Imposter syndrome imposter: a person who pretends to be someone else in order to deceive others, especially for fraudulent gain. syndrome: a group of symptoms which consistently occur together, or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms. What are the symptoms? We hesitate. We hide. We are hypercritical of ourselves.
Plumbing and non-plumbing work. There are certain tasks that we can get done without facing much emotional resistance. These tasks are equivalent to a plumber doing his/her job. No matter how they are feeling, they know how to fix the pipes so that the water starts flowing. On the other hand, there is
Emotional labour. Emotional labour is when we push against resistance to move forward in our work. It's when we get the work done even when we don't feel like doing it. It can't be seen unlike physical or mental labour but it's critical work
Human doctor... ...or lawyer or teacher or boss or employee. In trying to become doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, etc. we forget the fact that we are humans serving humans. And as humans, what we seek is connection. The more we can make the people we serve feel seen and heard, the better
The creative process. The creative process is unpredictable, irrational, and chaotic and it involves a lot of hard work, physical, mental and emotional. The creative process is iterative and it takes multiple iterations to make something that works. In the process, there are multiple things that don't. Each failed iteration gives
The simple answer is the most elusive. It comes more from taking away than from adding more. That's why constraints are really helpful for creativity and entrepreneurship. Constraints help us focus by limiting the canvas. Paintings can't be made on an infinite canvas, nor can our project. Choose your boundaries, and your work
Trust your self. There are no guarantees with creative or entrepreneurial work. We can never predict the outcome of a creative or entrepreneurial endeavour. Rather, if we can predict the outcome with certainty, then it can be said that the work was not creative to begin with. Instead, what we have, as creatives,
You are more than you might think you are. The social constructs tend to make us feel restricted and we get used to adjusting and compromising to fit into them. When we do that we lose our identity as an individual and it starts becoming relative to those who are around us. But when we look beyond these constructs,
Tackling loneliness. Working alone as entrepreneurs can become lonely. It's important to appreciate this fact and act upon it before it starts impacting our mental and physical health. The best way to tackle the loneliness is to connect with people like us. It is worth the effort to take initiative
The hard work of navigating ambiguity. As entrepreneurs and creatives, that's our primary job: We navigate and tackle ambiguity and try to bring something concrete out of it on the other side. The job is like intentionally getting lost in the forest and trying to find our way out. We take decisions by facing
Deep Work and the Maker's schedule! It's easy to feel productive by checking off a bunch of small, and most likely meaningless, tasks in our to-do lists. We shoot off a few emails, have a few meetings and the day starts feeling busy and productive. On the other hand, the important work is like
It might not work. A 5-year-old has no problems doing things that might not work. That's how kids learn to stand, walk, talk or do anything at all. And we don't put them down when they fail; instead, we encourage them and push them forward. The industrial-education complex was designed
3 kinds of income. The immediate one: It could be a monthly salary or income from part-time projects which pays the bills. We need this income to be certain and enough. Most work would be on spec and that's okay. We are not trying to be professionals here, we are simply doing
Uphills and downhills. There are two kinds of activities that we can encounter every day: ones that pick up momentum on their own and the others which need conscious efforts to gain any momentum. The ones that need momentum, like writing a book, or building a business, or working on a project, need
One hour a day. That's how you get started. That's how you achieve your goals. Fix a time. Fix a place. Set a timer. Then, no matter what, spend one hour a day on the goal you want to achieve.
The ghost behind the curtain. Fear is the real enemy. It stops us from doing things we want to do. It stops us from living the life we want to live. It stops us from being our best selves. The only counter to fear is taking action. Once we take action, once we remove the
Those who show up. Those who show up, face rejection, face ridicule, face criticism. But... they are the ones who make things happen. They make things better by making better things.
Doing nothing. Doing nothing is different than trying to do a lot of things and getting nothing done. Doing nothing means that you are creating space, that you are trying to be mindful about what you do, that you are not just being busy for the heck of being busy. It'
We need more impresarios. We need people who take initiative, who raise their hand up, who connect, coordinate and lead without anyone asking them to. We need people who put themselves on the hook, who take responsibility and who bring about change. We need people who don't wait, who are not afraid
Bet on yourself. And keep betting. Don't play safe. Don't sell yourself short. There would be people who can't afford you. And that's okay. You are not for them. Do your best work. And charge accordingly.
Time Casinos. Casinos are designed to make people addicted. You never start in a casino by saying that you would gamble most of what you have. They tempt you to incrementally keep putting in more money until they have taken everything they can take from you. There are apps, now, that do
Action is the antidote to anxiety. Anxiety shows up in many forms and one of the forms it takes is that of decision-making or, in particular, the illusion of decision-making. We become busy choosing this path or the other and feel as if everything will start falling into place once we take the all-important decision. But
Driving to a city. That's how goals are achieved. That's how situations are resolved. You need to pick the road that leads to the destination and keep driving until you reach there. You need to get out of the comfort zone. And you need to stick to the road. Along
Cash-flow. Many times we feel that the need to generate cash-flow is a burden; that it is something that makes our work unnecessarily more difficult. We wish to be in a position where we could do our work for free without needing to worry about the money. But money makes our
10,000 iterations. You have most likely already done 10,000 iterations of something that you can build your career on. If you like doing it and people pay for it, there's nothing like it. Keep compounding. If you don't like doing it or people don't pay
