If you want to be insanely creative, you need to read this

onward…

Understand the ‘300 rule.’

Some years ago, I shared the idea that we shouldn’t expect any traction or engagement from our work until we’ve created and published at least 300 pieces.

Obviously, this isn’t a hard rule, and it applies differently to different kinds of content. For clarity, we can apply this to, say, a thread or a youtube video.

It took me writing and sharing hundreds of articles before anything took off.

You will likely succeed far sooner, but don’t expect success or going viral before you’ve produced at mass.

Focus on the numbers. Knowing this makes it easier to power on when you might otherwise get disappointed.

Decide to be a maniac.

Don’t listen to the bozos who tell you to take it slow and ‘just enjoy life.’ No.

They want you smoking weed on the sofa with them, unproductive as all hell.

Creating things is our birthright and the most potent source of life energy when we allow it to flourish. We are literally composed of the same creative force driving the expansion of the Universe.

Slow down if you’re burning out, yes, but do so to get on the fast track again.

Decide to be crazy creative, act like it, and your reality will bend to your wishes.

Grow a buzzing audience.

It becomes much easier to be driven to make and share stuff when fans are waiting for your next creation.

And yes, I know how hard this is when you’re not seeing initial results, and you continually share to crickets. It takes time and a lot of work, but let this be part of your process.

Create for an audience and create to build an audience. Befriend one person at a time.

Be openly supportive of bigger accounts who may return the favour. Aggressively take every inch of market share.

Stop waiting for them to come to you and be proactive. In ten years, you will regret that you coasted here.

Become a ‘creative athlete.’

You can’t create in a dark room all day and expect to maintain a relentless consistency.

You must feed and train your body properly in parallel to be creatively athletic.

Don’t eat trash and expect to be motivated. Develop an intimate sense for how your body responds and runs best.

This is the secret to those who appear to pull energy from nowhere day after day. They train their bodies in service of their work.

Cut artificial dopamine.

You spend five hours a day on social media, youtube, porn, video games and movies, and then wonder why you’re unmotivated.

Short-term pleasure always comes with a price. If you want to be insanely creative, you can’t allow your senses to be numbed by too much fake stimulation.

Artificial dopamine spiking means your receptors become less responsive to ‘normal’ stimuli like writing or making art.

Start replacing this passive stuff with creative action, and your body will reward you with a steady flow of positive feelings.

Understand ‘tempering.’

In sword-smithing, they use a process called ‘tempering’ to improve the hardness and elasticity of the steel by reheating and then cooling it.

A similar effect happens in your journey as a creator and audience-builder.

You must anticipate periods of contraction (cooling) and moments of rejection, or you will quit.

It’s all part of an overall strengthening and growth. You could lose two followers as you gain five. Your last piece might have been a hit, but the next one bombs.

That’s good. Just don’t quit, and you are guaranteed an upward trend of improvement and growth.

Track your output.

When we record our output somewhere visible, a funny thing happens: we fall into playing a game.

We try to beat our last score. We’re more aware of the dent we’re making. Everything becomes more engaged and enjoyable. First, make a commitment to consistent output.

Track your key metrics in an app or wall calendar. Record your creations and their results.

Newsletter subscribers, likes, and all. Tracking the impact you’re making will push you to do more.

Have a mission bigger than you.

Your work takes on a whole new flavour when you approach it as a means to bring about an impact that goes beyond filling your bank account.

Even if it’s simply to inspire as many people as possible to create something themselves, this is all the purpose you need.

Go big. Have eye-watering plans that inform a relentless commitment to producing cool shit.

Be results-oriented.

I come across so many who continue to do the same thing over and over, day after day, with little to no result.

They pat themselves on the back come nightfall saying they were ‘productive’ when they were merely ‘busy.’

You must focus on creating real results, or you will eventually hit a brick wall. Identify what’s working, then do more of it.

Take note, even of the smallest things.

Be aggressively biased towards results. This will empower you to continue creating hard.

Focus on quantity AND quality.

It’s not either-or, my friend. You’re bigger than both. You’re not a quality guy sharing one measly post every 10 days.

And you’re not a quantity guy, sharing trash you rushed out in five minutes a hundred times a day.

You sit at the intersection of both.

Don’t allow scarce thinking to limit you to one or none. It is in the mind.

You can do both.

You will find the time.

When you do, you’ll be surprised at what you’re capable of.

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