“Someone gave me a piece of advice once, my first manager Lucien Hold. He said, ‘If you do stand-up about your own life, no one can steal it.’ I always thought that was the best piece of advice.” – Mike Birbiglia, Born Jun. 20, 1978. Here is a neat trick to turn practically any piece […]
How to Become Impervious to Copiers and Plagiarists Read More »
“I am a big proponent of writing a great outline. That way you can avoid hitting a roadblock. There is no worse feeling than writing yourself into a corner but if you’ve figured it all out in the outline then you won’t have that problem.” – Michael Showalter, Born Jun. 17, 1970. Showalter is talking
How To Never Write Yourself Into a Dead End or Blind Alley Read More »
“I jokingly call this convergence of games into reality the ‘Gamepocalypse:’ the moment when every moment of life is actually a game.” – Jesse Schell, Born Jun. 13, 1970. Did you know that you can already do this now? Basically you can gamify your own life. It makes a lot of the dull bits of
The Gamepocalypse Already Happened and It’s All a Game Now Read More »
“I call myself a teacher because they want me to call myself a teacher, but actually, what I’m doing is I’m studying.” – Chick Corea, Born Jun. 12, 1941. Back in Renaissance times, artists and musicians used to strive to get patronage. That’s when some rich dude basically pays you to do nothing but pursue
Be a Renaissance Person and Find Your Patrons Read More »
“I don’t ever try to make a song better than my last song. I just try to make it different from my last one.” – Fetty Wap, Born Jun. 7, 1990. This one hit me like a ton of bricks, y’all. Or like a ton of feathers. Heavy either way. You’re probably pretty talented. You’re
Being “Different” is Better (And Easier) Than Struggling to Be “Original” Read More »
“If I wait for the genius to come, it just doesn’t arrive.” – Ian Fleming, Born May 28, 1908. I am going to tell you something right now. When I tell you, you’re going to know it to be true. And you can research it and prove that it’s universally true as well. First,
Inspiration Spies On You And Only Visits When You’re Busy Read More »
“People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.” –
Either You’re Born a Writer or You Aren’t – But Going Pro Is a CHOICE Read More »
“If you do it right 51 percent of the time you will end up a hero.” – Alfred P. Sloan, Born May 23, 1875. I want you to know how low the bar is set. It’s set so low that primarily what it takes to succeed is basically just persistence. Whether by discipline, or by
How Much Can You Totally Screw Up and Still Be Successful? Read More »
“My real life helped me sell a lot of records.” – Christopher Wallace, Born May 21, 1972. In this age where “authenticity” is a buzzword, lots of brand wonks will tell you that what you need to do is just be yourself. Wrong, friendo. That skips a step. Step 1: Be awesome. Step 2: Be
How To Become Awesome Enough To Succeed Read More »
“An expert is someone who has succeeded in making decisions and judgements simpler through knowing what to pay attention to and what to ignore.” – Edward de Bono, Born May 19, 1933. If you want to be perceived as an expert in your field, the way to do it is not by actually accomplishing things
People Will Buy Ways To Work Faster So Invent Some Shortcuts To Sell Read More »
