A friend told me the other day that every sentence I said during our conversation started with:
“I heard this on a podcast…” or “I read this in a book…”
He said that I consume too much content.
He’s not wrong.
But the more I thought about it, the more it stuck in my craw.
Because he had a point.
I do listen and read a lot.
As I walked home, one thought continued to bounce around inside my head:
Do I actually have an opinion of my own?
Are any of my ideas original?
(This inspired a new conceptual framework I started building, and I’m excited to share it, but that will be a post for another day.)
One of the big realizations I had on the walk home was this:
My strength might not be in creating new ideas, but digesting powerful ideas from others and synthesizing them (I was a Hip-Hop producer for over a decade, so it makes sense my secret sauce would be sampling 😈).
And if other people have already achieved the success I’m shooting for, why not hear what they have to say?
And that’s what I wanted to share with you today.
My top takeaways from Polina Pompliano’s new book, Hidden Genius.
She’s interviewed some of the world’s most high-performing, successful people in multiple arenas and breaks down what it took them to get there.
Here are three of my top takeaways I thought were POWERFUL:
1. Even the BEST are never 100% ready to press publish.
Polina talks about how the head of PIXAR mentioned that they’re never completely ready to ship their projects.
It’s not their BEST, but simply the best they can do.
If the head of PIXAR feels that imposter syndrome, then it’s natural we will too.
We ALL feel that self-doubt along the way.
At some point, we have to release it into the wild.
What matters is pressing publish.
A powerful DaVinci quote I thought paired well with this: “Art is never finished, only abandoned.”
Where in our lives are we letting perfect be the enemy of great?
2. Creativity is a muscle. Constraint an asset.
Polina profiles a rockstar chef in the book, and every six months, he intentionally blows up the menu and starts from scratch.
WHY!?
He knows that starting over will push the staff (and himself) to stay inspired.
To keep the swords sharp.
I’ve heard a lot of interviews with celebrities talk about how easy it is to become complacent once you reach a certain level of success.
How can we build forcing functions to keep our creative muscles active?
IDEAS:
-If you’re a photographer, try shooting in only B&W.
-If you only shoot B&W, try using one lens.
-If you’re a music producer, try flipping the same sample 5 different ways.
-If you’re a poet, try a Sestina.
What limitations can we intentionally impose on ourselves to inspire us?
3. Scouts VS. Soldiers.
Many great thinkers and inventors get a bad rap (cough cough Elon) because they appear to contradict themselves.
One day they’ll act this way and then differently the next.
What Polina points out is that being able to hold conflicting beliefs simultaneously can be a powerful ability.
We can approach ideas as scouts instead of soldiers.
Think about it like this:
Scouts:
-Lead with curiosity.
-Investigate and tread carefully.
-Nimble and able to quickly change direction.
Soldiers:
-Attack or defend.
-Double down when threatened.
-More invested in winning than retreating.
This framework of Scouts Vs. Soldiers made me question my own approach to new ideas, and it’s one I find useful.
What beliefs am I currently clinging to that are no longer serving me?
What ideas am I fighting for that I might be wrong about?
Strong convictions, loosely held.
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Polina has been on a podcast tear lately, so even if you can’t read the book, I highly recommend listening to one of her interviews.
And stay tuned, because even if none of my ideas are completely 100% original, I do remix the shit out of some pretty cool ones.
More soon come. 😎