3 Strategies to Maximize Your Creative Potential
Peak Performance 100% Of the Time
gm frens! Today, we’re focusing on getting the most out of our creative energy. Make sure to enjoy Thanksgiving and spend time with people who matter. :)
Every culture has lots of myths. Some are more helpful than others. But we’ve got a lot of bad myths around creativity and work.
Traditional advice encourages working hard. And there’s nothing wrong with hard work. But there is more to life than work. You are not a machine. And you need time to rest and play. Otherwise, you will break down and die.
If you spend all your time working, you’ll inevitably feel burnt out. Very common problem these days.
As someone who’s been there before, let me tell you, it sucks. And it’s totally avoidable.
Working longer does not help you. In fact, it’s holding you back.
But this begs the question - how should I be working?
So, here are 3 strategies to not only maximize your creative potential but to also live a happier life.
It’s Better To Do Nothing Than Work On Bullshit
Traditional advice encourages you to work hard and work more. But this is the worst advice for creators.
“Not seeing the success you want? Just work more.”
I call bullshit.
We can do deep work for about 4 hours a day. After that, the more you work, the worse you work.
Any more time you spend working won’t be productive. And even worse, it will slowly make you hate what you do.
Think of yourself as a lion instead of a cow.
A lion rests most of the time. When he sees an opportunity, he goes full sprint. Complete focus. The only thing in the world is the prey. He jumps. Swoops down. And catches it.
Back to feasting and resting.
Then, there’s the cow. It sits around eating grass all day. Doesn’t move very much. It lives a pretty dull lifestyle.
You need to think of yourself as a lion. You are a beast. And beasts shouldn’t sit around all day eating grass.
When you have important work to do, start sprinting. Do it hard. Do it fast.
Just make sure you do it.
You’ll build up a marathon of sprints. And that marathon of sprints will turn into a successful career. This is the only way. And it always has been.
Make A Portfolio of Small Bets
As a creator, randomness plays a big role in your life. A project you think is great might flop. Another that you think sucks might turn out to be your biggest hit.
You just don’t know.
An hour spent on a great project is infinitely more valuable than an hour spent on a bad one. And since randomness plays such a big role, it can be confusing on what you should be doing. But there’s a simple solution.
Make a portfolio of small bets.
A small bet is something you can do without spending too much time on it. If it completely flops, oh well. But if it’s a success, you can continue in that direction.
Instead of writing a book, write a blog post. Instead of making a documentary, make a 10 minute YouTube video. Instead of planning on doing a newsletter forever, promise yourself 3 weeks and if it doesn’t get traction by then, you’ll let it die.
This way, you don’t waste all your time on something that doesn’t work.
And if this small bet turns out to be a big win, double down on that. You may have just discovered your niche.
You can’t know which hour is going to be more valuable in advance. That’s why you need to spread out your time into different projects. So you can let the world tell you which direction to go.
Fight Resistance And Go Pro
I’m not sure I believe in evil. But if such a thing existed, it would be resistance.
Resistance is the force that stops you from doing work that’s important to you.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a game designer. A voice actor. Or you write a newsletter about the Crypto Creator Economy.
Resistance is the force that will do anything and everything to stop you from doing that work.
It’s pure evil.
Millions of people never pursued their passion because of resistance. Most commonly, it helps you procrastinate.
It doesn’t tell you that you’ll never start that business. But maybe next year. Or in a few months. When the time is right. Or whatever other bullshit excuse it gives you.
But time marches on. And it will not wait for you.
The only way to beat resistance is to go pro. Being a pro doesn’t mean making a lot of money. It means you show up every day and do your work.
Being pro means you don’t wait for motivation to strike. You make it happen.
And if you put in the work, you’ll be visited by a greater force. Some people call it God. Others say flow state. Steven Pressfield calls it the muse.
The muse is the highest force of creativity. It will show you the way and enable you to create the best work you’ve ever done.
The muse loves a blue-collar work ethic. She hates when you feed your ego. And if you get a big head about anything, she’s done with you. So, humble yourself motherfucker.
As you might know, I used to run a horror YouTube channel. And when I learned about the muse, I went back to look at my old videos. To see which ones were the best.
Every single one of them was created with the muse. Written in a flow state.
I didn’t know it at the time. But looking back, it makes perfect sense. Why one video got over 1 million views and another one crapped out at 3k.
One video was created by a pro under the direction of the muse.
The other by an amateur with a big ego.
Summary
It’s better to do nothing than work on bullshit
Take small bets to see what works
Fight resistance and go pro
Meme of the week
