The (Shameless) Outlier Voice Notes

It all starts with great intentions

Enthusiasm that will make everyone around energisedFull force in the steps, moving aheadWith the wind behind my back

There I go, all set to conquer the world

With my creativity, and workI am in flow, the flow is in meThe tap is open and the water is gushing out

I show up every single dayAll I need to do is sit downAnd the thoughts and ideas stream forthWith me struggling to capture it all, and act on it

Until.

Until.

Until.

A small breakThat wee bit of procrastinationUnexpected work, travel, lazinessAnd there’s a small blip

When I’ve had a small accident,A stumble on the road while walkingShoving that puts me on the back footAll aspects are then taken on gingerly

Attempts remain, to get that train back on trackIt seems like I am swimming against a currentEvery step forward seems to push me back two more

Where’s that flow when I need it most

Hurdles are common, and meant to be a barrierMost of it internal, that voice within that whispers

“It’s ok, do it tomorrow”, or“Your current work is not a patch on the old ones”.

Back to baby stepsTrying to open that tap againEven if just a drop comes out-

Drip by drip

That bucket will be filledA word at a timeOr a thought documented, and acted on

The tap is always openSometimes it is water,Other times it is gas. Even noise!

After a stumble, I will take anything that comesTo erase the fog of un-flow.

Stumbles are commonMeant to rattle streaks

We chip awayOne stroke at a time.

The Psychology of Shameless Creativity

* Flow fragility: Momentum feels permanent — until it breaks. One skipped session can feel like a mountain of resistance.

* Inner resistance: After a stumble, the brain whispers: “You’ve lost it.” It hasn’t. But the self-doubt speaks louder in silence.

* Action restarts identity: Even a trickle — one word, one note, one sketch — reminds the brain: you still do this.

Drip by drip. The streak will return.

A NEW HOMAGE BOOK: THE READER LEADER

Leadership is not a role.It is a responsibility.

This book brings together the writings of late Col Shyam Vijay Simha.Written over time, often in response to questions of leadership, responsibility, and choice.

He wrote as someone who believed that leadership is first an inner discipline.That thought must precede action.That clarity, restraint, and moral responsibility matter more than authority or position.

The Reader Leader is not a tribute in words, but in work.These essays reflect a life shaped by reading and reflection,and Col Shyam’s insistence that we come from a culture that demands depth, courage, and accountability from those who lead.

This book is shared in his memory.And in the hope that his thinking continues to travel.With you.And with us.

Download The Reader Leader

Additional READS on “Shameless Creativity”:

The 3rd Draft LieGet bored on purpose!An Audience that DOESN’T EXIST!The Tidy Desk Delusion!Phantom pain of past crushes

BUSY BLURCreative NarcissismLife is a treasure huntThe one flutter of a ButterflyMediocre, and proudI don’t know what to createJust say NO. Reclaim yourself.The smile and the VEIN

Staring at Failure!SPRINT and RESTCREATIVE BIRIYANII am brilliant! Why can’t you see it?

Permission to ExploreWaiting for the MUSE

Steal from Yourself

Trust is an OUTCOME

Insane. Idiotic. Impossible

ALLODOXAPHOBIA: That fear of…

Flow Famine

Creative Side Effects

The 7-Second rule of creativity

Constipation, Diahorrea, and Creative Cholesterol

Fridge Magnet Creativity

The 2AM IDEA THIEF

Creative Shame vs Creative EGO

INK before IDEA

Post Creative Guilt

Pointless Creation

There’s no pleasing everyone!

The WHEN Diagram

The past doesn’t write the future!

Don’t be scared of original thought.

Thanks for reading The Shameless Outlier!

Subscribe to receive new posts and

Be Shameless

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pravinshekar.substack.com

Will she accept me?Oh, it depends on how good my love letter is.So here I am, working on my 10th draftPerfect, it will be, more than enough for her to say Yes.

I have shaped it, honed it, sharpened it, romanticised itYou must know that I have been working on it for ages.She surely will love this, and love meAnd we shall live happily ever after.

Letter ready, I visit her.She seems happy to see meShe has something in her hand as well; an envelope!My heart is jumping out.

I open her envelope quickly and I see her wedding invite.

Couldn’t she have waited a few years….

My love letter was now perfect.An arrow without a board.A rose without a recipient.

This loss happens in business as well

The infinite looping to get a pitch, perfectBy the time it reaches the recipient,Decisions have already been made.Perhaps, the project has already been completed by someone else!

Refinement and our eternal quest for the perfect,Is nothing but procrastination

A lack of confidence in our capabilitiesA duped discipline called perfection dinned into us

Perfect for whom?

