Life by Design

It can be easy to resign ourselves to fate, to allow ourselves to be conditioned into learned helplessness, waiting for a saviour to come to our aid. Or to succumb to insurmountable odds. But the truth is, more often than not, we have more control than we think. There is always room to make a move, or at the very least, choose our response to the things that stand in our way.

I also explore the idea of 'relaxed productivity' touching on techniques you can use to build your schedule around your life as opposed to just building your life around your work. 

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There is a lot you can’t control sure enough. You can’t control completely what other people do? You can’t control the weather, you can’t control the economy. You can’t even control the things that happen to you. So, when things go awry, or things are a little difficult, it is easy to blame something else. And the f**ked-up thing about it all is that, it is true. Your excuse is true. But you do have control over one thing – your reaction. And that is all you need. Control how you process your emotion and control the action you take.

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Having the crasftsman's mentality means approaching your life with an eye to excellence. It demands a true passion for what you do and a commitment to doing it as great as you can. It is an intrinsic drive to be the best you can be, and it is invaluable in the path to getting what you want.

I also chat about the importance of putting your goals in front of you. Having them easily accessible and constantly within sight can have many benefits, like serving as a literal reminder in the midst of competing demands, priming your mind to recognise opportunities and cultivating the burning desire you need to push over the long run.

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The craftsman’s mentality is that of love, exacting standards and insatiable drive. The craftsman loves what she does and will go to great lengths to do it the very best she can. Good enough isn’t good enough. It must be absolutely incredible.

Consider the mentality of the craftsman as a precursor to excellence. It will improve your quality of life and be an invaluable resource on the road to getting what you want. The craftsman enjoys the pleasure of doing a thing well for its sake. Becoming a craftsman means taking responsibility for your work and making sure it is executed with care and due diligence.

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First Ramble Show after a while away. Here I talk about the Art of Letting Bad things, the inevitable tradeoffs that come with life. If you are pushing and focusing on your One Thing, other also important things are going to fall through the cracks sometimes. And when bad things happen, when misfortune strikes, do you have the tools to stay even keel, focus and do the right thing.

I also talk about Learning to Suffer, an idea I have explored multiple times in my writing. Learning to bear strain and suffer, endure painful experiences or stress on the road to success is vital. Some of the things you have to do and go through will be shitty, how do you suffer properly and emerge stronger and more resilient on the other side. 

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When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. – Henry Ford

There are many true facts about life, but there is one that is particularly uncomfortable to look at and deal with – bad things happen. Sometimes they happen as consequences of our actions, sometimes they just happen. If this is a fact of life, is there a way to embrace and navigate it? Can we learn how to handle misfortune in our pursuit of our success and happiness?

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The greatest thing you could probably do for your productivity and quality of output is to put your phone on Airplane Mode. Being able to shut off from the world and streams of distraction and focus completely on a task for an extended period of time is an underrated superpower in this day and age. It will set you apart and help you get things done.

I also talk about the need to evolve and change as you succeed. What has brought you to this level of success and being will not be what will take you to your next level. In fact, it could now be the thing holding you back. You have to have the right shifts in perspective, action and experience to break through to your next level. 

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There is a feature of the iPhone (and most other phones I would imagine, I’m hopelessly lost to the Apple hype train) that is irrefutably the best feature of the phone. It is not the above average camera (Samsung kicks its ass in my opinion), it’s not the design and how sleek it looks, it’s not the fact that it makes me look cool when I whip it out. It is the airplane mode function. With a swipe and a tap, I can turn the device from a portal to the infinite distraction machine that is the internet into a shiny paperweight.

Deep Work is the reason my phone is on airplane mode at least 50% of the time. This book is the reason I am many times unreachable, much to the chagrin of my friends and clients. It is also the reason I have been able to work on my business and my brand consistently over time. It is the reason my design work has gotten stronger, the reason I’m learning faster and the reason my general productivity (the ability to get things done) has doubled or maybe even tripled.

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There are two ways of going after a goal. You could try to brute force it, or you could build systems around it. One relies on your willpower and stamina. The other conditions you naturally over time. Approaching goals with a systems mindset allows you to leverage the incredible power of compound effect in your favour.

I also explore the dark side of success, explaining why achievement and success are good, but won't make you happy. In your pursuit of growth and success, do not forget that the main things that add to your happiness and fulfilment are the ordinary simple things. 

