The State of Your Attention Determines the State of Your Life
[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…
Why You Should Always Carry a Notebook
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
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.…
How To Write a Traditionally Published Book – A Behind the Scenes Look
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…
The 9 Environments that Make Up Your Life
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…
The Art of The Podcast Interview: What I’ve Learned from 700 Episodes
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…
Professionals vs Amateurs
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…
This is the Only Viable Strategy to Build an Audience for Your Work
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…
How I Get Shit Done Despite Having ADD: Here’s What You Can Learn From my Experiences
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…
The Profound Power of Consistency
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…
