address into a GPS because your destination is only […]
According to an article in the New Yorker, "Moleskine-style" notebooks have been produced since the 1850's, by small French bookbinding companies, and distributed in Paris bookstores. They were used by Picasso, Hemingway, Van Gogh, and the like. (“Moleskine” refers to the traditional oilcloth binding; moleskines are not made out of moles’ skins.) Even though the […]
Selfie: How We Became so Self Obsessed and What It's Doing to do Us by Will Storr Summary This is the most important book I've read in 2018. The more research I do on how social media impacts our emotional health, the more I'm convinced that we should use it less, ALOT less. This […]
Every piece of career advice you’ll ever get talks about the value of a mentor. Successful founders and business owners will often allude to their mentors in conversations. Naturally, everybody who doesn’t have a mentor wants one. So they approach potential mentors with emails about what they need. What they don’t realize is that the […]
The great thing about having a 12 week year is that the deadline is always near enough that you never lose sight of it. It provides a time horizon that is long enough to get things done, yet short enough to create a sense of urgency and a bias for action. – Brian Moran, The […]
Buy the Book Listen to the Interview Summary I came across this book when it was referenced in another book I was reading. I was intrigued by the title because I went to an elite school and have always felt like a failed byproduct of the education system. It’s a book every high school student […]
The survival of any creator, brand, or business depends on their ability to stand out in a sea of noise. Anything that doesn’t stand out will eventually become irrelevant, commoditized and ignored. There will always be a faster, better, or cheaper option for everything. As Sally Hogshead has said, “different is better than better.” Any […]
If you talk to any prolific writer or successful entrepreneur, you will find they make it a point to capture their ideas. In your lifetime, you will likely have thousands of ideas. As I wrote in An Audience of One “none of us have a shortage of ideas, we just lack the discipline to capture […]
Through social media we have a continual window into the lives of friends, pseudo-friends, and celebrities. And what we see is not some unvarnished peek into their world but a highly idealized image that they present. We see only the most exciting images from their vacations, the happy faces of their friends, and children, accounts […]
How Writing for an Hour a Day Can Improve the Quality of your Life When most people think about developing a writing habit, they imagine having to spend countless hours in a quiet room isolated from the rest of the world. This keeps them from trying to develop a writing habit at all. But you […]
SUMMARY Habits are the foundation of all behavior change. When we prioritize making tiny changes over an extended period, it can lead to remarkable results. RATING: 10/10 BUY IT ON AMAZON The Power of Atomic Habits It’s easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making a […]
Whenever you set out to do what’s never been done before in the way you want to do it, you risk losing all sorts of things— time that could have been spent doing something else, money that could have been saved, prestige, status, income or the perception of security- Jonathan Fields For most people, uncertainty […]
A few nights ago I was teaching the first session of our Fearless Writer’s workshop. One of the common challenges people had was maintaining some semblance of consistency. It was the same problem I had before 2013. But once I understood the impact that environment has on behavior, and started to design my environments for […]
People struggle to develop and maintain new habits because they make their efforts unsustainable. They work out like crazy for a few days (usually at the beginning of the year), and never go back to the gym. They try to meditate for 30 mins one day and don’t give it another shot until 10 days […]
We live in a world where everybody’s achievements are on public display. This parade of accomplishments amplifies our need to live up to a cultural model of perfection, leading to many toxic byproducts. Vanity Metrics and Status Anxiety For a platform like Facebook, the first measure of status was whether or not you’re in a […]
If there’s one pattern I’ve come across in dozens of articles, books I’ve read, and the 100’s of people that I’ve interviewed, it’s that the most prolific, productive and successful ones don’t depend on to-do lists, they depend on a calendar. It’s a lesson I’ve learned over and over again in my own work. The […]
If you’re an ambitious, goal-oriented person, it’s possible that one of your New Year’s resolutions was to read more books. Books are the gateway to imagination, to worlds we may not be able to access physically, but can emotionally. Books help us to expand what we’re capable of being and experiencing. Based on the math, […]
I have been a late bloomer in nearly every aspect of my life: I didn’t have my first girlfriend until I was 25 years old. I spent most of my early 20’s putzing around from job to job I spent most of my 30’s laying the foundation for my career as an author […]
What you do the day before matters just as much as what you do each morning. In fact, what you do the night before makes it much more likely that you’ll actually accomplish what you’re aiming to get done on any given day. The method you use doesn’t matter. I’m a believer that calendars are […]
