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.
We’re wired to seek pleasure, and avoid pain. But to make it as a creator, you need to push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Many things that feel good about creating can hold you back, while many things that feel bad are powerful fuel.
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.
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.
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.
There’s something I’ve noticed that very successful communicators do. It’s a very simple tactic, but it can go a long way in making everything you say or write more engaging, more memorable, and more effective.