becoming

I feel this pressure of “Do it, do it, do it. Time is running out. Get it done. Make it perfect.” That’s when I know that the pain is in the driver’s seat. But that’s just the natural stages we all go through.

I like the idea of really accepting my limits, or leaning into what I can do that feels easy. That’s very appealing to me, as opposed to trying to push through something. So maybe now I’m accepting the limit.

From time to time, especially in recent years, I’ve come across artists online whose technical skills are far less central to their identity than mine has been, yet whose way of talking about their work is strikingly gentle. They seem able to describe their own progress with warmth, to make room for imperfect drawings without interpreting them as... See more

What I had been calling “discipline” was, in many moments, something closer to anxiety: a background sense that unless I pushed myself with sufficient intensity, I wouldn’t make progress.

even though dreaming feels selfish or foolish, given the stark state of the world, it is the essential human quality that allows us not to surrender to despair and move toward a future built by us rather than imposed onto us.

When we reflect on our days and our mistakes, we turn failures into learning experiences.

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Each failure is different, and each defeat is closer to victory than the last.

One of the key findings that comes up again and again is known as the “5-hour rule.” In short, this is the rule where we spend one hour a day learning, reflecting, and thinking. We do this five times a week (which makes up the “5-hour” rule).