Five Inches of Prime Real Estate
You gotta admit, all the goals and dreams we have for our future—and all the creative work we’re doing to make them real—are competing for a 5” space, between our ears. That’s where the ideas happen. The breakthroughs. The decisions. The progress. The occasional flashes of genius that make us believe we might actually be on to something. Unfortunately, it’s also where doubt lives. Along with procrastionation, distraction, comparison, fear, failure, unworthiness, unfinished b
Being Human
No matter how great a musician, actor, dancer, photographer or voice-over artist you are, you’re still mortal. That’s why they say, “Let’s do another take!” No matter how skilled or experienced a writer you are, you’re still fallible. That’s why they call it rewriting. And no matter how smart, good-looking, talented, wealthy, evolved, or successful you become, you’ll still say stupid things, make stupid mistakes, and occasionally slam face-first into a sliding glass door. Imp
How to Play Kick The Can
1) Choose a can, a destination, and a path. 2) Place the can right in the middle of the path. 3) Kick the can as hard as you can, while trying to keep it in the center of the path. 4) Walk up to the can and kick it again. 5) Repeat steps 3 and 4, ad infinitum. The object of the game is simple: Keep kicking the can down the center of the path until you reach your destination. If others criticize your work, consider their POV—then keep kicking the can. If the voice in your head
Wings!
Others tell us to spread our wings. The implication is that we are the ones who do the spreading. However, don’t we need favorable circumstances? Encouragement from others? A lucky break? Or some unexpected event that suddenly lifts us up and prompts us to soar? I know what it feels like when my wings are fully spread. It becomes easy to expand my POV, and broaden my horizons. I feel lighter, happier, clearer. I’m creative as heck, surrounded by plenty of white space, with a
Up on the Tightwire
Walking a tightrope isn’t about perfection. It’s about continuous correction. You’re never perfectly centered—you lean a little too far in one direction, then a little too far in the other, then cautiously pull yourself back in to the present moment. Creating our art, our businesses, and our careers works the same way. We don’t wait until everything is stable before moving forward. We move, wobble, adjust, and move again. On the wire, focus is everything. If you look down, ob
A Fool’s Errand
Every time we mindlessly click around the internet, scan emails, scroll socials, check the weather, or refresh the news one more time, we’re making a decision. We’re choosing distraction over direction. It feels productive, but it’s a fool’s errand that fools us into thinking we’re accomplishing something. Every unnecessary click steals a few more minutes—sometimes hours—from our lives and moves us one step farther from the work that could actually impact our future. Before y
Todays Forcast
When I was climbing the infamous ladder of success, a five-year plan was considered essential. It was drilled into my young, inflated ego that smart entrepreneurs make long-term plans. Now that I've put the ladder in the garage, it's become painfully obvious that the rabbit speed of technology and the turtle speed of human adaptation have completely deflated that strategy. Today, unless you're beholden to investors, clients, or strategic partners, long-term career plans are l
Time is on your side
Money returns. Energy recovers. Relationships can heal. Even failure can become experience. But time is different. Once it's gone, it's gone forever. Yet time invested wisely can pay dividends for the rest of our lives. A choice. A skill. A friendship. A business. A work of art. One meaningful conversation at the deep end of the pool can echo for decades. It's not that checking email, scrolling social media, or watching the news don't have their place—they do. But they're als
When Winning Backfires…
There is something magical about a great dinner party. Good friends and food bring people to the table, but it’s the conversation that keeps them there. Artists and treps get passionate and pumped for events like this—it’s in our nature. And the conversations can sometimes become animated, dramatic, and loud. That’s great—until the conversation shifts from exchanging ideas to winning arguments. The moment that happens, the goal is no longer to learn, understand, or resolve an
Why it never gets easier
Most people assume real success in our industry means dealing with less frustration, rejection, and uncertainty. In reality, the opposite is true. The most successful people often experience more of it. Why? Because they’re constantly stretching beyond what they already know, attempting things that may not work, putting their ideas in front of people who might say no, and living in a future that hasn’t arrived yet. The good news is that these unwelcome visitors aren’t always
Ready, Set, Wait!
One of the strangest truths about artists and treps is this: The closer we get to launching or completing something important, the more fear and resistance shows up. That’s when second-guessing kicks in, confidence plummets, those tiny imperfections suddenly look enormous, and the monkeys between our ears start screaming: “Maybe this isn’t good enough.”“Maybe I should just keep working on this.” So why does fear spike, right before the finish line? Because “Ready” makes it re
Art & Commerce walk into a bar…
Art dreams of being the GOAT Commerce dreams of owning the field. Art wants to express—pure, raw, unapologetic. Commerce wants results—numbers, reach, profit. Art wrestles with the doubting mind of the artist. Commerce wrestles with the doubting mind of the consumer. Art loves how Commerce promotes her to the masses. Commerce loves how Art is so willing to be exploited. Art’s real enemy: A hesitant artist. Commerce’s real enemy: Bad Art. Important because when it comes to mar
The search is over—check your pockets
There are only two things that move the ball down the court: The choices we make and the actions we take. All that matters now is what you do next. Important because the keys to manifesting our biggest, most impossible challenges aren’t in someone else’s pocket.
Everyone does it this way
“That’s just how it’s done in our industry. Everyone does it this way.” No—they don’t. Most people do. And that distinction matters. Because when we follow what most people are doing, we tend to get what most people get: predictable results, average outcomes, crowded lanes… same ol’, same ol’. “Everyone” is a lazy, worn out, safe phrase. It quietly erases the trailblazers—the ones who move first, think differently, and question what’s blindly accepted as “the right way.” The
Knee-Deep in the Hoopla
It’s hard to stay motivated and focused on our big goals and projects when so many jaw-dropping events and calamities are happening all around us. Here are five bite-size reminders you may have forgotten in the heat and hoopla of the challenging times we are living in: 1. Protect the Quality of Your Thinking:Guard it as fiercely as you guard the quality of your work. The first priority is not the art, the product, the company, or the deal—it’s the clarity of mind that produce
