When someone points out or fixes a mistake you made, you can decide to respond with guilt for making the mistake in the first place, or gratitude for their support. Guilt helps you create change. It also makes sure you don’t make the same mistake again. Once you have made the change, you don’t need […]| Herbert Lui
Every tree has roots that set the foundation for the trunk and branches in the ground. I learned recently that some trees, like banyan trees, also grow aerial roots from the branches. Like the roots in the ground, some of these roots can absorb water and nutrients from the air. As these roots grow and […]| Herbert Lui
“What do they think about me?” is a useful question. It’s best only when you consider it for a few people in your life. For example, your spouse, your best friend, a family member. As you meet more people, you can trust yourself to be respectful, civil, and collaborative. That doesn’t mean you need to […]| Herbert Lui
When your mind is preoccupied, it believes that there isn’t even time to breathe. Your body breathes anyway, though, whether you’re mindful of it or not. Specific academic estimates vary, though it’s clear that the range is somewhere between 10,000 to 20,000 times per day. Breathing is the most natural thing in the world, even […]| Herbert Lui
Ty Dolla $ign released his new album a week ago, Tycoon. It was an occasion for me to reflect on my interview with him. In 2016, when we shot the interview, Ty had already gained a fair amount of momentum in his career, which he has sustained in the nine years since. Ty’s still best […]| Herbert Lui
Imagine you come across a job post you’re interested in. You spend a week editing your resume and cover letter for the opportunity. When you go to apply, you don’t see the post anymore—in the time you were editing, the company took the listing down. Or, as you were submitting, you looked more closely and […]| Herbert Lui
If you want to learn to cook, you have three meals a day to try. If you want to improve your writing, you can publish on the internet anytime. Try once a day or once a week. If you want to get better at speaking, you can practice with the people around you. You can […]| Herbert Lui
Sometimes, small chunks open up in the marble of the day. A restaurant asks you to wait. A friend runs late. A meeting ends early. In these moments, life presents you with the rare gift of spare time. You could sit down and use your phone. You could also make something more energizing happen. Here’s […]| Herbert Lui
In 2018, Louis Vuitton announced that the company had appointed Virgil Abloh as its new artistic director of menswear. It was a triumphant moment for Virgil, streetwear, and a new generation of designers and customers. One day, as Virgil was going to work, he was denied entry by a security guard. When Virgil recalled this […]| Herbert Lui
One useful piece of advice I came across early on in my writing career was to do interesting things. I travelled cheaply with friends. I met artists and authors. I worked with tech companies at the forefront of software, like Shopify and Figma. I moved out of the suburbs to downtown Toronto, then to Hong […]| Herbert Lui
Early in his career, Philip Glass’s commitment to becoming a composer earned him a Fulbright scholarship to study in Europe. His scholarship covered his tuition fees with Nadia Boulanger, a revered music teacher and composer. Money was a constant concern, though. As he traveled through Europe, he mostly visited churches and cemeteries because they cost […]| Herbert Lui
Life throws curveballs at you. A problem might come up in the evening that needs to wait until the next morning. An evening of sleep might be interrupted, or you might wake up earlier than you’d expected and not be able to fall asleep. Perhaps you want to get some fresh air in the morning. […]| Herbert Lui
A lot of people—particularly men—visit the doctor less than they need to. I’ve heard some friends tell me that they’re too busy, and the doctor often sends them home without much intervention. There’s a low probability of the condition getting worse, and intervention introduces complications. Doctors even have a term for this, “the tincture of […]| Herbert Lui
Every day you don’t release your work is another day people have to go without it. You think that doesn’t matter. It does, to you and to the people receiving it. It’s important to remember this when tomorrow comes calling. It nags at you, then promises to provide you with more experience, and a fuller […]| Herbert Lui
Money is known to be identically exchangeable. Grocery stores will accept any dollar you pay them. How you got the money is none of their business. However, earning the dollar can be, altogether, a different situation. A dollar you earn doing work you hate, is very different from a dollar you earn for something you […]| Herbert Lui
In the days when most people used to farm, the end of the harvest called for a celebration. One can imagine families finally feeling a sense of certainty—knowing how much food they produced, and the relief that it would be enough to survive the winter—and wanting to express gratitude for making it another year around […]| Herbert Lui
The weather forecast said there would be rain today. You listened to the forecast, grumbled about it being on a weekend, and planned to do something indoors—maybe not even venture outdoors. When you peeked outside the window, the sun was shining and the sky was clear blue. So you stepped outside with an umbrella, just […]| Herbert Lui
There is a sensible piece of advice that goes, write only when you have something to say. This is not useful for me. The more I write, the more I think and learn, and then the post becomes worth writing. When I write, I find something to say. If I write every day, I have […]| Herbert Lui
