Sophie Noel

The more I’m nourished by my work, the more that others have the possibility of being nourished by it too,” says Kening Zhu in “the joy of missing out on platforms.” Using comfortable tools is important if we want to make the work we’re destined to make.

We assume people want polished perfection. But often, they’re more drawn to the rough draft. The early adopters, the ones who find you first? They’re not looking for sleek—they’re looking for a spark .

They don’t need your idea to be refined. They just need to believe in it.

Your first 1,000 true fans won’t care that your work is raw, that you’re... See more

One of the most interesting things about hearing Lucas talk is realizing how deeply he thinks about how things feel, not just how they look. This part of the design process—art direction—is becoming more important in the AI age. Now that it’s easier to generate images, Lucas says, designers are spending their time curating experiences that feel... See more

A solid routine fosters a well-worn groove for one’s mental energies and helps stave off the tyranny of moods.

This was one of William James’s favorite subjects. He thought you wanted to put part of your life on autopilot; by forming good habits, he said, we can “free our minds to advance to really interesting fields of action.”

There are all kinds of things you can do to develop and retain an audience -- break news, loudly talk about your own independence, make your Twitter avatar a photo of a cute girl -- but the single most important thing you can do is post regularly and never stop .

I have thousands of photos of my children but few that I’ve set aside to revisit. I have records of virtually every text I’ve sent since I was in college but no idea how to find the ones that meant something. I spent years blasting my thoughts to millions of people on X and Facebook even as I fell behind on correspondence with dear friends. I have... See more