Love Your Work

Ross King is author of the book The Pope's Ceiling . It tells the story of just how Michelangelo managed to paint 12,000 square feet of ceiling with little or no experience as a painter. I think there's a dangerous belief in creative work. And that is the belief that certain artists are simply gifted, and that that alone explains their greatness. It's easy to look up at the ceiling of the Sistine...

About two years ago, I was on a retreat in Mexico with some friends. We were each exploring what we wanted to do in our lives and careers. It took all week for me to admit it to myself: I wanted to double down on being a creator. I wanted to have conversations on this podcast, read books, and write books. I wanted to make my creative output the top priority in my life. So, I moved off to Colombia...

Rob Hunter ( @vegashacker ) and I met ten years ago in a cafe. Well, I met him on Craigslist, really, but then we met in person in a cafe. We had both left our jobs at the same time. We were both determined to make it on our own. So, we spent several months wandering from cafe to cafe in San Francisco. We'd put in twelve hour days, not making a dime, and it was one of the most exciting times in my...

I've talked a little on this show – especially in the early days – about the idea of "mini-lives" . Basically, you go live your normal life in another city for a month, or two months. Or, in the case of our guests today, about six months. Mike and Megan left their jobs in Washington DC, and before they decided to go anywhere else, they wanted to live a mini life. And, they came to Medellín. I sat...

Ian Leslie ( @mrianleslie ) is author of Curious: The Desire to Know, and Why Your Future Depends On It . If you've ever had a lot of free time, you know how scary it can be. The very first day that I was on my own, more than ten years ago, I woke up to just vastness. I had a whole day ahead of me that I needed to fill up with something. I figured I'd have the best shot of making it if I just foll...

I recently passed my tenth year as a self-employed independent creator. I don't recommend it. I say that, and some people don't believe me. When I wrote this post that I'm sharing on today's show, some people thought it was some kind of a click-bait strategy. I think it's because this post kind of takes a turn. It starts off sounding a little grim, but it ends up sounding hopeful. The thing is, I...

Jon Bokenkamp ( @jonbokenkamp ) wanted to be a screenwriter. So, he decided it was his job. He sat at his desk from nine to five every day, writing frantically, and each night he went to another job. One that paid him. He waited tables. After three years, he sold his first screenplay. Then he sold some others here and there. Then the phone stopped ringing. After one failed script, he was contractu...

I'm working on a new book. It's called Getting Art Done , and it's going to help you boost your creative productivity and make your masterpiece. Today I'm going to read a sample chapter from the first draft of Getting Art Done . It's about the voice inside your head, and how it can lead to your most explosive ideas. To learn more and preview Getting Art Done , visit gettingartdone.com . Join Love...

James Pearse Connelly ( @jpconnelly , Instagram: @jpconnelly ) is an Emmy-Award-winning television set designer. He's designed sets for shows like Bill Nye Saves the World , Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party , The Voice , and Top Chef . I wanted to have James on the show to learn how he does creativity on a large scale, with literally moving parts, and an unforgiving production schedule. I fig...

I've been working on a new book called Getting Art Done . Today, I'm going to share with you a chapter from the first draft of the book. This chapter about the importance of shipping your work. It's easy to fantasize about what a great creator you will be one day, while never really finishing your work in the present day. If you make it a point to ship work, won't the quality suffer? I share what...

L. David Marquet ( @ldavidmarquet ) had spent a year preparing to captain a submarine in the U.S. Navy. But at the last minute, he was assigned to a different submarine. Not only was it a different ship than the one he had prepared for, it was also the worst ship in its fleet. It was so bad, only three men had reenlisted. Since David didn't know the ship, and since the situation was so bad, he had...

Love Your Work listener Gustav Dybeck is a design student from Sweden. He has an opportunity to do an internship for about 9 months, and he wants to make the most of it before he starts his career. You may have heard a clip a couple of episodes back on Gustav's favorite moment on Love Your Work. He was in Medellin awhile back, and since I originally pursued a career in design, Gustav was intereste...

