Love Your Work Creative Habits | Writing | Solopreneur | Productivity | Entrepreneurship | Startup

December 15th is the three year anniversary of Love Your Work. I've often found that it takes three years to really accomplish something, so I get the sense that something big is around the corner. Then again, the podcast has recently become profitable, so maybe that big thing is already here. We often want results right away, but oftentimes, it takes three years. I talk about it on today's episode. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/three-years/

When your life gets too comfortable, you stop taking risks. Loss aversion takes hold and you become complacent. You stop innovating. You stop being dynamic. By the time you realize you've become irrelevant, it's already too late to change. This is one of the main themes behind the work of Tyler Cowen (@tylercowen). Tyler writes one of the most influential economics blogs in the world – if not THE most influential – at marginalrevolution.com. He's also an economics professor at George Mason University. In Tyler's book, The Complacent Class, he argues that Americans are getting too comfortable, and not taking risks – or, as the title would imply, they're getting complacent. Average is Over – another of Cowen's books argues. The complacency of Americans is leading to The Great Stagnation, another of Tyler's books. Instead of being stagnant, we should be dynamic. Keep learning, take risks, and step out of your comfort zone. This, Tyler believes, will lead to economic growth, which Tyler argues is a good thing in

We're wired to seek pleasure, and avoid pain. But to make it as a creator, you need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Many things that feel good about creating can hold you back, while many things that feel bad are powerful fuel. Stoicism is a philosophy that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Ryan Holiday, who we talked with on episode 31 is one modern popularizer of Stocism. In today's episode, I share with you eight mantras I tell myself to resist temptations that will only hurt my creative work in the long run. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy

Amber Rae (@heyamberrae] was on the wrong path. She was swept up in the hype of the Silicon Valley startup scene. She was working too many hours on too many projects. She pushed herself so hard, she drove herself into anxiety, addiction, and eventually triggered a seizure. But Amber was doing some writing on the side. That writing helped her discover what she was hiding from, and find meaning in her past. In Amber's mess, she found the message. Now Amber helps entrepreneurs and creators develop emotional mastery. She's sharing what she's learned in her new book, Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential. In today's conversation, we'll talk about: What's easy for you, but amazing for others? You'll hear shortcuts you can take to find the secret superpower hiding right beneath your nose. How did Amber become a writer by accident? You'll hear about the way she mentally framed the work she did, and how that held her back in some areas, while propelling her forward in othe

I regretfully have to cancel tonight's meetup in Chicago.

One thing I've discovered in talking to many of my guests is that your creative voice doesn't magically appear in your mind. You have to put in the work, and then your voice emerges from that work. But to do that work, you have to keep your creative machinery working. You have to keep putting out work, and you have to keep cleaning out the waste that gets in the way of putting out that work. That's what I'm talking about on this week's episode. I call it "creative hygiene." Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://babbel.com Show notes: http://kadavy.n

Bad news.

A long and detailed update about the status of my Colombian visa.

Ariel Garten (@ariel_garten) envisions a world where we can control computers with our minds. She's on the cutting edge of computer and brain interfaces with her creation, the Muse headband. Ariel sent me a headband a few months ago, and I've been using it to refine my meditation sessions. The headband gives me neurofeedback to help me identify a relaxed-focus mental state. So while I'm meditating, I get audio feedback that's an expression of my brain's activity. That audio feedback helps me adjust my meditation technique. The point of muse is to train your brain into focusing on one thing so you can build that skill and carry it over into other forms of meditation, as well as to have the mental awareness throughout the day to manage your attention and focus. I've experimented with EEG headsets before. I first bought one about seven years ago. The Muse absolutely blows away that experience. In addition to being useful for meditation, it is also a clinical-grade headset – used by neuroscientists everywhere – t

Productivity is about mind management, not time management. I've been thinking about how this applies to managing your tasks on a day-to-day basis. I've come to realize that as long as you have the proper due dates attached to your tasks, it doesn’t matter what project those todos are for. What matters is your ability to do those tasks in an energy-efficient way. In this week's episode, I share with you how I keep creative work coming with ease all day long. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mental-state-not-todos/

Srini Rao (@unmistakableCEO) is host of the Unmistakable Creative podcast, and author of the new book, Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake. In Audience of One, Srini gives you the tools and encouragement you need to stop focusing on external validation, and to reconnect with your creative spark. In a world where you can publish your creative work to more people than ever, it's easy to lose sight of why we create. If you're dead set on your work reaching a lot of people, ironically, you'll lose touch with that special something that makes your work resonate with others in the first place. In this conversation, we'll talk about: How do you follow up a success to reconnect with "Creativity for Its Own Sake?" We'll hear about how Srini's self-published book hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and we'll hear about how he has struggled to reconnect with the true source of creative work that resonates with others. How do you ask a question that gets right to a great story. Srini asks gr

