Good article. I like the #6 illustration the best. Succinct and shows both current and future positions/potentials. Many creative people say "just throw something against the wall, and if it sticks, by golly, develop it!" That is another way of saying "don't hold back". I am an older "rich" person who worked for a very creative person. His company was even called Creative Products and many consumer products still used today were developed by him. His creativity strength was a very active mind needing little sleep coupled with a workaholic mentality. He also enjoyed the "aha moments" of creating a successful product. So, don't give up, if you believe you have something! I might disagree that rich people are stupid (chuckle), most didn't get that way by being stupid. I got there by paying very close attention to how they succeeded, and using their proven skills. Here's my tip, find a mentor and always remember that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. It will save you time and help you stay focused. Good analysis of the whole process, Tim. Many people feel overwhelmed in early stages and need to read articles of encouragement. "Thumbs up!"
Tim, all of your points are great but #9 evoked memories of when I was coding in Python. This simple programming language is used to test concepts before software developers switch to C++ and make a more efficient (and complex) app. I've never done that myself, I'm not a software developer, but could immediately see the benefits of this approach - Python is so easy and should be used for testing.
I want to keep the pics from this story and bookmarked it. What a great read.
I liked the last image because it underlines my belief that you need to always be in the world of possibilities to feel alive and keep moving forward. I'm an ideas person and that is my obsession as well as believing that there are always solutions to any problems.I am a problem solver. I loved all the images but the last one resonated most
Loving this! And these are so beautiful illustrations! Really hard to pick one to be honest so for this one I stay in the non-deciding sphere. Why, because what I like depends on my current circumstance, the moment in time right now. Now, after these lines of writing what stuck most with me is the image of our paths and which ones we choose, the last, that we can always choose different, as we always start anew, the one with consistency and 0% off is better than forcing us on 100% consistency, the circles, the one with water poured into a glass vs into our hands, slippery in thinking, beautiful in writing, clear and on point, even though I would prefer the glass of water and then poured into an ocean for everyone to partake and learn from each other, to connect and re-connect. All in all, thanks for an inspiring post, I really enjoyed reading it and loved these amazing graphics - wondered at one point - how did you find them, connected them so well, made them so well on point? So really great, loving it! 😀
Thank you for this article, I found it incredibly useful and inspiring. You get to the point and tell us how it is. Plenty of things to take away and start applying, expanding on our personal life too not just career wise. Yep, fear it is what stops us most of the time. Thank you for showing us the way. Wonderful opportunity to catch.
Tim, I love this article , so much to glean and integrate, Thank you particularly for the choose the pain of discipline, this has been a building principle for me in creating a healthy purposeful life …also this quote 💗…”cool perk I’ve found is when you permanently decide to enter the growth zone, you experience higher states of consciousness. It’s a transcendent feeling.” I believe it is transcendence in action and how we evolve . 🙏🏻
Lots of great visuals but the one that struck me the most was the showing up daily rows of circles. It's so true. I set myself a minimum of 200 words a day. And if there are days when the 200 are a struggle, so be it. But more often the 200 turns into 1000 or more. People ask me how I write so many novels (and I know lots of writers produce far more than I do), and it's because I do show up every day. But your visual is a great reminder for me - about to print it out and put it by my computer!
#8 and #11 spoke the loudest to me—consistency and showing up meant perfection. I'm doing better at just doing something, anything so I can see progress.
The pain of discipline vs regret feels like the universe is punching me in my face for more than my writing. It seems to have a habit of repeating lessons until you learn them.
The visuals enhance your messages for sure. The one that stuck out for me is the difference between rich and wealthy. I already feel I’m wealthy through making serious changes in my life. Now my obsession to make a difference might make me more money as well as bring fulfilment in my new life paths. Cheers
I really like the drinking water is writing analogy. Writing on substack does feel like drinking water. I used to spend way too much time on other social media apps like Instagram. It felt like was drowning in other peoples ideas even though the ideas were great. like I was filling my creative cup but not drinking anything. don’t get me wrong, sometimes all I want to do is watch the Instagram machine. It’s like a real life, real-time movie. But if instagram is like watching the movie, then substack is like reading or writing the book. and I definitely need to read more books.
points #2 and #8 really hit home for me. resourcefulness is something I aspire to and something I need to work on! and #8 tells me, yes I show up every day, may not be 100% but it's okay to just show up. Thanks Tim!
Loved reading this article this morning. Always great morning motivation. I can relate to almost all of these points. The biggest ones being #7 and #9. I remember Jordan Peterson saying something about only being able to handle about 3-4 hours of intense focused work per day. Getting into a flow state has drastically increased my productivity and decreased work time. Also, as a former mechanical engineer and now current strength and conditioning coach, understanding the agile framework and process of iterating is an extremely useful skill across the board. Well done with this article!!!
Good article. I like the #6 illustration the best. Succinct and shows both current and future positions/potentials. Many creative people say "just throw something against the wall, and if it sticks, by golly, develop it!" That is another way of saying "don't hold back". I am an older "rich" person who worked for a very creative person. His company was even called Creative Products and many consumer products still used today were developed by him. His creativity strength was a very active mind needing little sleep coupled with a workaholic mentality. He also enjoyed the "aha moments" of creating a successful product. So, don't give up, if you believe you have something! I might disagree that rich people are stupid (chuckle), most didn't get that way by being stupid. I got there by paying very close attention to how they succeeded, and using their proven skills. Here's my tip, find a mentor and always remember that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. It will save you time and help you stay focused. Good analysis of the whole process, Tim. Many people feel overwhelmed in early stages and need to read articles of encouragement. "Thumbs up!"
