Blindingly Ordinary, by Joshua Karthik

Newsflash, this just in: the world is not watching.

For all of my friends who are paralyzed by the notion of being in the spotlight, of having the world watch you while you practice, this is for you.

The world is not watching, and anonymity can be a blessing if you know how to use it.

In this episode, we also talk of Jesus and how he was not accepted in his hometown, and what that can mean for us when we first start out. 

As always, thank you for listening, and please subscribe to me on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a review :)

I read something today that struck a chord: "forget about becoming something. Just do stuff".

There's two kinds of kids in the world: those who love the idea of being a rockstar, and those that love the idea of writing music. When it comes to /doing/, I've found that focussing on writing the song pays off much better in the long run than focussing on "becoming" a rockstar. Love the grind as we said in a previous episode, not the goal.

Becoming a rockstar is more often than not an outcome of being able to write good music first. And in my experience of /doing/ things, I've found that the label comes last, and practice comes first.

In this episode, I refer to Meet Joe Black, which has Anthony Hopkins deliver his "dance like a dervish" line twice. Catch the first of those scenes here. And watch the rest of the movie if you can :) See you next time!

Back when I used to work a desk job, new year planners used to be a thing. You know the kind. Stiff hard cover. 365 pages, all neat and ruled. And always, always with a motivational quote on top. It was 2010, and I remember what mine said: “do what you love”.

In this episode, we're talking of the implications of only doing what you love, and the blind turns it can lead you down. And we first look at an alternative, and then at another.

Towards the end, I refer to the commencement speech by Steve Jobs at Stanford 2005. I recommend you read it :)

If this struck a chord with you, or you want to talk, find me on instagram

I've always found that when I love doing something, say photography with my iPhone, I tend to be in flow, and all the steps it takes to observe the world, bring up the phone, dial in the settings, frame the photo and shoot are just part of the process, not things I'd ever count out to you one by one.

In this episode, I'm contrasting how we talk of the things we love versus the things we don't, and how we talk to ourselves of the things we fear. And if there's one big takeaway, it is this: love the grind, not just the goal.

Here's the Derek Sivers post that inspired this :)

Back in college, I found that the world splits cleanly into three groups: those who dislike programming, those who love it and can't wait to code, and those who love programming but just won't ever code.

I see this everywhere now: we aren't ready to start doing something because we "just have to learn a little bit more". 

In this episode, I refer to Roosevelt's "Dare Mighty Things" passage, which you can find here: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/51936-far-better-it-is-to-dare-mighty-things-to-win

I had an interview with Ebay once. The interviewer found that I'd just gotten in photography, and he asked me one simple technical question.

In this episode, we talk of how it's not *how much* of something you know that counts, it's what you do with *what you know*. If you've ever held yourself back from trying something because you "didn't know enough", this episode is for you.

Towards the end, I mention the Green Lumber Fallacy. Read more about it here: https://fs.blog/2016/11/green-lumber-fallacy/

I chanced upon a tweet that talked of how most things aren’t that hard to do in real life. Over a lifetime of picking up some proficiency in various things that seem hard to do, I can tell you this much: they're all easier than you think. There are some unwritten rules for taking on a challenge you’ve never met before, and I’ve got a few pointers written down from my experience that I talk about in this episode.

For more like this, visit joshuakarthik.com/blog

Stuck in the lockdowns with time on your hands? In this short discussion, I look at my five point checklist for spending time wisely in the pandemic lockdowns, while we wait for business to resume. This episode is aimed at practising entrepreneurs with active businesses in creative fields.