Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Aug 16, 2021Member-onlyTwo Lies Holding Us Back from Making Something GreatThe two common lies holding us back are: 1. I’m too young. 2. I’m too old. I’m too young When you’re young, it’s obvious experience is an essential commodity for life and art. You don’t know what you don’t know. Some things will be harder than expected, like marriage and parenting. …Life Lessons4 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Aug 12, 2021Member-onlyYou’re Going to Die. Make Good Art.We get 4000 weeks if we’re lucky (80 years). 28,000 days to live under the sun. I spent the day at a funeral. Our good friend’s grandfather passed and invited us to celebrate his life. A life well lived. Grandpa was deaf, and so was his wife. They both had…Life Lessons4 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Aug 7, 2021Member-onlyA Rule of Life for CreativityA rule of life is a practice for committing our lives to a particular way of being in the world. You could say intentional living at its best. What if we took this practice and applied it to our creativity? When I say creativity, I’m suggesting broad strokes. Anyone that…Creativity Tips6 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Jul 25, 2021Member-onlyMilwaukee Bucks Show Why Conventional Wisdom on Success Isn’t Always RightEvery creative person and anyone wanting success is always on the look for hacks. We study and examine high achievers and ask: How did they do it? What do they eat? When do they sleep? What books should I read for a little of their magic to rub off on…Success4 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Jul 23, 2021Member-onlyHow to Get More Readers (Even If You’re Starting Out)So what does it take to get people to read your stuff? You can go the click-baity route and mimic the latest Buzz Feed headlines. Offering little depth and sounding like a boring robot. You could go the opposite extreme and write stream-of-consciousness drivel amassing three readers including your hippie…Writing Tips4 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Updated Jul 23, 2021Member-only3 Ways to Punch Perfectionism in the FaceWe all have perfectionist tendencies. Doesn’t matter if you’ve written thousands of articles on Medium, or published twenty books. Perfectionism is a disease we all must fight. Now you may say: sure Ryan, perfectionism is a problem for you. Not me. I publish and ship all kinds of stuff into…Perfectionism4 min read
Oct 2, 2020Member-onlyTrump Has Covid and Lessons in FragilityThe oldest book of the Bible, Job, is a lesson in fragility. Job is reeling from the loss of his family, possessions, and health. Job spends the bulk of the book listening to his dumb friends, who have theories on why he’s suffering, and complaining to God. But God has…Trump4 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Mar 12, 2020Member-onlyJerry Seinfeld on Our Greatest Ally for Productive WritingProductive writing requires momentum. How do we get it? What is your greatest ally in writing? Momentum. A tool box of storytelling ability, proper sentence structure, punctuation, and interesting content are a plus too. But momentum is the fuel for long term, consistent, and productive writing. Why? Let’s ask Jerry…Productivity3 min read
Published in The Prolific Creator·Nov 14, 2019Member-onlyImagine a Shelf of YOUR BooksIt will require some forward thinking Many brave souls are in the thick of National Novel Writing Month. A yearly competition where people write a 50,000 word rough draft of a novel. I’ve participated seven times and I’m in the middle of novelizing right now. For many this will be…Writing4 min read
Aug 20, 2019Member-onlyDo We Need Another Woodstock?Minus the drugs. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic cultural music festival Woodstock. A three-day festival hosted in Woodstock, New York, predicated on two main agendas: music and peace. I often wonder if I was born in the wrong generation as I’ve been intrigued by the culture…Music6 min read