The decision. Significant change starts with the decision to change. These are the kind of decisions that are taken once and then not put into question. Without the decision taken with intent, it is very difficult to go through the dip. The last minute mind would always want to quit before we
The lull in the dip. The most threatening part of the dip is the lull: the time period when nothing happens, nothing good, nothing bad. It’s the time when the writer keeps writing but the story moves nowhere. It’s when you keep trying to grow your business but everything remains stagnant. Come what
Physical and digital tools. Many creatives are asked if they prefer digital tools for their work or physical tools. I think that it is not an “or” question, rather it is an “and question”. Both physical and digital tools have their pros and cons and the preference would depend on the situation. Digital tools
Climate change is a "we" problem. Climate change is real and we are already seeing its impact on our environment. For a long time now, even if we were concerned about it, we did not know much about how we can impact it. Seth Godin has generously led the Carbon Almanac project to bring about change
When to quit? (Part 1) Seth Godin talks about quitting in his book The Dip. He talks about three curves: the dip, the cul-de-sac, the cliff. Let’s talk about the dip today. Being a professional is about going through the dip. When you get started, there will be some results that can
Which voice are you listening to? The voice which is helping you achieve your goals and dreams or the voice which is telling you to stay safe? The voice which believes in you, which propels you forward or the voice that doubts you and pulls you back? The voice that speaks calmly and silently or the
The path of least resistance. What specific actions can lead to the change that you seek? What would put you on the hook? What specific action will make it live? What is left when you remove all the frills and distractions? Find the shortest path to make your project live, the first version. You can
Writing is the way out. When the fear and the shallow mind take over, we become overtly invested in thinking and talking. We shift from a creator’s mindset to a consumer’s mindset. The way out is to sit down and write. The more we write, the more we will be able to look
Self assigned deadlines. As a creative, an important skill to master is how to set and meet self assigned deadlines. Without serious deadlines, projects can go on indefinitely without them actually being shipped. Many good ideas never see the day of the light because the creative was not serious about setting and meeting
The difficult task of ignoring sunk costs. Seth Godin talks about how ignoring sunk costs is one of the most important components of decision making. Ignoring sunk costs mean that the decision we take is not influenced by what we have already invested in, or what we had decided in the past. Our decision is, instead, based
Big change. Big change happens through small action steps. Action steps that make the change imminent. Once change becomes imminent, going back to status quo is not an option any more. The only way is forward motion. When we are seeking to make big change, we need to find the action steps
One hour, daily. That’s a good starting point to becoming a professional creative. Whatever your art is, be it writing or gaming or music or teaching, can you spend one hour doing the work daily, preferably at a set time and place. If you can do that for 30 days, you create
Emotional labour. This is the most difficult and the highest paid labour of all. Emotional labour is about fighting your self-doubt, raising your hand and taking initiative. It’s about seeing a problem and then leading a solution without asking for permission. The more emotional labour we do, the better our
Finishing mindset. When we are in the finishing mindset, we stop procrastinating and focus on shipping. Nothing’s more important to us than getting the thing done. We become decisive and make choices. Activating the finishing mindset is like a switch. It takes intent to move from the perfectionist thinking mindset to
The fear of rejection. The fear of rejection forces us to delay action, to not ship. The more we listen to this fear, the more we derail from our goals. The way to handle fear of rejection, is to focus on small action steps that take you forward. Once you have covered 80% of
Do the work. No matter what the circumstances are, no matter what hell is breaking loose, there is never an excuse good enough to skip the work. The professional does not negotiate with fear. They sit down and they ship the work. The amateur does not understand this. They let the day to
Do it kindly. Whatever you do, do it kindly. Whether it is praise or feedback. Whether it is advice or a suggestion. Everyone is going through their struggle, everyone is trying to do their best, including you. So, whatever you do, do it kindly. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you
Not shipping is selfish. When we hide, when we play safe, when we don’t do our work, when we don’t share our work, we act selfish. We let our fear overcome us and stop us from acting. We steal from our audiences the experience, the magic, the certainty that comes from engaging
What did you ship today? It’s a question worth asking yourself daily. It’s a question that keeps you on the hook. It’s a question that leads to forward motion. When we ship stuff, we make things better. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, do share
Routines and Rituals. Routines and rituals help us in accessing our deep mind, our intelligent mind, the mind which is curious. In their absence, mostly, the shallow mind takes over, the mind that seeks instant gratification, the mind that runs away from work. As we set our routines and rituals, there would be
Making assertions A creative is required to make assertions. The nature of assertions is that they might not work. Seeking certainty limits the creative and is analogous to driving with the brakes on. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a subscriber, do share with your friends.
Becoming aware of choice. At times, we become so used to the status quo that we start believing we do not have a choice. We do things that don’t bring us happiness, we indulge in activities that make our lives worse. It is difficult but very useful to become aware of the choice
Listening to Resistance. Resistance rarely says no. Mostly it says later. It rarely says that we are afraid. Mostly it says we are busy. The moment we start listening to Resistance, we start developing symptoms. Choose to act now, not later. — If you liked reading this, consider subscribing. If you are already a
No stimuli. If you want to do deep work, you need to create a time-space with no stimuli. The shallow mind is too likely to succumb to anything that can distract it from the work. A lot of creative energy is drained in responding to stimuli and getting back to work.
Change comes through action. Change cannot come through thought, through intention, through discussion. Action, forward motion is critical for change to happen. And each of the steps towards significant change is accompanied by fear in the form of doubt, perfectionism and procrastination. The key to bringing about change is to take action before the
