The first step is to have something to show. You can offer to make videos for a small business, but if you’ve never made a video before, they won’t hire you. But if they don’t hire you, then how do you get something to show? By doing your own work on your own time with your own money.

Leveraging punishment or reward to motivate oneself based on things that have happened in the past is a bad strategy. Punishment is rooted in the past. It acts as a form of justice for a negative action.

This is the difference between Summer and Winter for ad agencies. Which means this is also the difference between Summer and Winter for brands. And if you’re a freelancer, and things feel a bit slow right now, this is also the difference between Summer and Winter for you.

Will yelling a random Italian name really going to help us overcome the fear and doubt in our hearts? Probably not. But the concept has merit! Here’s how to actually “Silenzio Bruno” in real life.

“Doing it right is hard. Doing it over is harder.” –James Clear

Eventually, I started making more money. What’s funny is that my scarcity mindset lingered. On one hand, it’s good to avoid lifestyle shift when you start making more money, so you can save more. But I was still thinking and living as though I had to pinch every penny.

A value clash is when your values clash. You value your creative work, no doubt, but you also value family, friends, work, leisure, entertainment. When these things clash, your creative output is most likely to lose the battle.

After a few months of following my routine, something terrible happened: a handyman was paid by my neighbor to remove all the concrete in their backyard. Right outside my window. Linked here is a video called 10 Hour Relaxing Jackhammer Sounds to help you imagine my experience.

As my friend stayed with this man, and heard about his one complaint a year, the next question he asked was a given: what was your complaint this year?

If reading is feeling too dense, or too heavy, then start jotting down notes, and doing a little thinking.

Sparkling beverage brand Mixwell is asking people to not buy their drinks. Well, not all people. They recently published a statement, a series of videos, and a collection of bus stop ads asking specific people, who hold a specific set of beliefs, not to buy their products. I’m here to break down why Mixwell’s campaign is actually unpersuasive and unethical–even while being genuinely impossible to ignore.

Happiness is in the middle. It’s somewhere between great expectations and full acceptance.

The season of creator merch is upon us. Over the course of this next week, we’ll see endless promotions of photoshop mockups for overpriced hoodies, leading up to Black Friday. And for what? A coarse Gildan tee with a half-baked design or slogan on it?

There is a way to do it. People less motivated and less intelligent and less educated than we are have figured this out in the past. There is a process that will work to scale this business, and even though these processes are moving targets to some degree, they’re still out there. They exist.

As a freelancer, no one will give you a raise. No client will come along and say, “Hey, you’ve been doing a great job the past few months, here’s 10% more money.” Why? Because their job is to keep projects under budget. So how do you give yourself a raise?

Customer personal are internal write ups on the kind of person your brand’s ideal customers are. It’s best to describe, in great detail, 3-5 different customer segments of who you are trying to reach.

The greatest asset we have is many, many days. We can try to accomplish our goals in a long, sustained work session. We can try to actualize our dreams in a flurry, chasing them as fast as possible. We can aim to achieve our ambitions through completely clear decision-making. But we don’t have what it takes to do any of this.

What is a “calling” anyway? Is that just a way for us to justify the sacrifices we have to make while chasing success? Tell me what your great grandfather did for a living. Do you know? Most people don’t.

My precursor to James Clear’s advice would be to start hiking. Don’t worry if you haven’t found your “calling” when you’re starting your career. Just work on things you find interesting.

You’re going to have to do the work before someone pays you. Plain and simple. In some cases, you have to pay to do the work you want to be doing before someone pays you.