7 Things That Made Me Stop And Think This Week.
Creative Sparks: #13
I recently got hooked on Plants vs Zombies 2 again after 4 years, spending up to 3 hours on Saturday on it.
Oops.
There’s something about its cutesy, simplistic design that draws you in and grabs you by the arm. But behind its cutesy characters and pun-laden names is a complex strategy game specially designed to get you coming back for more.
It’s an exercise in habit formation and brain training that is so fascinating.
Now, onto this week’s stories:
1. The 5 Most Valuable Skills You Can Develop For Free by Josh Spector
I never thought of these skills as actual skills. But now thinking about it, these are the building blocks of many other skills.
Continuing with the gaming analogy, once you master these abilities, you can unlock countless more advanced skills.
For example, attention to detail is about the ability to care
The ability to accept responsibility is the bedrock of initiative and leadership
Curiosity is the foundation for developing a learning habit.
By intentionally focusing on these skills, you can develop expertise in other crucial skills.
2. 3 Things Copywriters Can Learn From Dr Seuss by Natalie Howells
Dr Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham’s story is a much-lauded example in the creativity-under-constraints world.
Using only 50 words, Dr Seuss created his masterpiece that has enthralled children (and adults) for over 50 years.
Natalie here analyzes the lessons from Green Eggs and Ham for content marketers and copywriters:
- Use fewer words
- Intentionally harness literary techniques like repetition in your copy to drive home your message when applicable
- Write simply
3. How To Be More Vulnerable In Your Writing by Tom Kuegler
This is something I struggle with and probably why the words haven’t been coming as freely in recent weeks as they were previously.
I started censoring myself.
I started second-guessing every word I wrote
I edited too rigorously, stripping the soul from my words
Whenever that happens, its much harder to create compelling content.
Realize people don’t care as much as you think they do.
Tom Kuegler puts it simply.
I always admire his honesty and straight-forwardness
Your story could be helping somebody. And this is why we write.
4. What If Our Addictions Are What Makes Us Successful? by Niklas Göke
All worldly success follows from channeling our addictions.
The title of this article literally hit me with a sledgehammer.
Isn’t the process of addiction similar to the process of mastery? Let’s say I am dedicated to mastering yoga.
- You obsess over something; making sure never to miss a yoga session
- When you’re not at class, you voluntarily look up articles on yoga philosophy and envision poses in your head
- You make sure that you get connected with the yoga community to exchange tips to deepen your practice or just for some plain ol company of like-minded people as you journey down this road
- You look up yoga teachers and watch their training sessions all in the vision of getting better at yoga.
Isn’t the process of mastering yoga and let’s say,
“I don’t think people without these minor addictions exist. But I also don’t believe this mythical, balanced person is an ideal we’re meant to aspire to.
Excessively engaging with the world is our way of dealing with the ridicule of the cosmos”
Is a balanced life one of mediocrity?
5. Work by Ask Olive
I don’t know why part of me is drawn to advice columns like Ask Polly by Heather Havrilesky.
Maybe it’s the reassurance that we aren’t alone in facing problems in life. Or maybe its schadenfreude where we marvel at other people’s problems and am thankful that we aren’t in their situation.
Whatever our motivations, I recently discovered the work of Ask Olive and am loving it! She adopts a visual method of presenting her responses which looks fantastic on Medium’s clean interface.
It’s not just pretty to look at too, the combination of visuals and words help to cement her message in my eyes. Definitely a compelling formula and I can’t wait to read more!
6. The Formula: Give. Save. Live. by Nathan Hastings-Spaine
“Any action we perform consistently over an extended period of time has the compounding effect.”
The effects of your good and bad habits won’t be apparent immediately. However, give enough time and it’s effects will appear.
Those who planted seeds and watered them consistently throughout the decades will have healthy green grass and the rest will have crabgrass.
This is a reminder to me to start small, keep it consistent and stay the course, even if I don’t see any noticeable effects.
7. Fuck Your “Planning” by Kris Gage
I am a planner.
I love having everything laid out before me in neat, colour-coded columns showing everything in a single overview.
This was a difficult article to read as I started wondering to myself: “Is my compulsion with planning things out impeding my ability to get things done?
We’re socialized to “plan,” and that’s fine. But when you start to idealize the plan, spending more time and focus on perfecting it than executing, it becomes a problem.
Planning is not the same as taking action.
Yet, this goes against conventional productivity and self-improvement literature that tells you that you need to: a) have a plan, b) write down your goals and c) visualise your goals.
Food for thought, indeed.
Each week, I compile 7 articles, videos or other thoughts from books and write out my thoughts on them. Want to get them as they’re released? Follow the publication! You can have a look at the previous editions here.
