“Once you start making things, once you take that leap, you have the same status as any other artist,” Questlove writes in Creative Quest. “I’m not saying that you’re as good. I’m not saying that you’re as important. But all of a sudden it’s a difference of degree rather than a difference of kind.” If […]| Herbert Lui
“Once you start making things, once you take that leap, you have the same status as any other artist,” Questlove writes in Creative Quest. “I’m not saying that you’re as good. I’m not saying that you’re as important. But all of a sudden it’s a difference of degree rather than a difference of kind.” If […] The post Turn a difference of degree into a difference in kind appeared first on Herbert Lui.| Herbert Lui
If there was a recipe for making sure I don’t sleep well, a high dose of caffeine would be a key ingredient. The first hour is great—then stress, anxiety, and rumination surge, continuing through the night. The advantage is, I won’t stop working. The disadvantage is, I can’t stop or rest, even if I wanted […]| Herbert Lui
One of my friends is an entrepreneur with a wide ranging portfolio that spans real estate, franchises, ecommerce stores, and software. Some of these businesses have seen dramatic growth. Whenever we chat, he’ll describe a new business—often two or three—that he’s directly working on. I pay attention because I always learn something new. Sometimes, I […]| Herbert Lui
At the start of each year, some people choose a word or motto intended to be a theme. I’m usually not one of them. However, the word, “Restraint,” came to me last year, so I made that a focus. It has remained the word for this year. While I’d made progress, I felt like there […] The post Restraint, and a better no appeared first on Herbert Lui.| Herbert Lui
One way to define a leader is someone who understands what needs to be done, and gets it done. Another way to say this: a leader sets a goal, makes a plan to achieve it, and executes on that plan. A person doesn’t need a job title or power to become a leader. They take […] The post Leadership looks sweet and tastes bitter appeared first on Herbert Lui.| Herbert Lui
What’s the most important thing an executive coach can do to succeed? Choosing the right clients. More specifically, choosing to only work with leaders who demonstrate a high potential of success before the engagement. In order to do this, the coach needs to qualify potential clients very intentionally. They decline to work with anyone who […]| Herbert Lui
Here’s a good fable from Jean de La Fontaine: A Rat, in quite a foolish way, Crept from his hole between a Lion’s paws;The king of animals showed on that day His royalty, and never snapped his jaws.The kindness was not unrepaid;Yet, who’d have thought a Lion would need aid From a poor Rat? Soon […] The post The lion and the rat appeared first on Herbert Lui.| Herbert Lui
Raymond Carver, a writing professor and author of short stories, had friends who published their work and apologized for it not being very good. “It would have been better if I’d taken the time,” they would say. Raymond responded: I wanted to say to my friend, for heaven’s sake go do something else. There have […]| Herbert Lui
In the late 1980s, an ad agency created a marketing campaign for Nike. The commercial featured an 80-year-old man running every morning, who says, “People ask me how I keep my teeth from chattering all the time. I leave them in my locker.” Then, a slogan flashed on the screen, “Just do it.” This phrase […]| Herbert Lui
A young man discusses his latest challenge with a philosopher. Whenever he sees another young person’s story of success in a newspaper, he feels a strong sense of envy and frustration. He feels inferior, like he’s less than the other person. He’s reminded of his social standing, his modest education, and even the pimples on […]| Herbert Lui
Two related, and really useful, ideas from two psychologists: You don’t need to feel better—prepared, ready, in control—before you do the difficult thing. All life asks of you is that you participate. When you avoid negative emotions, you make them feel stronger. Steven C. Hayes explores experiential avoidance and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in […]| Herbert Lui
Beliefs guide the arcs of our lives, usually through stories. These can appear as simple phrases or statements. For example, “Life is a competition.” In this story, the belief might be that there is such an objective thing as winning or losing at life—otherwise it wouldn’t be a competition. Winning is good, and losing is […]| Herbert Lui
One of the best ways to eat less junk food is to make sure you don’t have any in the house. It generally works because you make eating junk food less convenient. If you really want it, you have to work for it. There’s an extension of the original rule: buy less of it, so […]| Herbert Lui
Every day, you have the opportunity to make choices. More often than not, these choices will sound something like: Do I choose the painful, gratifying path, or do I choose the easy, comfortable path? You want to make a change in your life, and you’re too tired after work. Will you wake up 15 minutes […]| Herbert Lui
Sean Blanda’s reflection on one year of running his business has been on my mind the past few weeks, particularly his reflection on ego: I have had a wandering eye — which in my case, means roughly six domains were registered with good intentions and I was late in the process with a few companies […]| Herbert Lui
Starting in the 1990s, Europe and the U.S. outsourced manufacturing to China for a variety of reasons (mostly because it was cheaper). MIT economist David Autor coined the term “China Shock” to describe this trend, which took place suddenly over seven years. While stuff got cheaper, and American companies’ margins got bigger, this disruption also […]| Herbert Lui
Hamza and I recently joined Emil Drud’s podcast Creative Odyssey as guests. It was our first appearance as New Material. I was describing how I thought about blogging, which I described as the trunk of my practice. Emil responded with a good question: what are the roots? Hamza, Emil, and I discussed it for a […]| Herbert Lui
In school, 50% was the average grade. In the working world, the average grade is closer to 0%. You can always decide not to show up, or to do the minimum. 60% is much closer to 100% than 0%. With some added effort and process changes, you could get to 80%. If you rescope or […]| Herbert Lui
In my 20s, I watched a lot of interviews with artists so I could understand how they found success. I believed I could reverse engineer these paths, and I appreciated this genre of media so much I started making my own by interviewing recording artists and authors. While I learned more than my fair share, […]| Herbert Lui
What makes a person entrepreneurial? Professor Saras D. Sarasvathy believes the distinguishing factor is in the reasoning process. She identifies two types of reasoning: When you think with causal reasoning, you focus on what you want to do—the desired end goal, or the destination—and then work backwards from that. Business leaders, managers, and strategists tend […]| Herbert Lui