Marketing Your Creativity

Post written by Leo Babauta.

A father and his son went fishing on a small boat, hungry.

The father helped his son reel in his first fish, and it was a beauty. “Great catch, son,” the father said.

“Yes, but I’m worried I’m missing out on better fish,” the son said. “What if I could catch a bigger, tastier fish?”

“Maybe you should try,” the father said.

And the son did, catching an even bigger fish an hour later. “A real beaut,” the father said.

“But what if there are better fish out there?” the son asked.

“Maybe you should try,” the father said.

And the son did, catching a bigger fish, then wondering if there were better fish, catching another, and so on.

At the end of the day, the son was exhausted. The father asked, “How did the fish taste?”

The son hesitated. “I’m not sure. I was so busy looking for better fish that I didn’t taste any of them.”

The father smiled contentedly, patted his belly. “Don’t worry. They were delicious.”

—

We are all of us like the son. We all worry, at some time or other, that we’re missing out on things.

It’s why we’re so busy — we take on so much because we don’t want to miss out. We take on dozens of goals and aspirations, because we don’t want to miss out. (more…)

On Friday, I went to the mall to buy a new pair of running shoes.  I have no doubt that I was entering the Foot Locker with some intention.  I am not crazy about shopping and only venture out to the malls when absolutely necessary.

As I entered the store, I was greeted with a warm “hello,” even though the store was busy.  I proceeded to the women’s running shoes and stopped to evaluate.  Within a minute, a sales clerk asked if I was looking for new running shoes.  I responded in the affirmative.   He then asked me if I preferred bright colors or more subdued.  I responded with more subdued and he nodded and briefly told me about only two of the countless models on the wall.

He then walked away, giving me the space to evaluate the two models he had suggested.  Given the space to make my own decision, I picked out a pair.  (more…)

Post written by Ted Moreno.

I used to be one of those people who always had to have an answer for everything, you know, a “know it all.” Then one day someone told me “You’re not at smart as you think you are, and you’re not fooling anyone.” The nerve!! But it was true. So I stopped being a person that to have the answer and started letting other people come up with the answer. That was a lot easier!

Sometimes I still find myself needing to come up with an answer, figure it out, or worse, make something up. But lately, I’m attempting to cultivate the peace and freedom that comes from saying “I don’t know.” I’ve been giving myself permission to not know. And you know what?  I’m feeling pretty good about being a “not know it all.”

These days it’s almost a sin to not know. “What?” you often hear people say, “You didn’t know that?”

Seems like everybody needs to know everything. (more…)