Top highlights from The Practice
“The only choice we have is to begin. And the only place to begin is where we are. Simply begin. But begin.”
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“Writers write. Runners run. Establish your identity by doing your work.”
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“Your work is too important to be left to how you feel today.”
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“Shipping, because it doesn’t count if you don’t share it. Creative, because you’re not a cog in the system. You’re a creator, a problem solver, a generous leader who is making things better by producing a new way forward. Work, because it’s not a hobby. You might not get paid for it, not today, but you approach it as a professional. The muse is not the point, excuses are avoided, and the work is why you are here.”
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“The magic of the creative process is that there is no magic. Start where you are. Don't stop.”
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“To Be of Service Isn’t that what we’re here to do? To do work we’re proud of. To put ourselves on the hook. To find the contribution we’re capable of. The only way to be on this journey is to begin. But there isn’t a guarantee. In fact, most of what we seek to do will not work. But our intent—the intent of being of service, of making things better, of building something that matters—is an essential part of the pattern. Because most of us, most of the time, act without intent.”
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“You are not your work. Your work is a series of choices made with generous intent to cause something to happen. We can always learn to make better choices.”
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“Yes, you’re an imposter. But you’re an imposter acting in service of generosity, seeking to make things better. When we embrace imposter syndrome instead of working to make it disappear, we choose the productive way forward. The imposter is proof that we’re innovating, leading, and creating.”
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“Who Can You Reach? How is it possible for three cowboys to herd a thousand cattle? Easy. They don’t. They herd ten cattle, and those cattle influence fifty cattle and those cattle influence the rest. That’s the way every single widespread movement/product/service has changed the world. And so we ignore all the others. We ignore the masses and the selfish critics and those in love with the status quo. First, find ten. Ten people who care enough about your work to enroll in the journey and then to bring others along.”
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“It’s insulting to call a professional talented. She’s skilled, first and foremost. Many people have talent, but only a few care enough to show up fully, to earn their skill. Skill is rarer than talent. Skill is earned. Skill is available to anyone who cares enough.”
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“We’re not born to be selfish. And the economics of living in community make it clear that short-term hustle rarely benefits anyone. But when you’re flailing and looking for something (anything) to stand on, there’s pressure to choose the selfish path. To a drowning man, everyone else is a stepping-stone to safety.”
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“We don’t need more noise, more variety, or more pitches. There’s noise all around us, but it’s often the idle chatter of people hiding in plain sight, or the selfish hustle of one more person who wants something from you. Our world is long on noise and short on meaningful connections and positive leadership.”
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“The Bhagavad-Gita says, “It is better to follow your own path, however imperfectly, than to follow someone else’s perfectly.”
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“As Susan Kare, designer of the original Mac interface, said, “You can’t really decide to paint a masterpiece. You just have to think hard, work hard, and try to make a painting that you care about. Then, if you’re lucky, your work will find an audience for whom it’s meaningful.”
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“There’s a practice available to each of us—the practice of embracing the process of creation in service of better. The practice is not the means to the output, the practice is the output,”
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“Askıda ekmek: there is bread on the hook. It’s an ancient tradition in Turkey. When buying a loaf at the local bakery, you can choose to pay for an extra loaf and, after bagging your purchase, the owner will hang the second loaf on a hook on the wall. If a person in need comes by, he or she can ask if there’s anything on the hook. If so, the bread is shared, and the hunger is relieved.”
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“Recent research estimates that 40 percent of the workforce has a job that requires innovation, human interaction, and decision making. And for each of these people, every day exposes them to the feeling of being a fraud. Of course you’re not sure it’s going to work. How could you be?”
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“In fact, determination is precisely what’s needed to write poetry or create art. Determination of the will opens the door for us to trust ourselves enough to actually find the words.”
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“repeat itself; it can’t. But the creative journey still follows a pattern. It’s a practice of growth and connection, of service and daring. It’s also a practice of selflessness and ego in an endless dance.”
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“The same is true for learning. True learning (as opposed to education) is a voluntary experience that requires tension and discomfort (the persistent feeling of incompetence as we get better at a skill).”
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“Annie Duke, former world champion of poker, teaches us that there’s a huge gap between a good decision and a good outcome. A good decision is based on what we know of the options and the odds. A good outcome happens or it doesn’t: it is a consequence of the odds, not the hidden answer.”
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“I got a note from a reader, Gina, a little while ago. She wrote, “On a personal note—In 2016, your book The Dip helped me realize I was only trying to create a business so I could have the time to be a writer. I cut out the middleman and went all in on writing. Within two years I was able to become a freelance writer and researcher/fact-checker for kids and adults, full-time.” The lesson here is simple: By bringing her focus back to the purpose of the work, Gina was able to get back to work. To the work she wanted to do all along. We do our best work with intention.”
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“Practicing how to throw. Getting good at throwing. If you get good enough at throwing, the catching takes care of itself.”
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“The practice seeks to make change, but the process demands originality. The practice is consistent, but only in intention, not in execution.”
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“The Bhagavad-Gita says, “It is better to follow your own path, however imperfectly, than to follow someone else’s perfectly.” Consider the people who have found their voice and made a real impact: their paths always differ, but their practices overlap in many ways.”
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“the proven truth about creativity: it’s the result of desire—the desire to find a new truth, solve an old problem, or serve someone else.”
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“When we do the work for the audience, we open the door to giving up our attachment to how the audience will receive the work. That’s up to them. Our job is to be generous, as generous as we know how to be, with our work.”
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“Creativity is a choice, it’s not a bolt of lightning from somewhere else.”
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