Daily Content Machine

In this short-form episode, I take a step back and refocus the show in an effort to best serve the listeners and my original vision for the podcast. Reevaluating your trajectory and finding that adjustments need to be made isn't fun. Change is rarely easy, but it's needed for growth and improvement. While often bittersweet, it's what brings a new season.

Why do we get stuck? How do we get past a creative block? There are a number of reasons we might feel as if we are at an impasse, but they're mostly mental. There are a few ways to combat these problems, with prevention being the choice weapon.

In assessing the habits of history's most creative minds, we find a similar pattern. Sure, there are productivity tips and tricks, but that's not where true focus comes from. If I tell you the answer now, it may not be what you want to hear, so you'll just have to listen in to find out.

Practice is good, but purposeful practice is better. Practicing deliberately is what will produce tangible results rather than mere passive improvement. Learn to set clear objectives to help squeeze more productive juice out of the time you already spend practicing.

Likes, and hearts, and shares—oh my! With running counters next to nearly everything you see, words like "worth" and "value" start to have diluted meanings. Let's look beyond the floating numbers above everyone's head for real value. Numbers are relative, and we must not let relativity misrepresent actuality.

Where does ambition come from? How do we stay motivated? Goals can help inspire us to take action and work towards something, but the source of long-standing perseverance cannot be derived from the goals themselves else it dissipates once the goal is reached. We must go deeper.

Often it seems like other people are getting a lot more done than we are. But what are they sacrificing? We all have limited time and doing one thing means giving up another. We have to set the right goals and sacrifice the right things to accomplish them. For all we know, someone else could be sacrificing personal health or family, yet all we see are the accomplishments. While it is dangerous to compare, sometimes seeing the success of others can provide a needed reality check on the various time-wasters we have that keep us from getting more done.

Begin harnessing the power and potential of licensing your work, comprehending licensing agreements, and understanding contract terminology, along with what learning what kind of arrangements are ideal and what offers you should avoid. I talk about pitfalls to watch out for and why you should be using your own agreements.

Creating a reliable stream of revenue when it comes to an unconventional job requires a diversification of your income sources. I share a three-pronged approach to reliable income and making a living within a niche.

I get "harsh" on being a professional and telling your clients that the content dictates the design. Aaron and I also respond to listener feedback on the topics of art vs. design, business, approaches to billing, payments, and of course, designing for the content.