7 Life Lessons on Creativity from building the Navalmanack
Here is the list, each lesson expanded below.
It’s ok to shelf it for a bit
Constraints are a gift
Constraints come from good questions
Know when to power through
Craftsmanship comes from an unconstrained timeline
Proof-of-work goes a long way
Give and you shall receive
Putting in work on the night shift.
It’s ok to shelf it for a bit.
Some creative decisions don’t yield to additional effort. There isn’t always a way to work toward a decision -- sometimes the dust just needs to settle to see clearly. And no motion can make the dust settle quicker.
Those times can be frustrating, but it’s ok to shelf a project while the vision becomes clear. There’s always something else to work on, read, or do. Get some space, let the dust settle, and come back with clarity.
Constraints are a gift
If you’re struggling at one of those creative crossroads, the answer might be adding a constraint. Good constraints make good outcomes. This is obvious in retrospect, but here is an important note: You can add constraints on yourself.
A friend and artist was starting with a new medium -- ceramics. To learn this new medium, he gave himself a firm constraint: “Make 100 cups.” As long as it could hold water and be drunk from, it was a cup. This constraint gave him the focus, a goal, and forced creativity in form.
Constraints come from good questions.
If you need a constraint, look for hard questions. Find a friend who is willing to ask you hard questions. Anything where your first answer is “Ugh, I don’t know” is a good candidate. Especially if it hurts to choose an answer. This is the creative struggle, and it means you’re working on the right problem.
Examples of creative struggles for this project:
What is the medium? Is this a book or a blog? Both? What about updates?
Should I be writing interpretations, synthesis, or expanding on Naval’s content?
Should this be completely comprehensive or focused on Naval’s core ideas?
Know when to power through
These projects tend to start as play and end up as work. And sometimes work is just work. When you have 20,000 tweets to read and categorize, or a 300-page manuscript to proofread, the only prescription is focused work, and the sooner the better.
Craftsmanship comes from an unconstrained timeline.
I could have finished this book in 6 months and published it within a year. Instead, I took 2 years to do revision after revision, incorporate feedback, add illustrations, edit ruthlessly, and pay for professional line-editing and expert publishing services (which added another 9 months.)
The feeling of being unrushed enabled me to pursue absolute excellence. The feeling of craftsmanship -- of never having to settle for “good enough” and move on is deeply rewarding.
Proof-of-work goes a long way
It turns out, if you write a book about someone, they will return your emails. Proof-of-work is a concept from the Blockchain, and it applies to many other areas of life. When you make a “deposit” of effort that is clearly extensive, people respond.
When student is ready, master appears.
When effort is present, help is offered.
Give freely and ye shall receive
Naval’s only condition on this project was that every piece be made completely freely available. This fit perfectly with my vision of providing a public service of curation. All of my previous writing has been free as well. What I underestimated was how many opportunities this simple condition would unlock.
When you give to people, you feel the wind at your back. People help you give to others. People reciprocate gifts, and help in ways they never would if you were focused on value capture instead of value creation.
To all of those who have seen that this is an effort at value creation, at sharing -- a public service at the core -- thank you. I appreciate your support.