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The power of a goal is readily compelling. It is the shining beacon that calls out to us, it is the big thing we want to achieve. And so usually we set it and then we hack away at it every day, or whenever we remember, trying things, failing, learning and trying again until we finally get there. This typical process requires a great deal of willpower, motivation and drive to get started and keep things moving.

The idea of ‘Systems > Goals’ strikes a chord with me because it dovetails nicely with things I have blogged about before like ‘trust the process’, and ‘making time work for you’. It is understanding the incredible power of compound effect and leveraging that in your favor. There is a reason why the most prolific artists and creators of all time swear by some sort of system or routine. Routines free up energy to be creative where it counts, doing the actual work. Systems provide the framework to achieve greatness over time.

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There's a bunch in this one. Happy to back after a month's break. I break down the idea of goal setting a la the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and smaller checkpoint goals. I give a bit of an update to my break and ideas I toyed with during my hiatus, settling on and expanding on something I've been wondering about for a while - how to raise your success ceiling.

We all have trigger points, levels of success we are uncomfortable with and levels of failure we won't tolerate. In between is the sweet spot, our comfort zone. How do we raise that zone up so we naturally achieve greater levels of success?

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Once you have figured out who you are, what you want, considered the cost and decided to jump it, it’s time to let the rubber hit the road. It’s time to get practical. It’s time to set some goals.

Goals set the target, they move the dream from being just a wish to becoming a mission. We all tend to have a vague idea of what we want, setting goals helps us make that desire tangible and specific. There are two types of goals you must have. There is the big hairy audacious goal (BHAG), and then there are the smaller approximate goals I like to call checkpoints.

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One big thing that stops us from getting what we want is inertia. it takes burning desire to blast through those blockages and doggedly chase after what you want, not matter the cost. I discuss how to cultivate it.

I also talk about work and the negative returns curve. The idea that there is a sweet spot of how much you can work before it actually starts having negative effects. I explore the ways we can avoid overwork and optimise our personal rhythms to be more productive over the long run. 

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You have to want what you want so bad, that everything falls away. You have to crave it so much that you will do WHATEVER IT TAKES. It is that fire in your belly that will keep you going long after your mind is tired, and your body is drained. It is that thing that would provide you with a second wind and a third wind. It is that burning desire that will shut your mind to the naysayers and keep you laser focused on your goal.

So how do we cultivate burning desire?

The same way we cultivate anything. By giving it attention. By feeding it.

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To get what you want, you have to know what you want. Then you have to know what it will cost to get it, and if you are willing and able to pay that price. It is easy to drift into wishful hopeful thinking without making concrete plans. But hope is not a strategy, and no one is coming to save you. Count the cost and pay it.

So far, I have talked about knowing what you want, and how you need to know yourself first so that all you seek comes from a deep authentic sense of self. Once you have figured all of that out, you have to figure out what it would take to get what you want.

This step is what separates dreams and wishes from true goals and desires. To get what you want, you must pay the required price. What will it take to get what you want? There is the gulf between where you are now, and where you need to go. How will you bridge the gap?

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To get what you want, you have to know what you want. And that isn't always easy. Sometimes you must peel back layers of familial or societal conditioning to get to the core of your truth, your essence. Authentic desire comes from a connection with our innermost selves. A desire that is forged only from society or media will can blind us and lead us in the wrong direction.

I also talk about my present foray into the depths of productivity optimisation and share some ideas on how you can supercharge your productivity right now.

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The first step in getting what you want is knowing yourself. The next step is perhaps even more critical, as you would imagine. It is knowing WHAT you want in the first place. Sounds simple enough, but it really isn’t.

Desire is a very tricky thing. Sometimes we have to peel back layers of conflicting ‘wants’ to really find the core of what we truly desire. Discovering what you want is not easy, it takes some work.

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To get what you want, you have to know what you want. To know what you want, you have to know yourself. In a world that bombards us with messages and agendas every waking minute of everyday. It is important to take time to connect with yourself and with the still small voice within. If you increase your self awareness, you gain more conscious control over your actions.

I also talk about what it means to turn pro, and truly commit to your goals or projects.  

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A huge amount of our problems arise from being disconnected with ourselves. We get too busy acting, too busy chasing something – a goal, an object, a person, a relationship. We seek completion or to find some sort of fulfillment in all these things. And yet, the one thing we usually need the most is to go inward.

On the long road of growth, self-awareness is the first step. It is difficult to know what you truly want if you have not come to terms with who you are. You have to be able to recognize your thoughts, emotions, motivation and beliefs. Once you can observe what’s going on inside you, you are able to move with greater congruency.