Our behavior, our habits, and even our circumstances are largely the result of our environments. The spaces we live and work in, the clothes we wear, the information we consume and the people we associate with are all part of the nine environments that make up your life. The impact of environment on behavior is […]
I’ve said before the first 3 hours of your day can dictate how your life turns out. And this often begins with the very first thing that you decide to put in your brain. You can either start you day with junk food for the brain (the internet, distracting apps, etc) or you can start […]
We continuously seek answers outside of ourselves. We look for them in self-help books, podcasts, seminars, mentors, and spiritual teachers. But continually looking outside ourselves for answers isn’t exactly a vote of confidence in the expression of our soul’s calling. Eventually, to find our answers, we must turn inward. But going inward requires us to […]
A few days ago, I interviewed Danielle Laporte for Creative Live’s podcasting week. My host Drew asked me what advice I would give someone who is just starting out. My advice for anyone starting out, whether that be as a podcast host, a writer, or any other kind of creative was to commit to mastery […]
An uncomfortable but powerful truth that took most of my 20’s to internalize: There’s an opportunity cost to everything worthwhile in life. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll have to give up something in order to make it happen. If you want to become a doctor, you give up most of your early […]
A few days ago my friend Mike sent me an article about being addicted to achievement. Then he wrote, “sound familiar?.” For the last several months I have been addicted to achievement. I’ve taken cognitive enhancers”, worked longer hours, and hustled more than ever. Obsessive focus became my substitute for feeling any unpleasant emotion and […]
Ever since I spoke with Cal Newport about the rules for focused success in a distracted world, and read his most recent book, I’ve become an evangelist for deep work. It’s enabled me to: The more deep work I do, the more I’m convinced of its effectiveness. And it’s something that helps you to get […]
I wrote at least a thousand words a day every day from the age of twelve on. — Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing When I interviewed Julien Smith for the first time in 2012, he had one of the most popular blogs on the internet. Of all the things he shared with […]
A self imposed handicap most people aren’t even aware of: Majority of our waking hours are spent on demands that other people have placed on our time. It’s 7 AM. The alarm rings. You roll over bleary eyed, hands fumbling for the phone. Apps opened. Content digested. This is how most people start the day. […]
On the days when I’m rigid about following this routine. I’m able to immerse myself in deep work for long stretches, and I’m more prolific, productive and creative. On the days when I turn on my devices first thing in the morning, and deviate from this routine it all goes to hell. To understand why, […]
[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″ title=”1″ description=”1″]Everything in life has an opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of distraction is time, energy, and effort that would otherwise be spent on activities that have that potential to change your life for the better. Poor attention management decreases the quality of almost every area of your life: It contributes to anxiety […]
There isn’t one prolific creator of any kind that I know that hasn’t abided by the policy of carrying a notebook. I have stacks of Moleskine notebooks on my bookshelves. All the projects, books, and ideas that I’ve turned into reality started in the pages of my notebooks. It can enable you to create more […]
The geography of a creative life is different than that of a normal one. It doesn’t follow predictable arcs, have clearly marked destinations or well-lit paths. It requires you in the words of my friend AJ Leon to “grab a machete and hack your own.” You don’t take the MCAT or pass the bar exam. […]
I’ve been in love with books ever since I read the Great Gatsby in high school. After reading _This Side of Paradise, _which is loosely based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s undergraduate experience at Princeton, I wanted to be a writer. But it was 1995, the internet was in its infancy, and there wasn’t any way […]
Creativity begins with an impulse or desire to express something or act on that impulse. This can manifest in many ways: It could be handing out 3000 self-addressed stamped postcards asking people to share an anonymous secret. It could begin with the desire to photograph 10,000 strangers in New York City and plot […]
Everything you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch is an environment. And those environments are either adding energy or draining energy. — Jim Bunch The diagram above is from Jim Bunch’s company, The Ultimate Game of Life . I was initially introduced to the idea that our life is made up of environments in a […]
A couple of nights ago I was interviewing my friend Sarah Peck during a live taping of the Unmistakable Creative. She asked me what I had learned about conducting interviews. Below I’ll dissect the entire process of how I select guests, come up with questions for interviews, and get people to open up. Guest Selection […]
When we are amateurs our life was about drama, denial, and distraction — Steven Pressfield The amateur checks email, Facebook, and Twitter first thing in the morning. The professional avoids them as much as possible. The amateur gives into these distractions multiple times a day. The amateur craves dopamine like a junkie craves heroin. The […]
