A study plan is the most valuable tool you have for keeping yourself inspired. But a study plan takes effort, and measured discipline to implement effectively. You need to ensure that you are spending your time wisely, and that you are thinking about application, not just absorption. Information is useless without application. On this episode, we share a few insights for how to build a healthy study habit.
On today’s episode I’m going to share four books I think you should read in 2017. These are not new books, and a few of them are actually many years old. However, they are books that I either recently read, or go back to over and over, and that I’ve not heavily recommended before.
What you put in your head often determines the quality of your ideas. However, many creative pros are less than purposeful about the kinds of stimuli they allow into their mind, and are not intentionally seeking new ideas by playing with ideas and trying to conenct dots. In this episode, I share three steps to putting together a study plan, and using it to help you generate great ideas for your business and clients.
Your best ideas won't come from staring harder at a problem, they'll come from immersing yourself in the ideas and thoughts of others. The best way to do this is by immersing yourself in great books. However, each book you read deserves a different amount of your finite resources.
Over the past week I've been listening to Creativity, Inc. by Pixar founder and President Ed Catmull on my morning walks. As much as has been written about the company over the past several years, there is something refreshing about getting insights into Pixar's culture and mindset directly from one of its leaders.
Ryan Holiday, author of the fantastic new book The Obstacle Is The Way, shares his journey into stoicism, and discusses how we can find possibility even in the midst of setbacks.
Still using lists, facts, and to-do's for your notes? Try sketch notes as a way to open your mind and generate new ideas. In this interview, author and illustrator Mike Rohde shows us how.
Be purposeful about stoking the fires of your imagination, and seeking patterns in the world around you. This is the best way to ensure that your mind is actively chasing insight and to position yourself to be brilliant when it counts most.
All that will stand - as a monument to your life's work - is what you actually produce.
Here's a "5 pack" of brilliant books for creatives that will help you do brilliant work. Each deals with a different aspect of creative and organizational life, but is relevant and immediately applicable to anyone trying to thrive in the create-on-demand world.