Knowing what I want to say, what’s coming from my heart, and what’s not. It’s not refinement in the editorial sense of the word; it’s refinement of sincerity. Practicing immediacy, and not letting myself get in my own head for too long. In other words, refining my senses of preciousness and detachment. Lowering my expectations, […]| Herbert Lui
I have recently been staying with family. I grew up in a suburb outside of Toronto, and my family has stayed in the area, so I have a chance to see it with fresh eyes. It is surprising how much I didn’t know about the place. There are really beautiful libraries, like the Richmond Hill […]| Herbert Lui
I’ve bought and flipped through a couple of memoirs lately from popular recording artists. Tens of millions of people stream their music on Spotify every month. It’s not surprising that traditional publishers would offer them book deals. What’s surprising, at least to me, is how boring they are. One artist seemed to put little effort […]| Herbert Lui
A comedian loves his audience. He wants to make them laugh. For this reason, he is also afraid of them. If they’re displeased by, or worse—indifferent to—his routine, he may second guess himself. He might not just change his approach; he might take fewer risks. He knows that when that happens, he’s doomed. I remember […]| Herbert Lui
I write every day because it’s really fun. (That’s my competitive advantage!) Here are three moments that stuck out to me this week: While I was writing this post, there was a moment when I felt as if my brain was struck by a bolt of lightning, “There was something I read about this! It’s […]| Herbert Lui
Do you like pineapples on your pizza? The style is known as a Hawaiian pizza, and it’s a polarizing topic. For example, the former president of Iceland joked that he’d ban pineapples on pizza if he could. When I lived in New York City, I searched far and wide before finding a half decent restaurant […]| Herbert Lui
There’s a TV trope called the Missing Steps Plan (it’s also an internet meme). Here’s an example from a South Park episode, which involves gnomes stealing underpants: We are all missing steps in our wishes and dreams. The question is to what degree. For example, someone who hasn’t cooked and wants to cook might have […]| Herbert Lui
What new music do you listen to when you travel? Because if it goes well together, there’s a good chance that your brain will naturally associate it with the place. You can tap into this by being open to what’s around you, as well. In one of our first weeks living in New York City, […]| Herbert Lui
Good friends, communities, and families do more than just support each other. They enjoy being around each other and getting to know each other more. Everyone knows they don’t have to be there. That’s what makes it more special. When someone is “bringing the energy,” they are deciding not just to support a project, they […]| Herbert Lui
A smartphone—like an iPhone, or one that runs Android—is capable of many things. It can help you do your shopping. It can keep you in touch with thousands of people. It can notify you whenever someone is reaching out to you. Whatever your laptop computer can do, you can probably do it on your smartphone […]| Herbert Lui
A sense of immediacy means doing something today, now. Not tomorrow, the day after, or someday. Not putting it on a to-do list or into a task management system. Not until you feel ready or confident. Today, now. Backlogs don’t exist. You can delete them. Clear your mind as well. Spontaneity is a driving force. […]| Herbert Lui
In November 2020, I independently published my first book at Gumroad. I had spent four months or so full-time deliberately researching, writing, editing, proofreading, and designing a PDF of ~18,000 words. That doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but you could say I spent most of the 2010s researching it (starting with this piece […]| Herbert Lui
Blog on creativity, marketing, and the human condition.| Herbert Lui
In university, I attended a business school. It was good, with a decent reputation, nothing fancy enough to name drop. I picked it because I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do after studying, and the skills seemed flexible enough to apply to all sorts of jobs. Worst case, maybe I would be able […]| Herbert Lui
If you tune into any type of media—traditional, social—you will receive the message that success will fix everything. Except it doesn’t work. Success promises to make you happy, but it can’t. You don’t need to look very far to see a successful person do something a happy person would not. The next time you crave […]| Herbert Lui
“Find” because it’s a verb. It requires intention. If you’ve been waiting a long time to be found, you can flip the script and start to find. “Things” because what you’re looking for could be anything. Keep an open mind. Activities, people, and places, are good starting points. Walking down a new street. Going to […]| Herbert Lui
In Greek mythology, The Odyssey tells the story of a man, Odysseus, making a decade-long journey to return home to his family. Along the way, he and his team come across many obstacles and come up with plans to get past them. For example, Odysseus and his team encounter sirens at sea—beings who sing beautifully. […]| Herbert Lui
A place is a tool. The library helps you focus and work. The gym helps you work out. Your home helps you relax and unwind. A nice restaurant is a tool for you to get together with friends and family, share a meal, and create a new experience. If you walked into a nice restaurant, […]| Herbert Lui