A few nights ago I was having dinner with a listener of the Unmistakable Creative, and he asked me “how do you build an audience for your work?” I found it difficult to answer his question because there is no silver bullet. Over the last ten years I’ve seen people attempt many tactics: I’ve watched […]
Despite no longer making much sense, the 8-hour work day remains the defacto standard for corporate America. Our aversion to it has resulted in books like Escape from `Cubicle Nation, The 4-Hour Workweek and movies like Office Space. Entrepreneurship, side hustles, and lifestyle business offer the potential promise of walking away from what often feels […]
In my 20’s after some challenges at work, and the possibility of getting fired from yet another job, I went to see a psychiatrist and told him about my issues: Throughout the time I was in college, I couldn’t focus on a lecture and ended up with a lousy GPA. I couldn’t sit still in […]
If there’s one piece of advice that I could offer any aspiring creative, it’s this. Develop a habit of consistently doing something. It doesn’t matter what it is, how small or how big it is. It can be as simple as going for a walk or meditating for 2 minutes. It can be as hardcore […]
The Hero’s journey and the artists journey are real. They come with the promise of change, of passion, fulfillment, and self-actualization, and they come with the curse of Eden – “henceforth shalt though eat they bread in the sweat of thy face” – which mandates unrelenting toil and labor. The struggle never ends. It never […]
When people think of the words Lifestyle Design images of working from a laptop, location independence, The Four Hour Workweek and digital nomads pop into their head. What they don’t think about is the actual work that goes into those accomplishments, all of which are a byproduct of days and environments that have been deliberately […]
People frequently cite the lack of time to work on any creative endeavor or project. But if you choose to focus on the quality of the time you put into your efforts rather than the quantity, it can make a big difference. One focused hour a day can produce amazing results. The reason I’m so […]
People frequently ask me what I’ve learned from the 100’s of people that I’ve interviewed. In attempting to summarize what they’ve taught me I’ve written a book, another book, and 100’s of articles. They’ve changed my habits, helped me rewrite my story, and accomplish things that at one time seemed impossible. These are some of […]
The advice to follow your passion makes for great commencement speeches, self-help books, and Instagram memes. It sounds nice in theory but doesn’t translate in practice. It’s based on assumptions without evidence. It causes people to make decisions without data points or experience. If you’ve never written a line of code in your life, it’s […]
Many people don’t read a single book after they complete their formal education. In his wealth attraction seminar, Dan Kennedy said that 80% of the books purchased on Amazon are not for personal consumption but as gifts. I couldn’t tell you very much about my formal education other than that I got two pieces of […]
In 2013, I wrote a piece about how writing 1000 words a day changed my life, leading to a six-figure book deal with a publisher and becoming the basis for An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake. Creative habits are the compound interest of creative success. If you want to be a […]
It’s easier than any time in history to go from idea to execution. What used to take months takes days and what used takes hours takes minutes. Because we can execute a plan in minutes, we expect to succeed with it just as quickly. We chase trends, follow the advice of gurus, hop on bandwagons, […]
We have this misconception of successful people that everything they create is amazing. But, nothing could be further from the truth. One of the most significant sources of resistance for any creative is the belief that everything they produce has to be good. As author Anne Lamott famously said that all good writing begins with […]
It’s possible you read that headline and had a WTF reaction. As a culture we glorify achievement. We create lists like the Forbes 400, Fast Company’s 100 most creative People, and The New York Times Best Seller. All of this fuels a multibillion-dollar self-help industry to which I’m sure I’ve contributed with my podcast and […]
As the expression paying attention suggests, when you focus, you’re spending the limited cognitive currency that should be wisely invested, because the stakes are high. – Winifred Gallagher, Rapt After nearly a decade of doing creative work for a living, I’ve found that activities requiring depth, focus, and attention produce a much higher ROI […]
When it comes people mastering their craft, we see the result. We rarely see what went into getting there. However, when we start to dig deeper, we see that to master your craft you need a combination of purpose, practice, performance, recovery, and of course years on end, possibly a lifetime. To master your craft […]
The greatest work of your life doesn’t happen in one fell swoop. It’s a process of planting seeds, putting messages in bottles, being patient, persistent, committed and doing the work. It’s the work and journey of a lifetime, not a brief moment in the spotlight. 1. Stop Waiting for Permission For so much […]
Our biggest failures, setbacks, and obstacles in life can inform us or define us. We can respond to them or react. The choice that we make in those moments will determine whether or not they will eventually become a gift from the universe or like a parking ticket, a “fu#$ you” from the universe. When […]