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Truth is, if we want to be truly happy and fulfilled, we have to learn to deal with suffering and learn how to do it properly. Not suffering needlessly or suffering fools, but enduring what we must, and doing what needs to be done, pressing towards the storm and emerging stronger for it.

I also talk about my experince of working on upgrading my space and what working on your environment can do for your state of mind, productivity and sense of being. 

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“Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” – Scott Peck

True happiness is born from the pursuit of purpose. When we are driven by a goal, pulled to pursue something bigger than ourselves, we are called to new levels of action and struggle. We are forced to go through this hard and uncomfortable journey and come out the other side.

In-between where we are now and where we want to go, there is the gulf. There is our inertia. There are all the things we don’t know. There are all the mistakes we will make. There is all the fear and self-doubt. There is the past trauma. There might even be the boos and jeers of the people around us. But if we want to reach our destination, if we are to get what we want, we have to cross this gulf, we have to embrace the suffering.

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We usually try to avoid failure. But avoiding failure means doing what we already know works, or worse still doing nothing. And even though it might feel we gain nothing and lose nothing by doing nothing, we still lose because time doesn't stand still. I talk about embracing failure as part of the path to success. 

I also talk about a personal philosophy of mine, pushing for authenticity of being over expectations, living our truths and working through our issues with an open heart to coax real lasting change.

(Also I was supposed to publish this last week Wednesday but wanted to rerecord it and I never got around to it, so f*ck it, here it is anyway)

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For some reason, we think that in doing nothing, we gain nothing and we lose nothing. The fearing of losing trumps any anticipation of winning. And this fear keeps us from starting businesses, from ending or starting new relationships, from taking chances. But if you stand still, you lose still. Because time does not stand still, it is unrelenting in its forward movement second after second. The window of opportunity to take action may only be open for so long.

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Monetization is on probably more minds than it has ever been. With every other person being a YouTuber, Podcaster, or Influencer of some kind. Who ever you are and what ever you do, you probably wonder how to make money off it. How can you make money off your art or your passion? There are many ways, but the fundamental idea is to distill what you do into a product, service or experience that can be transacted on. 

I also talk about the best way to approach self help and avoiding the epiphany addiction trap. There are those who jump from guru to guru and seminar to seminar looking for the latest insight or fad. Others only swing by when they need to fix something in their lives. I argue its best to approach personal development like you'd approach fitness. 

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The thing about being creative types, philosophers and bohemians in a largely capitalistic world is that we are continually faced with the tension of expressing our art, our soul, our spiritual gift to the world while somehow finding a way to survive. Monetization (making money from our art) or subsidization (having someone else donate) becomes necessary at some point.

True, not everything needs to be monetized and we live in a real world of people and interaction on multiple layers – physical, emotional, and spiritual. Not everything can or should be reduced down to currency. However, if you are looking to monetize your passion, this as an incredibly useful way to look at it.

You have to attach something to the art – a product, a service or an experience.

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Our digital spheres are cluttered with success porn, everyone trying to look better than they are or claim the hustle aesthetic. What remains after all that fades away? What actually brings us success? It's probably not all that instagram posting about "Rise n Grind". More likely, it's the work and focus and skill you put in. How do we transcend success porn, and how do we develop the skill of making even our problems and obstacles work in our favour? How do we become truly unstoppable?

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We are surrounded by success porn. From Facebook to Snapchat to Instagram, the digital sphere is littered with quote cards spouting off generic success platitudes and motivation. You know the ones, the images of the suave guy in the impeccable suit and nice watch. Or the flawlessly shot Instagram gym model showing off her perfect abs and toned body.

It can be a burst of inspiration, a certain smug satisfaction, a ‘hell yeah! high five! let’s get it’ sort of moment. And it’s good. Sometimes you need that spark, that reminder. But the main problem with success porn is that you can get that hit of self-righteous dopamine so many times that you begin to feel satisfied without actually doing any work.

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Hustle and hard work are very important, but not at the expense of our health, mental or otherwise. In this episode, I talk about the need to rest, to take a step back. Unplugging from time to time helps us recharge. Also how can we keep our mental health right in these insane times, and how can we solve our problems effectively. Striking at the root instead of only offering surface solutions. 

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Hard work and hustle are important. You do have to push hard. Like Bruce Mau’s incomplete manifesto for growth says – Stay up late. Strange things happen when you’ve gone too far, been up too long, worked too hard, and you’re separated from the rest of the world. But you also need to unplug. You need to allow yourself to recover. Which can be very hard if you are a type A personality. Or you are obsessed.