When he was 18 years old, Terry Fox was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive, form of bone cancer. In order to contain it, Terry’s doctors amputated his leg. While he was in the hospital recovering, Terry saw how little money was being allocated to cancer research. Terry wanted to make a change. When he saw […]| 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 […]| Herbert Lui
You start a project with clarity. Then, confusion creeps in. Divergences, dependencies, and distractions emerge—the results of good ideas, not bad ones. You’ll need to make many of these decisions, and they will be more difficult than you give them credit for. Sometimes, you lose focus of the goal, to the point that you might […]| 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
My former colleague at Figma, Claire Butler, recently wrote a really great post about what she learned working at Figma. The lesson that stood out to me most was this one, “When you’re stuck, commit to action. Strategy will follow.” In other words, if you’re making something new, planning too far ahead will likely just […]| Herbert Lui
Freddie Roach hated boxing. He’d enrolled in training since he was young, and got into hundreds of fights outside the gym as well. While he created momentum as a professional boxer, he suffered a string of defeats and was eventually diagnosed with symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. For a boxer who never quit a fight—in fact, […]| Herbert Lui
Dan Sullivan is a coach for entrepreneurs. He asks every prospective client a question, “If we were having this discussion three years from today, and you were looking back over those three years, what has to have happened in your life, both personally and professionally, for you to feel happy with your progress?” It’s a […]| Herbert Lui
Nobody gets to the Olympics without a coach, the saying goes. The concept clearly applies to business leaders and entrepreneurs, whose performance influences dozens, or even thousands, of people. Marshall Goldsmith is among the most prominent of these executive coaches. I knew him through his cleverly titled book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You […]| 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
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
If you visited a grocery store in the 1800s, one of many clerks would do the shopping for you. It was only a century ago when you might choose an item from the shelf yourself, which is what many of us do today at a supermarket. The same thing has taken place with paying for […]| Herbert Lui
How does one go from being a recording artist’s trusted, and reliable, creative collaborator to being the menswear designer at Louis Vuitton? Some might say that such a journey would be practically impossible. That’s the journey that the late Virgil Abloh made, accomplishing in years what others take decades to; it all started with screen […]| Herbert Lui
A few days ago, I woke up to the word, “Restraint.” I like this phrase, “If ‘the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do,’ as Michael Porter famously wrote, then the essence of execution is truly not doing it.” One very tangible example comes from editing, where I learned to use rich words […]| 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 contemplative exercise: If writing was a person, what would it be like? What would your relationship with it be like? For example, are you in a relationship with writing only because you hope it will bring you success and wealth? Is writing more like a friend, a spouse, or an acquaintance? Or is it […]| 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
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
Pusha T and Malice’s GQ interview has been making the rounds on the internet. There has been a lot of noise particularly about Push describing why he can’t work with Ye anymore, “He knows I don’t think he’s a man.” While I found the phrasing surprising, the sentiment was understandable. Push has been one of […]| 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
For decades, people have used this four stage creative process to be more creative: Preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification.| Herbert Lui
I recently found out I’d sold over 3,000 copies of Creative Doing in under two years. My goal is to promote the book until I sell 10,000 copies, a number which represents the point where people are discussing it via word of mouth. I am well on my way towards it. I have been putting […]| Herbert Lui
A little over a year ago, my friend Michael asked me, “Are you a starter, a developer, or a finisher?” He explains the differences, which he learned from Kevin Kelley, in this issue of his newsletter: While I initially saw each of these elements in my work, it’s become much clearer to me that I […]| Herbert Lui
Patrick Dubroy writes: You see, warm-blooded animals — like humans or mice — have a stable body temperature that stays within a pretty narrow range. For humans, it’s around 37 degrees Celsius. A few degrees higher or lower and we’re in big trouble. Cold-blooded animals like the painted turtle can adapt their metabolism to the […]| Herbert Lui
If you want to learn, you need feedback. There’s a reason that Marshall Goldsmith’s method involves interviewing the people around his clients; because he interviews them and takes in their feedback about his client. Without someone like Marshall, it’s a bit more difficult to take in real feedback from people. Cate Hall suggests one way, […]| Herbert Lui
In Clear Thinking, Shane Parrish writes: Too often, the people we ask for feedback are kind but not nice. Kind people will tell you things a nice person will not. A kind person will tell you that you have spinach on your teeth. A nice person won’t because it’s uncomfortable. A kind person will tell […]| Herbert Lui