Small things have big consequences. Over time, those consequences compound. We are the accumulated momentum of all our choices. Some of those choices are binary. Go to the gym or not: that choice in that moment is going to change your day. Over time that choice will change your life. We tend to ignore the […]
We all have this idea that we’ll be happy when we… Fall in love Get a book deal Sell our startup Have kids Graduate from college It’s deeply embedded into our social programming, particularly in the Western world to seek our happiness from external circumstances and events. But this equation is entirely backward. By waiting […]
Sadly, for most people, the ability to focus on one thing for an hour is a challenge. The world we live in is becoming more and more distracted thanks to the perpetual stimulus of social networks, notifications, and other distracting websites. Because people can’t manage their attention and they struggle to manage their time. As […]
As somebody who has dealt with depression on and off over the course of my life, happiness is not something that comes naturally to me. It’s something I have to work at. Fortunately, our baseline level of happiness is not set in stone. Happiness is a skill that can be developed. And with practice, we […]
I’d been dreading this day for months. Anytime I thought about it, it made me anxious. Every year for eight years I’ve written something. It’s become my birthday ritual, a lesson for every year. It’s almost always a list of things I wish I knew when I was younger. Contemplating 40… I thought maybe I […]
I’d been dreading this day for months. Anytime I thought about it, it made me anxious. Every year for eight years I’ve written something. It’s become my birthday ritual, a lesson for every year. It’s almost always a list of things I wish I knew when I was younger. Contemplating 40… I thought maybe I […]
When most people hear the word investment, they typically thinking of stock markets, venture capitalists, and startup financing. But there’s one investment that produces a much higher ROI than any of those, the investment you make in yourself. My friend Michael Ellsberg even refers to this as The Last Safe Investment. I have an interest […]
In the movie Wall Street, there’s a famous scene where Gordon Gecko is talking to someone on the phone and says, “Lunch? Lunch is for wimps.” Our version of that today is something along the lines of “I’m hustling” or “I’m crushing it.” We celebrate the 120 hour work weeks of internet famous entrepreneurs. And […]
Several years ago my team planned a 2-day event called the Instigator Experience. In the nine months leading up to the event, my life changed a lot. I found a mentor who played an instrumental role in helping me turn my business around, self-published a book that succeeded beyond my wildest expectations, and we rebranded […]
Why do we use calendars and to do lists? Why do people like me say you should always carry a notebook? Why do we use planners, organizers, and tools like Trello, Evernote, and Basecamp? The answer to all of these questions is one basic idea: The brain is a terrible place to store information. When […]
I have ADD. I spent most of my 20’s flitting from one business idea to another. Despite this appalling track record and a condition I could use as a convenient excuse, I’ve managed to turn things around. Since 2013, I’ve written 100’s of articles, millions of words, two self-published books, and two traditionally published books. […]
There are few things in life that make a person as miserable and ineffective as attempting to control that which is inherently uncontrollable. Many people set goals, particularly at this time of year, but don’t focus on the behavior that leads to achieving those goals. You have far more control over your behavior than any […]
Chances are you’ve read dozens of articles on the internet this week. Maybe you’ve even finished reading book or two. You may have even underlined or highlighted a few passages in what you’ve read. A few days later you can’t even remember what you read or where. And this continues the vicious cycle of excessive consumption. […]
A key habit I’ve noticed in successful people repeatedly, is that they are ruthless in managing what they pay attention to. Sources of distraction today are plentiful and with everything becoming digitized, are only exponentially increasing. I’m sorry to be crass, but your mind is like an egg, ripe for fertilization and every ping, […]
Because you can’t blaze your own trail following in someone else’s footsteps. Because you can’t blaze your own trail following in someone else’s footsteps.
Of all the relationships in your life, the one that will have the most significant impact on you is the one you have with yourself. Your relationships with others, your response to circumstances and situations, and your ability to face rejection and adversity are all a reflection of the relationship you have with yourself. If […]
The most important relationship and the one that will have the most significant impact on you is the one you have with yourself. All of the following a reflection of the relationship you have with yourself. Your relationships with others Response to circumstances and situations, Ability to face rejection and adversity If this relationship is […]
You have multiple possible futures- each of which could be equally incredible. Imagine ten thousand Soul Mates. Nine hundred once in a lifetime opportunities. Three hundred and forty winning lottery tickets. Infinite big breaks. Meditate on multiple pleasurable outcomes and you will lose your grip on things being exactly how you think you need them […]