Tim, all of your points are great but #9 evoked memories of when I was coding in Python. This simple programming language is used to test concepts before software developers switch to C++ and make a more efficient (and complex) app. I've never done that myself, I'm not a software developer, but could immediately see the benefits of this approach - Python is so easy and should be used for testing.
I want to keep the pics from this story and bookmarked it. What a great read.
I liked the last image because it underlines my belief that you need to always be in the world of possibilities to feel alive and keep moving forward. I'm an ideas person and that is my obsession as well as believing that there are always solutions to any problems.I am a problem solver. I loved all the images but the last one resonated most
Loving this! And these are so beautiful illustrations! Really hard to pick one to be honest so for this one I stay in the non-deciding sphere. Why, because what I like depends on my current circumstance, the moment in time right now. Now, after these lines of writing what stuck most with me is the image of our paths and which ones we choose, the last, that we can always choose different, as we always start anew, the one with consistency and 0% off is better than forcing us on 100% consistency, the circles, the one with water poured into a glass vs into our hands, slippery in thinking, beautiful in writing, clear and on point, even though I would prefer the glass of water and then poured into an ocean for everyone to partake and learn from each other, to connect and re-connect. All in all, thanks for an inspiring post, I really enjoyed reading it and loved these amazing graphics - wondered at one point - how did you find them, connected them so well, made them so well on point? So really great, loving it! 😀
Thank you for this article, I found it incredibly useful and inspiring. You get to the point and tell us how it is. Plenty of things to take away and start applying, expanding on our personal life too not just career wise. Yep, fear it is what stops us most of the time. Thank you for showing us the way. Wonderful opportunity to catch.
Tim, I love this article , so much to glean and integrate, Thank you particularly for the choose the pain of discipline, this has been a building principle for me in creating a healthy purposeful life …also this quote 💗…”cool perk I’ve found is when you permanently decide to enter the growth zone, you experience higher states of consciousness. It’s a transcendent feeling.” I believe it is transcendence in action and how we evolve . 🙏🏻
Lots of great visuals but the one that struck me the most was the showing up daily rows of circles. It's so true. I set myself a minimum of 200 words a day. And if there are days when the 200 are a struggle, so be it. But more often the 200 turns into 1000 or more. People ask me how I write so many novels (and I know lots of writers produce far more than I do), and it's because I do show up every day. But your visual is a great reminder for me - about to print it out and put it by my computer!
Love these, especially the graphics. Something people can definitely use.
Great article! My vote for best graphic: your no 0 days image "Showing Up Daily"
#8 and #11 spoke the loudest to me—consistency and showing up meant perfection. I'm doing better at just doing something, anything so I can see progress.
The pain of discipline vs regret feels like the universe is punching me in my face for more than my writing. It seems to have a habit of repeating lessons until you learn them.
Excellent work Tim! 👍
The visuals enhance your messages for sure. The one that stuck out for me is the difference between rich and wealthy. I already feel I’m wealthy through making serious changes in my life. Now my obsession to make a difference might make me more money as well as bring fulfilment in my new life paths. Cheers
I really like the drinking water is writing analogy. Writing on substack does feel like drinking water. I used to spend way too much time on other social media apps like Instagram. It felt like was drowning in other peoples ideas even though the ideas were great. like I was filling my creative cup but not drinking anything. don’t get me wrong, sometimes all I want to do is watch the Instagram machine. It’s like a real life, real-time movie. But if instagram is like watching the movie, then substack is like reading or writing the book. and I definitely need to read more books.
points #2 and #8 really hit home for me. resourcefulness is something I aspire to and something I need to work on! and #8 tells me, yes I show up every day, may not be 100% but it's okay to just show up. Thanks Tim!
I jammed to some Sturgill Simpson the other day and thought about the old days when we inhaled our music from CDs.
Most albums only have one or two popular songs, leaving the rest forgotten by all but the most devoted fans.
Writing is a lot like that. Much of what we write will flop. That’s part of the game.
What matters is whether or not that creation fulfilled you.
You can’t control the outcome. The process is your part. The rest is for everybody else.
I like Zach Bryan’s music. A lot. I have every song he’s ever released saved on my Spotify account, yet there are songs I skip all the time.
I don't hate these songs. It's just that they don’t turn my musical crank. And that’s okay.
One must be mentally strong to make it in the creativity biz.
You pour your heart and soul into a work, only to be met with crickets the next day.
You have to be able to handle the outcome, and it’s not always easy. Disappointing outcomes can be a tough pill to swallow.
This is the part where most people quit.
How do I know? Cause I got that little voice in my head too. The one that says nobody gives a turkey about your life, so what’s the point?
That voice always nags, saying you’re wasting your time and energy
Well fuck that guy.
Kick his ass, seabass.
There’s no room for that voice in your life. Tell him to piss off, laugh him out of the room, fart on his face. I don’t care what you have to do.
Keep writing.
Fuck the outcome. It will be what it will be. What you need to do is enjoy the process.
The rest will work itself out.
Loved reading this article this morning. Always great morning motivation. I can relate to almost all of these points. The biggest ones being #7 and #9. I remember Jordan Peterson saying something about only being able to handle about 3-4 hours of intense focused work per day. Getting into a flow state has drastically increased my productivity and decreased work time. Also, as a former mechanical engineer and now current strength and conditioning coach, understanding the agile framework and process of iterating is an extremely useful skill across the board. Well done with this article!!!