The secret recipe? Do what matters, with speed, and in volume

You’re frustrated.

You’re not getting enough done.

You’re not getting anything done.

You’re running on a stupid hamster wheel, and you want out.

You’re getting desperate, and you’re panicking.

Most people would tell you to ‘slow down.’

‘Slow down there tiger.’

I’m saying do the opposite. Speed up.

Speed up.

Ok, ok. Slow down when it comes to important life decisions.

And slow down for a moment to catch your breath, and take in what I have to tell you…

Our lives can drastically change when we act on these three things:

• Work that matters to you

• Working fast

• Creating voluminous amounts of that work

First of all, decide what work matters to you. There are many options.

This decision has been troublesome for me and many I speak to, because of all the other cool stuff there is out there to distract me.

Do what you’re good at. Do what has the potential to thrill you, challenge you, and ideally do what will earn you a living, even if you can’t believe it can happen yet.

But I’ve decided. It’s writing. I love to write. I love to move people with words.

Writing feeds into my articles, audio and videos, paid writing, books and drawings.

It needs continual reminding. But I must write. I have a commitment to it for the next few years at least.

The next two are huge.

Most of us don’t create with force.

That is what is needed.

Most of us move like conscientious, overthinking, thick, muddy landslides. Slow and meandering.

That’s not what you need.

We need to work fast. Make deadlines you can feel as searing hot. Create with speed and a sense of snarling, maniacal urgency.

Wake up and move.

Don’t stop. Move.

Speed on its own is hard because we fear mistakes. And you will make mistakes.

You will trip, and skip and bounce and slide.

But you won’t be so constricted in your attack if you’re also committed to the final leg of the trio:

Volume.

Create a shit ton of stuff, as often as you can. Consistency is a given when we’re talking about quantity here.

Think about those you admire. Look at their paper trail. Look at the piles of work in their path. Volume and hungry speed characterise many greats who seemed to be on their own locomotive track.

You need to work on what matters the most. You want to be doing what challenges, enchants, and exhilarates you.

Enchantment will follow momentum.

Work on what matters, with the intention of creating a lot. Be ridiculous here.

Be known as the creative maniac of your town.

Impress not others, but yourself, with your power and creative prowess.

If you don’t know what you want to be when you grow up (I still don’t), just decide on this:

Be a creative maniac.

It matters more that you are creating with force over doing precisely the ‘right’ thing.

There is no ‘right’ — you just need to choose for now.

Volume — crucially — allows me to make mistakes.

But volume on its own holds me back. Because I’m worried about the sheer scale of such an undertaking. Producing in quantity is a LOT of work.

It’s a lot. ‘That’s for mad geniuses like Picasso, Van Gogh, Kahlo and King.’

But if we throw SPEED into the cacophony, suddenly volume seems possible. It doesn’t look like work, and more like throwing heaps of spaghetti on a wall.

Creating plenty, with frequency, now becomes real.

Speed makes volume possible, and volume makes speed with less fear possible.

So do what matters, every day, with speed and in volume.

What is that work for you — that practice?

Think: what an unfair advantage you will have.

Be a force. Do things with speed and in volume.

Be unstoppable because you made the decision to be: unstoppable.

Then take a break, obviously, and soak up what you’ve done.

Here are the benefits if they aren’t already clear to you:

• You work more creatively because you are less attached to result. You just do, in flow.

• More output. You have more to edit and refine. More gets finished. You create more. Your productivity is drastically increased.

• Your confidence will explode.

• It is easier to work when you don’t feel like it. You have less fear anyway.

• More time for other projects or rest (if you manage your time well).

• Seeing results gives you more momentum, and motivates you to create even more.

Take that advantage.

See you in the studio.

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My newest product: ‘Book of Lift’ planner, helps with just this — helping you focus on what matters the most, every day. Get yours here.

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What makes you come alive?