If you want to produce consistent and compelling work in a creative space, you need to consume content in that space every day.

He always used to pitch me on a quick workout routine. A few times through a circuit that only took 35 minutes or so. But I knew that 35 minutes really meant 45 minutes, and that he wasn’t accounting for the changing time, the travel time, the warm up time, the cool down time, (or all the breaks I needed to take).

If you want to make good art, you have to take risks. Safe art isn’t art. It’s a corporate video, or a picture you buy at Home Goods.

I sat across the dinner table from a man who had been on the moon, and I was racking my brain, trying to come up with something to ask him.

It’s hard to “get in” as a producer. But once you’re in with a few directors and production companies, a few connects is more than enough to keep you busy. So how do you get in with these people?

If you can make a great first impression, people won’t see you that way. They’ll just see you as someone doing your job.

“Instead of feeling that you’ve blown the day and thinking, ‘I’ll get back on track tomorrow,’ try thinking of each day as a set of four quarters: morning, midday, afternoon, evening. If you blow one quarter, you get back on track for the next quarter. Fail small, not big.”

“It’s good to be frugal, but if you don’t spend your money to make your life or your relationships or your work easier, what exactly are you going to spend it on?

YouTube TV has been running an ad during the NBA Finals, featuring an old lady obsessing over the NBA Finals, even while her family throws her a birthday party. This is an unexpected choice of talent. Why would YouTube do this? The numbers don’t lie: the people who watch the NBA the most are males in their mid-30s.

Similar to fake humility or the unwillingness to accept a gift, imposter syndrome is rooted in our need to save face, and be perceived a certain way. We’re so afraid of people finding out that we don’t know something. So we communicate vaguely. We pass the blame. We say yes to things we’re not sure we can accomplish.

The same question always rattled around in my head: Who buys this stuff? It’s not that his merch wasn’t cool. It was, and I put a lot of work into it to make sure that it was. It was that I could never see myself buying a $40 t-shirt from a digital creator.

I opened up this browser thinking I would write one word. Just to keep the streak alive. But that’s the funny thing about habits. Once I wrote one word, the next one followed pretty easily, and then they started flowing. And now I’m done.

In 2016, I started a social media management business with my cousin. We went 50/50 on it. A little over one year later, we stopped working together.

If you feel stuck, it’s probably because you’re thinking about a masterpiece. You’ve got an invisible audience standing over your shoulder. You’re thinking too much about your brand, and your reputation, and what people will think.

“I imagine a world where my day contains no unclosed sessions. No mental ovens or stoves left on accidentally.”
-My Brother

A few years ago, Trolli (the gummy worm company) launched an ad campaign. It’s still running on TV and on YouTube. But there are no calls-to-action. There are no product descriptions. There are no value propositions. So how is this campaign still running? Extreme creativity.

Do you have a new song coming out? Do you have a new music video coming out? In the modern age of music promotion, every launch should be a celebration. Here are 6 content ideas to for your music YouTube channel.

Your brain is a potted plant. You can only learn so much in one day. At some point, you need to allow time for information to seep in and soak up.

The trouble is, with social media, we never let our brains dip below the boredom line for long enough to have a great idea. There’s a reason great ideas come to you in the shower–it’s one of the few times you aren’t reading, watching, writing or saying something.

Many things in life are an acquired taste. I didn’t realize this growing up. I wanted nights out and pop hits and first kisses. But there’s a slow burn that becomes more appealing in adulthood, when you realize you’ll have to find a way to keep yourself entertained for the next 60 years.