Daniel J. Wilson was working on a screenplay when I met him during a mini life in Buenos Aires several years ago. I'd soon learn that he was also an accomplished artist, with his work covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The London Times, and displayed all over the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Daniel has also worked in film, his IMDB page includes e...

It's easier than ever for creators to get their work noticed. But, it's harder than ever to actually get that work done. Think about it this way: You're writing a novel. You use Twitter and Facebook and write on your blog, and your work gets noticed. But, you have to put all of those distractions aside, and get to writing. If you don't, your novel will never become real. In this week's episode, I'...

Almost 15 years ago, Getting Things Done started taking the internet by storm. Techies started buying binder clips and index cards in bulk. Today, "next actions" and "contexts" are commonplace in teams around the world. Just about everyone knows GTD stands for Getting Things Done. When I was trying to deal with wearing multiple hats as a designer in an architecture firm, I absorbed some GTD throug...

You've heard that multitasking is a myth. I'm here to tell you that the idea that multitasking is a myth, is somewhat of a myth in itself. When it comes to creative work, you can actually work on two projects at once. The trick is, you don't even know you're working on that second project. This article originally appeared on Medium . Join Love Your Work Elite Some levels of Love Your Work Elite no...

By now you've heard that you need 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become a master of your craft. The story you don't hear is that it also takes 12,500 hours of deliberate rest. When you rest, you let what you've learned sink in. The ties connecting concepts get stronger, and weak connections get cleared away. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is author of the book Rest: Why You Get More Done When You W...

It's so easy to get caught up in ruminating over what we might do. I know I ruminated over starting this podcast for more than FOUR YEARS before I finally took action. Fortunately, the guests here on Love Your Work are all doers, and they tend to encourage doing, instead of thinking. Having that constant reminder has helped me take action in growing this podcast, and in writing my new book. But, s...

Bernadette Jiwa ( @bernadettejiwa ) thinks there's been an obsession with data in entrepreneurship over the past several years. When we're not sure about something, we're encouraged to run tests. I've even heard the advice before "test everything." Really? Test EVERYTHING? If you really know anything about statistics, you'll know that many things in a budding venture don't have a large enough samp...

There are a lot of voices out there in entrepreneurship encouraging you to "Hustle." I really don't like this word, and I think it sends the wrong message about just what you should be aspiring to in your life and work. One thing you want to aspire to is to not pay too much for shipping costs in your business, and cut down on hassles. Join Love Your Work Premium Would you like to hear raw, ad-free...

You've heard it before. The story of the starving artist. You may even believe it yourself. You may think that to keep your creative integrity, you have to give up on making money. Jeff Goins ( @goinswriter ) is returning to the podcast today to tell you about why that's not true at all. In fact, instead of being a starving artist, you can be a thriving artist. Learn in this episode: How is it tha...

The world around us can program certain goals into our minds. If we aren't careful, we can end up with goals that have nothing to do with our happiness. You might not even realize that you expect to become a billionaire someday. You might be better off admitting to yourself that's not what you want. Join Love Your Work Premium Would you like to hear raw, ad-free interviews, weeks in advance? Just...

I first discovered the work of Seth Godin about 13 years ago. Since then he's helped me think about how to make work that's remarkable – The Purple Cow . He's shown me how to think about having a direct relationship with my customers – with Permission Marketing . He's shown me how to push through when things get tough – with The Dip . Plus, countless other things. He's written so many books, Tribe...

Some of you already know that I'm writing a new book. Getting Art Done will help you overcome Resistance and bring your work into the world. I had much of my own Resistance to fight to get this book project underway. I spent three months working on a book proposal, then I failed to get a literary agent. That was a tough blow, but what really flipped the switch for me was the conversation I had wit...

Not too long after moving to Colombia, Danny Michelwicz got obsessed with cacao, the raw material that's used to make chocolate. Since then, he's been learning about the craft of sourcing cacao and making chocolate, learning about his new country in the process, and working to have an impact on an underserved region. I went into this interview thinking I'd talk with Danny more about how his busine...