Repeat refinement follows a lawThat of diminishing returnsBeyond a point, improvement is marginal and moot

Why squeeze that creativity lemon so hard?

The message matters more than the wrapper.Relative speed, more than infinite delay.Hence the title of this article.

The 3rd draft is a lie.

You write, then you sleep over it.You rewrite, and you ship.

That’s itPut it out there.

I love you.Will you marry me?

Come, let’s walk the path of life together.Forever.

Simplicity takes the cake, and the cream

Go create, live your dream.

(That’s called an “Inland” letter and under that is a “Post Card”.)

The Psychology of Shameless Creativity

* Perfection paralysis: Endless revision often hides fear of rejection, of being seen, of not being “enough.”

* Diminishing returns: Past the third draft, most changes serve ego, not impact. The gains shrink. The cost grows.

* Cognitive ease: Simplicity connects. Speed matters. The idea that ships is the idea that lives.

Write. Sleep. Rewrite. Ship.

INVITING BETA READERS FOR A NEW BOOK:

“STOP TELLING STORIES!”

A new book with demonstrated frameworks of storytelling. Check out the cover below and share your thoughts.Your initial reading and feedback is much appreciated. Please write to me for a word doc of the draft version. Thanks.

Additional READS on “Shameless Creativity”:

Get bored on purpose!An Audience that DOESN’T EXIST!The Tidy Desk Delusion!Phantom pain of past crushes

BUSY BLURCreative NarcissismLife is a treasure huntThe one flutter of a ButterflyMediocre, and proudI don’t know what to createJust say NO. Reclaim yourself.The smile and the VEIN

Staring at Failure!SPRINT and RESTCREATIVE BIRIYANII am brilliant! Why can’t you see it?

Permission to ExploreWaiting for the MUSE

Steal from Yourself

Trust is an OUTCOME

Insane. Idiotic. Impossible

ALLODOXAPHOBIA: That fear of…

Flow Famine

Creative Side Effects

The 7-Second rule of creativity

Constipation, Diahorrea, and Creative Cholesterol

Fridge Magnet Creativity

The 2AM IDEA THIEF

Creative Shame vs Creative EGO

INK before IDEA

Post Creative Guilt

Pointless Creation

There’s no pleasing everyone!

The WHEN Diagram

The past doesn’t write the future!

Don’t be scared of original thought.

Thanks for reading The Shameless Outlier!

Subscribe to receive new posts and

Be Shameless

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pravinshekar.substack.com

GET BORED ON PURPOSE’Boring’ new ideas and actions!

The need to do somethingTo be seen as doing somethingImmersing into action, any typeJust to keep myself occupied

Constant hustlingIsn’t that a modern disease?Killing our muse…

What if we go on a strikeWith ourselves

Decide to sitAnd let some time fly by

Allow the mind to wanderWhile I sit and gazeWatch the breeze move people and birds

No pressure no stressThe doing nothing phase,

When the subconscious sparksAnd stores away some aha ideas

Boredom

That compost bin where creative ideas sproutFor us to harvest laterFor now though, do nothing

Oh what a liberating feeling

That I can also be aliveFor a small time slice

Just being…

Boredom isn’t a bug.

It’s the recharger.

(Couple of dudes, just standing, enjoying the sunset!)

The Psychology of Shameless Creativity

* Creative Incubation Effect: The subconscious mind solves problems when the conscious mind rests. Boredom is a trigger.

* Busywork Bias: We mistake motion for progress. Stillness is wrongly equated with laziness.

* Aha Latency: Breakthrough ideas rarely appear under direct focus. They emerge from stillness, silence, slowness.

INVITING BETA READERS FOR A NEW BOOK:

“KILLER STORYTELLING!”

A new book with demonstrated frameworks of storytelling. Your initial reading and feedback is much appreciated. Please write to me for a word doc of the draft version. Working title and cover below. Thanks.

Additional READS on “Shameless Creativity”:

An Audience that DOESN’T EXIST!The Tidy Desk Delusion!Phantom pain of past crushes

BUSY BLURCreative NarcissismLife is a treasure huntThe one flutter of a ButterflyMediocre, and proudI don’t know what to createJust say NO. Reclaim yourself.The smile and the VEIN

Staring at Failure!SPRINT and RESTCREATIVE BIRIYANII am brilliant! Why can’t you see it?

Permission to ExploreWaiting for the MUSE

Steal from Yourself

Trust is an OUTCOME

Insane. Idiotic. Impossible

ALLODOXAPHOBIA: That fear of…

Flow Famine

Creative Side Effects

The 7-Second rule of creativity

Constipation, Diahorrea, and Creative Cholesterol

Fridge Magnet Creativity

The 2AM IDEA THIEF

Creative Shame vs Creative EGO

INK before IDEA

Post Creative Guilt

Pointless Creation

There’s no pleasing everyone!

