Note to Self

“You can get whatever you want.” Whether or not you believe this, ask yourself—what do you truly want? What would really satisfy you? Name it. Once you know, start moving toward it. Focus on small steps that bring you closer. Most of the joy comes from moving toward it, not from getting what you want.

Lessons Learned From Others

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Rick Rubin on overcoming creative blocks:

“Go beyond the idea of the block and think about what’s causing it. The block is usually something personal—like feeling “I’m not good enough.” It could be a confidence issue—“I don’t have anything to say.” Or it might come from thinking about others—“Nobody is going to like what I make.” It’s either self-judgment or fear of outside judgment.

But if you create something with the mindset of, “This is something I’m making for myself,” that’s all it is. It’s a diary entry. Everything I make is a diary entry. The beauty of a diary entry is that I can write it, and no one can tell me it wasn’t good enough or that it’s not what I experienced. Of course it’s what I experienced—it’s my personal diary. No one else can judge it. It’s my experience of my life.

Everything we create can be that—a personal reflection of who you are in that moment. It doesn’t have to be the greatest thing you’ll ever make. It doesn’t have to come with the expectation of changing the world or selling a certain number of copies. It doesn’t have to be any of that. It’s simply, “I’m making this for me, and I want to do it to the best of my ability, where I feel good about it, and where it’s honest—honest to where I’m at.”

If you live in that space, just being honest about where you are, there are no blocks. The blocks come from dealing with an outside force or a perception you’ve made up. You create this story and live in it—“I’m blocked because I just can’t do it.” The reason you can’t do it is because you’re afraid someone else won’t like it.

There are no blocks. There’s infinite information out there to work with, and it doesn’t even come from us. We’re just vehicles for this information, and it’s flowing through us all the time. So, if you don’t have an idea when you’re sitting at your desk, go for a walk. Chances are, you’ll see something that sparks a seed in you to build from.

Source: Protocols to Access Creative Energy and Process

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Ray Dalio on decision-making:

“It’s far better to make a decision and be wrong than to not make a decision at all. With a decision, you’ll at least gain information that can help you improve your next one. Without one, you’re just standing still, frozen by uncertainty.”

Source: Principles

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Ken Segall on product naming:

“A great name doesn’t guarantee a hit product any more than a great education guarantees a perfect life. It simply increases the chances of success. A bad name, however, can indeed become a liability in a product launch. Like everything else in marketing (and life), the goal is to do everything in your power to tilt the odds in your favor. Burdening yourself with a bad product name is one way to hobble a product before it even reaches the shelves.”

Source: Insanely Simple

Valuable Finds

● Redefining Bravery: Courage is Not the Absence of Fear

● Think different, not better.

● How to learn a skill faster