There's something I've noticed that very successful communicators do. It's a very simple tactic, but it can go a long way in making everything you say or write more engaging, more memorable, and more effective. I'll tell you about it – this thing that successful communicators do – this week. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://gusto.com/loveyourwork http://babbel.com Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/prompt-talking-podcast/

You hear it all of the time. Maybe you even say it yourself: It's "crazy" at work. There are unrealistic deadlines, demanding bosses, and wall-to-wall meetings. Jason Fried (@jasonfried) believes it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, he'll tell you why in his new book, called It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work. Jason needs no introduction for many of you, but for everyone else: Jason is the CEO of Basecamp, which is simple yet powerful project management software. Basecamp the software has a long history of staying simple even when it doesn't make intuitive sense. Basecamp the company, with Jason at the helm, has a long history of espousing sensible work practices, even when they don't make intuitive sense. We'll talk about: What's the difference between deadlines, and "dreadlines?" How can this simple distinction help you stay in control of your projects? How does Jason and his company struggle with it being "crazy" at work, and what do they do about it? Hear about their fascinating "uphill/downhill" ta

When you're marketing your business, it's easy to gravitate toward sure bets. Things you can do and be assured of a positive outcome. But these sure bets can cause you to miss out on asymmetric opportunities: Things that take a small amount of investment, with a small chance of a very big upside. We talked about asymmetric opportunities in last week's conversation with Tynan. This week, I'll tell you how to find asymmetric opportunities for growing your business. These are also known as "Black Swans." We'll get to why. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors

Sometimes an idea pops into your head, and you think to yourself, "nah, that's insane!" Then you move on with living your regular life. We all have these ideas. Sometimes we don't even notice them. In The Heart to Start, I called the source of these crazy ideas "The Voice." The thing is, sometimes these crazy ideas are what you call "asymmetrical": It doesn't take much to try them out, but the potential payoffs are huge. Our guest today has to be the king of crazy ideas. Tynan (@tynan) is his name. That's it, he just has one name – like Madonna. Tynan. Just a few of the crazy ideas that Tynan has followed through on: He owns a private island (it's not as expensive as you think); he lived in San Francisco, rent-free in an RV, for several years; and he owns both a minivan and a Bentley. Tynan is also a serial self-publisher, and watching his self-publishing story was a source of inspiration for me as I made the leap from traditional to self publishing. I first met Tynan several years ago. He joined mutual frien

What does it really take to "make it" as a creative entrepreneur? I often have people asking me for ideas on strategies for how to smoothly transition from their day jobs to making their art for a living. Is it possible? What do you have to do? I always feel like I have an answer that they don't want to hear. But here it is anyway, in this week's episode. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://gusto.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/walk-through-fire/

Nathan Barry (@nathanbarry) knows better than anyone: Sometimes, you're working hard on something, and it's just not happening. How do you decide whether to double down, or shut down? This is what Nathan was asking himself two years after launching his email service, ConvertKit. He was bringing in only $1,500 a month, and he was losing customers every month. It was time to decide: Double down, or shut down. Today, ConvertKit brings in much more than $1,500 a month. They recently had their first million dollar month. Spoiler alert: Instead of shutting down, Nathan did double down. Today, we’ll analyze how he made that decision: When Nathan decided to double down, he had no idea if his business would succeed. How did Nathan – and his spouse – mentally prepare for the worst-case scenario? Nathan had to dig into his savings to the tune of $100,000 to double down on ConvertKit. What criteria did he use to know whether or not to quit. What was the one question Nathan asked himself that ultimately got him to double

It's no surprise that we procrastinate on things that we don't want to do. But why do we procrastinate on things we do want to do?: Our hopes, dreams, and aspirations. I call it aspiration procrastination, and there's a fascinating theory from psychology that can help you understand why you put off your dreams, and what you can do about it. I'll talk about it in this week's episode. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://gusto.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/aspiration-procrastination/

Steve Stewart was manager of the band Stone Temple Pilots. He guided them from being an unknown funk band to a multi-platinum powerhouse whose sound is synonymous with 90's grunge. With Steve by STP's side, they sold over 25 million records, for nearly half a billion dollars in sales. But then the Internet happened. The record industry wasn't selling many CD's or records anymore. Fans were becoming a bigger part of helping music spread, and free music was key to the new success equation. Steve had to stand by helplessly as big music industry players shot themselves in the foot, and tightened their budgets in the process. But now, Steve is trying to fill in the gap that free music created. Now, imagine that Justin Bieber paid you. With Steve's new company, that could become true. Steve is now CEO of Vezt. With Vezt, music fans like you can buy a share of the future earnings of a song. So if you're a Justin Bieber fan, you could at some point buy a share of his song. (In case you're wondering, you can't "short"

You've heard the advice to find your passion. You've probably also heard the advice that finding your passion is bad advice. But if you shouldn't "find" your passion, what should you do? Isn't passion important? New research tells us exactly what is wrong with "finding" your passion. It's the subject of this week's article. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Thank you supporters! To help, go to kadavy.net/donate. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://backblaze.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/dont-find-your-passion/