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In the pursuit of your goals, you have to allow the journey to change you. To someone stronger, more resilient, more capable of creating the conditions you desire. Change is how you get there. Sometimes these goals are far beyond our present reach, or blocked off with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. How do we tackle them? How do we bridge the gap and bring us closer to making them a reality.

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You get what you are. Your life, your situation is a reflection of your abilities, your actions, your initiatives, your ideas and your execution within the overall mesh of everyone else’s actions. If you want a new experience or success, you are going to have to do different things, uncomfortable things, things that will stretch you, things that will change you.

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The direction in which you are moving is more important than where you are right now, or even where you are trying to go. You have to focus on the process and make sure you are moving in the right direction, and let time take care of the rest. In light of that, when you falter and have a bad go of it for a while - depression, misfortune, failure, how do you bounce back, how do you raise your vibration and get back to feel good and walking your path

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The road to success is not a straight path; it is never always smooth sailing. The quest to manifest your vision will be filled with ups and downs. There will be mountains and valleys. You will get lost in the bushes and have to double back. You will face intimidating obstacles. But no matter where you are in the journey – on the mountaintop or in the valley, your trajectory is more important than where you are right now.

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You can't fix today's problems with yesterday's thinking. If you want to move forward, often you have to let go of the old and embrace the new. And if you really wanted to level up, to break through to a new state of affairs, there are a few principles that would get you there - exposing yourself to greatness, raising your energy, and taking action. 

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You are who you are now because of the decisions and actions you made. If you want to become a different person, a better person perhaps, you are going to need to make new decisions and take new actions. You have to let go of the old to grab the new.

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If we want to succeed and live with intent, we must be able to go deep on the things that will make the most impact. This week I expand on the notion of protecting your creative space to ensure that you are moving forward on the things that are important to you. I also share some tips on how to have very productive and focused work sessions. 

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I believe there is nothing more important than being creative (after food, shelter, etc.), and being creative for you. But the business of life can be very distracting. In between all the chores, the jobs, the social obligations and the daily hum of life, it is incredibly easy to lose yourself and your true desires. How do we protect our creative space and make sure we work with intention, and actually get our personal creative or most important projects done?

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This week I talk about one of my experiences with getting a big project that was important to me but not quite urgent all the way across the finish line. I also share ideas on how to manage our time and be more productive and effective as creatives and entrepreneurs. 

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Do you struggle with making progress on the things that are important to you but not necessarily urgent. You know, those things that would actually move you forward? I know the feeling very well. But in 2017, my business site went live after years of having nothing on my domain. It was the culmination of 6 months of constant work and balance against other responsibilities, but I got it done. These are some of the principles and ideas I learned around getting important things done.  

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I find the idea of approaching life as a design problem fascinating. Because, with the tools implicit in the design process (which anyone can learn really), one can effectively tackle any problem regardless of how insurmountable it seems.

In this blogpost recording, I explore the concept of approaching life as a design problem for the first time.

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Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself thinking about ‘life by design’ – the idea that you can intentionally design the kind of life you want to live. Not a new concept at all, it’s the core idea of personal development. But I’m wondering what happens when you apply design techniques and thinking to life and growth.

In this blogpost recording, I revisit the concept of living life by design.

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This week I talk about why failure is actually a prerequisite for success, and how embracing it allows us to grow and improve. I also talk about my recent blogpost on why creating constantly exposes us to new ideas, and increases the chances of life changing happy accidents.

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You need failure. How else are you going to learn? Embrace failure as a key part of the process. Failure is how you get feedback. Failure forces change.

In this blogpost recording, I explore why failure is the path we must take to get to success.

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In 2016, I blogged about Self Reliance, and I still stand by most of it, but I believe some of those ideas should be further contextualised. This week I have written about the importance of building your stack - a collection of strategies, a portfolio of skills, a body of work, as opposed to focusing too narrowly on one thing.  

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It's a cold truth, but things will go wrong, and people despite their best intentions will sometimes fail you.

When the chips are down? Can you rely on yourself and rise to the occasion? 

In this recording of a blogpost from 2016, I explore the idea of self reliance, and why we should take radical responsibility.

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In this free-flow ramble, I explore the ideas I blogged about - not letting good stand in the way of great, and how to rekindle your inner fire when you are uninspired. 

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