Mindset

Future Possible Problems Aren’t Real – Only Present Problems Deserve Attention

W. Clement Stone

“Everyone who achieves success in a great venture, solves each problem as they came to it.” – W. Clement Stone, Born May 4, 1902. Generally, Stone is full of shit. But this is a good quote, and true to boot. Preparation is good, but it will not remain intact in the face of executing those

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Stick it Out, Take it Further, and Discover Something Worth Selling to Other Seekers

Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenber (aka Novalis)

“A hero is one who knows how to hang on one minute longer.” – Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenber (aka Novalis), Born May 2, 1772. There is a lot of talk in our line of work of becoming an authority figure in a market – a recognized expert. And this quote speaks to the

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Over-complication Leads to Under-performance – So Simplify, Stupid

Leonardo da Vinci

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci, Born Apr. 15, 1452. Y’all are making it too complicated. Drowning in options and possibilities? Start slapping some arbitrary limitations on yourself and see what you come up with. Innovation and elegance come from making the best solution out of what you have at hand. So

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Your Style Is Discovered Through Copying Others and Throwing Out What Doesn’t Work For You

Vivienne Westwood

“If you’re too big to fit into fashion, then you just have to do your own fashion.” – Vivienne Westwood, Born Apr. 8, 1941. When I first went freelance and was trying to figure out this whole guruhood-as-a-business-model thing, I had a worry. What is going to be my “thing”? What is going to be

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The Secret of Creating Unique Material for Products, Content, Whatever, Etc…

Pharrell Williams

“You don’t know what people are looking for. What you know is what you feel like might be missing.” – Pharrell Williams, Born Apr. 5, 1973. Here is one that people always struggle with. Folks like us know we want to gather an audience, but we don’t know what will attract them, and what will

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Emergent Challenges Aren’t Obstacles, But Opportunities to Make Better Work

Andrei Tarkovsky

“An artist never works under ideal conditions. If they existed, his work wouldn’t exist, for the artist doesn’t live in a vacuum. Some sort of pressure must exist. The artist exists because the world is not perfect. Art would be useless if the world were perfect, as man wouldn’t look for harmony but would simply

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The Copy “Fandom” is Fun for Some, But Never Necessary for Success

Quentin Tarantino

“If you just love movies enough, you can make a good one.” – Quentin Tarantino, Born Mar. 27, 1963. Some people love copy. They fetishize it as an object, and treat the “copywriting industry” like a religion. For people like that, the goal is to have written “good” copy, so deemed by their peers –

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