The WHEN Diagram

The past doesn’t write the future!

Don’t be scared of original thought.

Thanks for reading The Shameless Outlier!

Subscribe to receive new posts and

Be Shameless

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pravinshekar.substack.com

AN AUDIENCE THAT DOESN’T EXIST

(YET)

What if we turn things on its head?

Haven’t we heard that a movie floppedBecause it was way ahead of its timeAchieving a cult status years after its releasePerhaps it was made for a future audience.

We create for a specific target groupIn our minds, at leastWe want to be liked and loved by that segmentWhile the fears of ridicule and trolling sometimes stop us.

What if we demolish some myths

That of future haters and imaginary goalkeepersWhat if we create for an audienceThat is perhaps not even born.

The universe is funny and ironic at timesConniving to get two hearts togetherLike a book landing up in sightJust the medicine I needed at that moment

A stranger crossing our path,And becoming a bridge for greater things for you to achieve.Wander, dream and let your work out into the etherThose who need to find you, will.

Our job then, is to work on what we do best.

Create.

SHIP!

(Someone out there is waiting for your creativity!)

The Psychology of Shameless Creativity

* Future Resonance Bias: Creative work is often misaligned with current demand but finds its audience across time.

* Ghost Audience Syndrome: We over-fear silent critics who may never exist, at the cost of real future believers.

A GIG CREATOR HUNT:

“JOIN AN OUTLIER TEAM”

If you want to work on some creative micro projects, and take them from ideas to action, then reach out to me.Check out the poster below.

Additional PRODS on “Shameless Creativity”:

The Tidy Desk Delusion!Phantom pain of past crushes

BUSY BLURCreative NarcissismLife is a treasure huntThe one flutter of a ButterflyMediocre, and proudI don’t know what to createJust say NO. Reclaim yourself.The smile and the VEIN

Staring at Failure!SPRINT and RESTCREATIVE BIRIYANII am brilliant! Why can’t you see it?

Permission to ExploreWaiting for the MUSE

Steal from Yourself

Trust is an OUTCOME

Insane. Idiotic. Impossible

ALLODOXAPHOBIA: That fear of…

Flow Famine

Creative Side Effects

The 7-Second rule of creativity

Constipation, Diahorrea, and Creative Cholesterol

Fridge Magnet Creativity

The 2AM IDEA THIEF

Creative Shame vs Creative EGO

INK before IDEA

Post Creative Guilt

Pointless Creation

There’s no pleasing everyone!

The WHEN Diagram

The past doesn’t write the future!

Don’t be scared of original thought.

Thanks for reading The Shameless Outlier!

Subscribe to receive new posts and

Be Shameless

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pravinshekar.substack.com

You can pick the voice version, or the written word!

When you dip your feet in the river twiceNeither remains the sameNot the water, nor your feetThere are changes, observed and invisible

You made something sometime agoAnd left it on the mantel, gathering dustThe cleanup wave happens and you realise“Wow, what a piece”

Would you return it for displayOr let it loose into the world, once again?Work that we have done, can be added toWith newer knowledge acquired along the wayThe changing tastes of a newer audienceSo we tweak.

Like a recipe that changes over timeNew flavours addedMixing cultures and traditionsReusing old scriptsThat punchline written much earlierThe speech delivered in a hurryAnd a post whose time to repost has come!

You don’t need anyone’s permissionTo reuse your own workYour work is like the river waterFlowing, changing, adapting,

LIVING.

An environmental portrait clicked 15 years ago!

The Psychology of Shameless Creativity:

* Ownership Loop: Ideas don’t expire. They evolve with us, repurposing is a sign of growth.

* Familiarity Amnesia: Our old work surprises us, not because we’ve changed, but because we finally see it with distance.

PLUS: If you want a copy of my latest book : Click for Shameless Creativity

——————————————————————————————————-

Additional PRODS on “Shameless Creativity”:

Trust is an OUTCOME

Insane. Idiotic. Impossible

ALLODOXAPHOBIA: That fear of…

Flow Famine

Creative Side Effects

The 7-Second rule of creativity

Constipation, Diahorrea, and Creative Cholesterol

Fridge Magnet Creativity

The 2AM IDEA THIEF

Creative Shame vs Creative EGO

INK before IDEA

Post Creative Guilt

Pointless Creation

There’s no pleasing everyone!

The WHEN Diagram

The past doesn’t write the future!

Don’t be scared of original thought.

__________________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading The Shameless Outlier!

Subscribe to receive new posts and Be Shameless

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit pravinshekar.substack.com