For nearly a decade, Benjamin Hardy felt a lack of purpose in his life. But, thanks to a church mission, he started journaling, found an interest in psychology, and then decided to become an author (while raising a family and acquiring his doctorate), despite the odds of achieving this goal in traditional publishing.

In 2015, Hardy started blogging because he knew it was a potential route to becoming an author. Through Medium, he built a massive following (literally becoming the #1 writer on the platform), and achieved his goal of finding an agent and publishing books in a traditional manner.

In addition to his first book, ‘Willpower Doesn’t Work,’ the author has recently published ‘Personality Isn’t Permanent.’ In the book, he “draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality—a person’s consistent attitudes and behaviors—is innate and unchanging. Hardy liberates us from the limiting belief that our ‘true selves’ are to be discovered, and shows how we can intentionally create our desired selves and achieve amazing goals instead.”

In this interview, Hardy discusses deliberate practice, why writers often avoid goal-setting, lessons from Ryan Holiday, how to reverse engineer goals to find a process, why writers must be authentic today, strategic ignorance, and why kids shouldn’t take the Myers-Briggs personalty test.

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5