I haven’t read a lot of books by Seth.
I’m reading his blog, and I’m impressed by his self-discipline with the practice.
He has been writing daily on his blog for years without missing one day — what a streak.😀
So he has the credibility to write on “The Practice”.
Overall, it’s a book about shipping your creative work; about trusting ourselves; about being willing to share generously whatever the results; about the practice that helps the magic get out.
Seth believes that we all do creative work, and we’ll have to do more in the future. So he encourages us to find our creativity and share it generously.
The book is divided into 8 chapters. I’ll go through some of them and share what I’ve learned from “The Practice”.
- Trust yourself
- Generous
- The professional
- Intent
- No such thing as a writer’s block
- Make assertions
- Earn your skills
- Seek out constraints
Trust yourself
“This practice is a journey without an external boss.”
The world is changing rapidly. There are no more recipes that guarantee the outcome. That’s why every one of us writers, leaders, and teachers need to build new methods to progress.
Creativity can help, but you need to nurture it.
Creativity is not magic that touches a few people. It’s the ability to take time to observe, think, and share our views with others. It comes with practice.
“Learning to Juggle”
Most of the time, we don’t do creative work — the thinking process—and when we do, we don’t dare to share it. Why? We are afraid that they (the others) won’t like it.
When you learn to juggle, you first learn to throw. When you master this, the catch takes care of itself.
Throw your work without taking care of the outcome. It will take care of itself.
Uncertainty makes the practice enjoyable. That’s why we love sports, the outcome is uncertain.
That’s what makes the practice attractive. If the outcome is inevitable, the activity loses interest. Doubt creates the emotion, the appeal, the story.
In many things we do, we try to get certainty about the outcome. It’s impossible. There is a recipe for sure. The practice allows us to change until we find it. But we need to be patient with the results and embrace the uncertainty.
“The combination of talent, skill, craft, and point of view that brings new light to old problems.”
We lock up art as something for painters and writers only.
But even Dwight D. Eisenhower was already qualifying leadership as an art. There are the skills needed for leadership, but every leader brings their own way, their own point of view. The subtle melange is art.
“Creativity Is an Action, Not a Feeling.”
We need to put actions first. Actions always beat feelings. What we think in order to reach a particular flow like “creativity” becomes regular. This is the magic of self-discipline.
“Decisions are good, even if the outcomes aren’t.”
We always have two choices: be proactive and decide, or let our environment do it for us. Whatever the outcomes, decisions are good.
Love and learn to decide.
The professional
You can split your time in two:
• Worrying: create anxiety on topics that are out of your control.
• Investing: think, decide, produce. You create value in the long term.
“Everything that matters is something we’ve chosen to do. Everything that matters is a skill and an attitude. Everything that matters is something we can learn.”
Learning is behind all the magic. It gives energy and creates options. Become a life-long learner.
Intent
“Instinct is great. It’s even better when you work on it.”
Listen to your inner voice. Listen to your intuition.
At the same time, guide them by having a clear definition of what you want and a system to support and feed your instinct. It could be as simple as collecting your ideas in a repository. (process)
No such thing as a writer’s block
“Writing isn’t the same as talking, because writing is organized and permanent.”
When you press send, it’s there forever. Everyone can see it.
You’re responsible.
“Learning almost always involves incompetence.”
I often feel incompetent and, according to the above definition, I love it.
English is not my first language – you surely must have realized it 😀 – but learning to summarize books helps me to progress.
“If the process is right, the outcome will inevitably follow.”
Work on your process, your results will improve.
The secret is to go deeper than wider. Build processes for the things you love to do, instead of jumping onto new activities. When your routines are there, you’ll find yourself doing more of what you love to do.
“Meetings are where we go to wait for someone else to take responsibility. Meetings are a safe haven, a refuge from what might happen.”
We lose so much time in meetings. But sometimes it’s comfortable. When we sit there, even when it’s boring, we are safe – we don’t need to create, decide, ship.
Seek out constraints
“All creative work has constraints, because all creativity is based on using existing constraints to find new solutions.”
Learn to embrace constraints. They help creativity. Look at startups. They have a lot of constraints, and often they beat giant corporations.
“Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginners’ minds. A little awareness is a good thing.”
A life-learning mindset helps to stay in touch with the beginner’s mind. And a community of readers who read a blog on options to grow represents this spirit.🙂
The book is divided in short chapters, a bit like Seth’s blog but organized around one theme: “The practice”. It’s easy to read. I have enjoyed it.
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