Storyteller and writer Matthew Dicks shares strategies from his book for enhancing creativity and productivity in life, such as thinking in minutes, being an eagle, and practicing deliberate incuriosity. Topics include flossing in the shower, embracing imperfections, and the importance of positive feedback and gratitude.
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Quick takeaways
Envision your hundred-year-old self to make decisions aligned with long-term goals.
Optimize productivity by focusing on minute-level planning and valuing each interval.
Balance strategic thinking and detail orientation to enhance decision-making and invest time wisely.
Deep dives
Prioritizing Time with a 100-Year-Old Plan
Consider envisioning your hundred-year-old self to guide present decisions. Reflecting on lifetime regrets reveals the importance of long-term planning. By visualizing the future self, you can make choices that align with your ultimate aspirations, ensuring each decision contributes to a fulfilling life.
Efficiency in Minutes: The Power of Strategic Time Management
Shift your focus to minute-level planning to optimize time usage. Embracing the significance of each minute leads to focused productivity. By recognizing the value of short intervals, you can accomplish tasks effectively, avoiding wasted time on irrelevant activities.
Eagle vs. Mouse: Balancing Detail-Oriented Tasks with Strategic Prioritization
Find the equilibrium between meticulous attention to detail and insightful prioritization. Differentiating between eagle-like strategic thinking and mouse-like detail orientation enhances decision-making. Embrace intentional curiosity and selective rule-breaking to streamline routines and invest time wisely.
Embrace Imperfection in Creativity
The podcast emphasizes the importance of embracing imperfection in creative endeavors, highlighting the fact that making mistakes and creating terrible things is a natural part of the creative process. Examples like Richard Branson's failed parakeet business underscore the idea that successful individuals often start by producing subpar work before refining their craft. The speaker encourages creators to overcome the desire for perfection and accept that making mistakes is essential for growth and eventual success.
Focusing on Self-Reflection and Pursuing Dreams
The podcast discusses the significance of self-reflection and pursuing personal dreams as a key to meaningful progress. By encouraging individuals to take time to contemplate their current path, identity, and aspirations, the speaker suggests that clarifying one's goals and forging ahead towards a specific horizon can lead to a more fulfilling and purpose-driven life. The conversation underscores the value of introspection in breaking routine patterns and fueling personal growth, ultimately fostering a more engaging and inspired existence.
Matthew Dicks wears a lot of hats. Among other things, he’s a storyteller, communications consultant, writer, and schoolteacher. In order to excel in his professional life, as well as do what he loves in his personal life, he’s developed a set of strategies that help him be more creative and productive, and can be used by anyone who wants to start making the most of life.
Matt writes about these tactics and mindset shifts in his latest book Someday Is Today: 22 Simple, Actionable Ways to Propel Your Creative Life, and he shares some of them with us today on the show, including why you need to think in minutes, be an eagle rather than a mouse, practice deliberate incuriosity, and always do your best to act like a decent human being. Along the way, Matt and I talk about why you should floss in the shower and how restaurants that make guacamole at your table are a great example of the folly of making a thing, a thing.