Writing

By having zero expectations, I beat procrastination. Thinking about starting work creates resistance. What you’re really doing is preparing yourself to meet a standard, not start work. When your quality standards for your work are too high, you take longer to start work.

"When one worldview dominates your thinking, you'll try to explain every problem you face through that worldview. Read widely and realize there are many answers."

“ Write about where you’ve been and where you’re going. Become a niche of one .”

“The best moments in reading are when you come across something—a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things—that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out and taken yours.”

“Being a writer is the best way I know how to get paid for being insane.” This 4-minute speech by author Fredrik Backman on “creative anxiety and procrastination” made me laugh.

"In many cases, what you hope to learn by reading books or listening to podcasts can only be learned by attempting what you fear. Some knowledge is only revealed through action."

I’ve found this a remarkably useful practice in the early stages of drafting, because it reverses the usual order of things. Instead of holding back from writing until you know what you want to say – which leads to a vicious circle of stopping, deleting, and rewriting everything a hundred times – the commitment to keeping moving means you just... See more

“The best way to think is to write.”