creativity
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Where comparison fails
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1 min read
We discover our uniqueness through failed conformity. We’re not here to follow and jump through hoops. We endeavor to bend standard practices in strange and wonderful directions. Thinking different is the ultimate motivator. It carves us into individuals. We are who we are — purple cows instead of mindless little robots — and do not accept anything…
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Throwing a rock into a hard place
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2 min read
Stuck between the intention and the act, we often fail to carry out what we’re meant to do. Motivation is fickle. Distractions are plentiful. Doing is not a matter of talent but discipline. Every repetition is a bicep curl for the brain. Wrote William James in The Principles of Psychology: “This very day I have been…
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Crafting confidence
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2 min read
Confidence is fickle. Better to start before you’re ready than wait until you have full faith in yourself. The key to crafting confidence starts in the imagination. If you can armor yourself with enough courage — even if it means acting slightly overconfident — you’ll have revved the engine for risk-taking. Synchronicities also tend to happen when…
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Never mind the mood
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2 min read
The work doesn’t begin or end at the mercy of mood. Feeling lazy or prepared is neutral — both are non-starters. The mood’s texture remains unchanged. Having a daily discipline is the best way to keep the shipping alive. Habits are stronger than moods. If your emotions or conditions get in the way because you’re…
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Imagining life without work
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2 min read
Some people are obsessed with work. It defines them, gives them a structure. Without work, they’d sail away at the mercy of the waves and get lost at sea. But technology facilitates creativity. The accountant becomes a music producer at night, a photographer, or YouTuber on the weekend. He or she identifies more as being…
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Beware the mind virus
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1 min read
Creativity dwindles with age. First, school sucks it out of you, and then corporate work puts the nail in the coffin. Patterns of normality and absolutes are leaches. Like a mind virus, they try to kill off the imagination and train your organic reflexes into compliant sheep. If you’re lucky, you’ll have no choice but…
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Creativity is a fancy version of productivity
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1 min read
People confuse busyness with productivity. Answering emails all day is mostly a waste of time, as is instant messaging co-workers. Doing something — typing into little boxes all day — fulfills the human desire to feel useful. People also perceive what artists do is an unnecessary use of time. But creativity is a fancy version…
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If you’re struggling to get started, do it badly
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2 min read
“Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly,” advises the author Alain de Botton. Perfection is the antithesis of inspiration — it prevents you from getting started. The trick to getting going is to do it badly. To do that, one must be intentionally messy. The art of…
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From seeing to believing
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1 min read
Obvious to you, not to others. It’s the human condition to see patterns but leave them to abstraction. Identifying the gaps is only the start. No one gains from keeping silent on the puzzle of opportunity. What occupies the rest of the grey space is doing the work. Creators play the dual role of keen…
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A panoply of tools
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2 min read
What’s the primary device that unlocks your creativity — the camera, a pen, or the paintbrush? These tools are our passport to freedom. So photographers speak through photos, writers communicate in text, cartoonists draw, etc. “We become what we behold,” Marshall McLuhan said, “We shape our tools and then our tools shape us.” Our vocation shapes our…
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The archaeological dig of the self
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1 min read
A synchronization of mind thought, and people — symphonies boost enthusiasm, concentration, and memory power. Their confluence is the great harvester of human attention. If you’re always polishing the car, you’ll never go anywhere to discover new things. If you’re always rushing, you’ll never reap the benefits earned through reflection. The inner and outer worlds…