Inspiration reminders
There are so many people who don’t know what they want. And I think that, in this world, that’s the only thing you have to know — exactly what you want. ... Doing what you were born to do ... That’s the way to be happy.
Maria Popova • Iconic Painter Agnes Martin on Art, Solitude, and the Secret of Happiness
Remember that work created in the spirit of commerce, that doesn’t spring from some sense of passion, some place of truth within you, will rarely be successful.
Summer Brennan • "How to Succeed on Substack"
The reason we’re so increasingly intolerant of long articles and why we skim them, why we skip forward even in a short video that reduces a 300-page book into a three-minute animation — even in that we skip forward — is that we’ve been infected with this kind of pathological impatience that makes us want to have the knowledge but not do the work of... See more
Maria Popova • Maria Popova — Cartographer of Meaning in a Digital Age

To test an idea, you must build it. You can’t rely on the abstract – you have to bring it into the world to play with it feel it and only then can you judge whether it’s worth pursuing or not
Christa Nicholson • The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
Don’t create the content you think people want to consume, create the content you want to consume. If it interests you, you’ll make it interesting to others.
23 Truths I Wish I Knew at 23
ideas into income - this is what we focus on -
passion into products
purpose into platform
content into a community
community into clients
clients into cash
blog into a brand
brand into a business
book into a blog
experience into expertise -
author insights into audience outcomes -
entrepreneurial experience/expertses into audience outcomes.
One of the most underrated skills you can learn is the ability to ignore your mood and stick with the plan.
Gracie Vansubstack.com