Love Your Work

December 15th is the three year anniversary of Love Your Work. I've often found that it takes three years to really accomplish something, so I get the sense that something big is around the corner. Then again, the podcast has recently become profitable, so maybe that big thing is already here. We often want results right away, but oftentimes, it takes three years. I talk about it on today's episode. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/three-years/

When your life gets too comfortable, you stop taking risks. Loss aversion takes hold and you become complacent. You stop innovating. You stop being dynamic. By the time you realize you've become irrelevant, it's already too late to change. This is one of the main themes behind the work of Tyler Cowen (@tylercowen). Tyler writes one of the most influential economics blogs in the world – if not THE most influential – at marginalrevolution.com. He's also an economics professor at George Mason University. In Tyler's book, The Complacent Class, he argues that Americans are getting too comfortable, and not taking risks – or, as the title would imply, they're getting complacent. Average is Over – another of Cowen's books argues. The complacency of Americans is leading to The Great Stagnation, another of Tyler's books. Instead of being stagnant, we should be dynamic. Keep learning, take risks, and step out of your comfort zone. This, Tyler believes, will lead to economic growth, which Tyler argues is a good thing in his latest book, Stubborn Attachments. I was thinking about the theme of taking risks and stepping outside of your comfort zone just before I wrote this intro in a cafe in Chicago. Moments prior, I was thinking about how – out of all of the places in the world – this cafe was not where I wanted to be in that moment. Not only had my Colombian visa application been rejected, but my first AirBNB stop in Chicago turned out to have a bedbug infestation – so I had to hastily move to a different one. But then I realized that while my life is riddled with problems in recent months – and if you're interested in details, listen to my recent notes right here on this podcast, especially "An Update on My Colombian Visa." While my life has these problems, these problems lead to growth. They're problems that lead to a lifestyle that I have built and that I continue to build. I could avoid all of these problems by living a more comfortable and stable lifestyle, but that wouldn't help me grow in the ways I want to grow. It would cause me to stagnate. Critically important, I've designed my life and work to withstand volatility – whether that's political, financial, or emotional volatility. Not only can I withstand that volatility, I can grow from it. I've built this outlook with the support of Tyler's thinking. I find him to have a holistic view of the economics that rule our world – with uncommon emphasis on art, culture, and creativity. So, this is perfect timing to have Tyler on the show. In this conversation, we'll explore: Why should you move? Tyler says that even if you're merely considering a change, that probably means you should make that change. He explains the data that tells you why. Is there a "next Austin" just waiting to explode in growth? Find out where that "next Austin" might be so you can get there first and take advantage of the opportunity. One way we get complacent is by trusting algorithms to make all of our decisions for us, whether that's on Netflix or Facebook or Amazon. How can you be "anti-algorithm", and how can being "anti-algorithm" help you be more dynamic. Image credit: [Politics and Prose Bookstore](https://www.flickr.com/photos/politicsandprose/5907532234/in/album-72157627002886179/ ). Love Your Work is now available on Pandora! Pandora recently launched a podcast genome, and Love Your Work is one of the few hand-picked podcasts included in the public beta. To sign up for the beta, go to https://pandorapodcastbeta.splashthat.com Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://audible.com/loveyourwork Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/tyler-cowen-interview/

Learn how to push yourself out of your comfort zone as a creator and apply stoic principles to overcome distractions. Discover six stoic mantras that can help resist temptation and stay focused on your goals. Explore eight powerful mantras for creators, including taking ownership of failures and finding your creative voice. The episode also expresses gratitude to Patreon supporters and discusses the possibility of supporting the show on Patreon.

Amber Rae (@heyamberrae] was on the wrong path. She was swept up in the hype of the Silicon Valley startup scene. She was working too many hours on too many projects. She pushed herself so hard, she drove herself into anxiety, addiction, and eventually triggered a seizure. But Amber was doing some writing on the side. That writing helped her discover what she was hiding from, and find meaning in her past. In Amber's mess, she found the message. Now Amber helps entrepreneurs and creators develop emotional mastery. She's sharing what she's learned in her new book, Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential. In today's conversation, we'll talk about: What's easy for you, but amazing for others? You'll hear shortcuts you can take to find the secret superpower hiding right beneath your nose. How did Amber become a writer by accident? You'll hear about the way she mentally framed the work she did, and how that held her back in some areas, while propelling her forward in others. What did Amber learn from working closely with Seth Godin? What did she do when Seth told her he thought the project she was working on would wind up a failure? Amber's a very exciting creator, and there's much much more to this conversation, so listen to hear the rest. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://babbel.com Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/amber-rae-podcast/

I regretfully have to cancel tonight's meetup in Chicago.

One thing I've discovered in talking to many of my guests is that your creative voice doesn't magically appear in your mind. You have to put in the work, and then your voice emerges from that work. But to do that work, you have to keep your creative machinery working. You have to keep putting out work, and you have to keep cleaning out the waste that gets in the way of putting out that work. That's what I'm talking about on this week's episode. I call it "creative hygiene." Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://babbel.com Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/creative-hygiene/

Bad news.

A long and detailed update about the status of my Colombian visa.

Ariel Garten (@ariel_garten) envisions a world where we can control computers with our minds. She's on the cutting edge of computer and brain interfaces with her creation, the Muse headband. Ariel sent me a headband a few months ago, and I've been using it to refine my meditation sessions. The headband gives me neurofeedback to help me identify a relaxed-focus mental state. So while I'm meditating, I get audio feedback that's an expression of my brain's activity. That audio feedback helps me adjust my meditation technique. The point of muse is to train your brain into focusing on one thing so you can build that skill and carry it over into other forms of meditation, as well as to have the mental awareness throughout the day to manage your attention and focus. I've experimented with EEG headsets before. I first bought one about seven years ago. The Muse absolutely blows away that experience. In addition to being useful for meditation, it is also a clinical-grade headset – used by neuroscientists everywhere – that measures all brainwaves as well as certain movements. In this conversation, we'll talk about: What mental cues can keep you in a meditative state? We'll talk about how mental cues differ from one form of meditation to another, and how those cues relate to what Muse measures. How do you develop a product with a new technology, when the application is unclear? Hear Ariel's story about how Muse started as a playful experiment, and evolved into a useful product. How do you follow disparate interests to an original idea. Ariel has a background in psychotherapy, fashion design, neuroscience (of course) – as well as having many other interests. How has that curiosity helped her arrive at an original idea, and how did she see past the naysayers who wanted her to focus on one thing? Muse is not a sponsor, but they have set up a special deal for our listeners. If you use the code LOVEYOURWORK at choosemuse.com, you'll get 15% off the Muse headset, or the new Muse 2. Plus, a portion of your purchase will support the show. Again, that's LOVEYOURWORK at choosemuse.com. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Sponsors http://babbel.com Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/ariel-garten-podcast/

Productivity is about mind management, not time management. I've been thinking about how this applies to managing your tasks on a day-to-day basis. I've come to realize that as long as you have the proper due dates attached to your tasks, it doesn’t matter what project those todos are for. What matters is your ability to do those tasks in an energy-efficient way. In this week's episode, I share with you how I keep creative work coming with ease all day long. Love Your Work is now fully listener-supported! Patreon supporters are now covering ALL production costs for Love Your Work! Join our wonderful Patreon backers at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.     Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/mental-state-not-todos/