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Adding More Weight

In order for me to understanding something, or to make sense of something, I need to dumb it down into athletic and physical terms. Sport metaphors work real well for me.

I was scribbling in my journal this morning about my inability to gain any kind of altitude. And yet I do the same thing every day expecting to generate lift. Isn’t that the definition of insanity?

But something more apt came to mind: weightlifting. This is my favorite form of exercise. It’s objective. Lift more weight, you’re stronger.

Say you’re squatting 135 pounds and it’s hard the first week. You do it the second week and it’s easier. Third week easier still. At some point, you need to add weight to the bar to test yourself, to stretch yourself, to test your limitations.

I know this is true for me regarding my writing, career, podcasting: I’ve just been squatting the same 135 pounds day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year and wondering, why am I not getting any stronger?

The real question becomes: What’s the equivalent of adding weight to the bar in a progressive manner that doesn’t create injury but still gets us to where we want to go?

Episode 169: Chase Jarvis — Discover Your Creative Calling

Chase Jarvis, author of *Creative Calling.*

View on Zencastr

By Brendan O’Meara

Can you believe it? Chase Jarvis (@chasejarvis) is here! He’s here to talk about his incredible new book Creative Calling: Establish a Daily Practice, Infuse Your World with Meaning, and Succeed in Life + Work.

I can’t recommend it enough. Do yourself and a friend a favor and buy this book. You might want to listen and subscribe to his great podcast too, Chase Jarvis Live Show. He’s been doing this for ten+ years. Amazing stuff.

He made his bones as a photographer and might be most known for (these days) for founding Creative Live, the great online learning platform. I’ve purchased several classes that have helped me immensely.

As always, keep the conversation going on Twitter @CNFPod, Instagram @cnfpod, and Facebook @CNFPodcast. Sign up for the monthly newsletters where I share reading recommendations and what you might have missed from the world of the podcast.

And if you’re feeling froggy, leave a kind review on Apple Podcast. We’re knocking on the door of 100. It’s a long knock, but we’re getting there. Let’s do this!

You’re going to love how Chase went about writing this book as we break open the pinata of what makes this book — and Chase — so special.

Be Ready For Luck

By Brendan O’Meara

Breaking Bad had a niche audience through four seasons. It was a hyper-serialized show, perfect for binge watching…except binge watching wasn’t exactly a thing back in 2010, even 2011.

The show was critically acclaimed and doing its thing.

Then all four seasons were dumped on Netflix, which was starting to stream entire seasons of shows.

The Breaking Bad was “discovered,” and it blew up. It had one of the great final seasons and an audience hungry for what would happen.

The creators of the show could not have known that binge watching would be a thing. Breaking Bad happened to be perfectly suited for it when Netflix started streaming.

As good as Breaking Bad was, it needed luck to blast it out of the stratosphere.

But they weren’t waiting to make a good show as Netflix came along. They did the work, great work, and were ready for when the Netflix lightning strike came.

Point being, you need to be doing your thing and maybe, maybe, maybe, you’ll get lucky. But don’t expect it. Use obscurity to get great at your craft and when you’re good, maybe luck will be on your side and you’ll be ready for it.

The Aliveness of Silence

By Brendan O’Meara

After watching the brilliant documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor, I was especially struck by how silence is anything but quiet.

Silence is an ally.

As an interviewer, it helps coax more from people.

As a human, it makes you a better listener.

And a minute—60 seconds—is a long time. It is. And it can be a gift. I can recalibrate your mind. Temper anxiety.

I’m going to give you one minute of silence. You may use it however you want. You can breathe deeply for one minute, or maybe think about somebody special to you.

Here: Have a minute on me.

Yeah, But What’s In It for THEM?

By Brendan O’Meara

I’m a newsletter junkie and the best ones are the ones that have the reader in mind. And even something as simple as phrasing goes a long way.

What works for me, and I hope you keep this in mind for your readers, is when the author frames his or her suggestions in terms of what she thinks the end user will most benefit from. Austin Kleon does this perfectly.

Others, and I won’t single anyone out because I’m not about that noise anymore, will say things like: Song I’m listening to. Quote I’m pondering. Article I’m reading.

I. Don’t. Care.

That’s implicit in the recommendation and saying you’re pondering a quote is superfluous and downright egotistical.

I guest this is a rant of sorts, but when I see that I see someone who thinks he’s Moses coming down with the tablets.

But there is a lesson here that if we get by the stifling nature of always thinking about the audience, that keeping that in mind is a way to be of greater service, because all art must be in service of an audience. That audience, of course, is up to you.

Drop Sets

By Brendan O’Meara

In weight lifting there are these sets called drop sets.

What they are is you start with heavier weight and do, say, eight reps, then drop weight, do eight more reps, and so on, for about four to five total sets in quick succession.

What happens is that first round is real heavy, but as soon as weight gets stripped away, it’s easier until you get tired. And so on.

Point is, the hardest reps are the ones at the start, but once you get moving, the weight gets lighter.

Same goes for your art. The heaviest words are always the first ones, but they get lighter and lighter as you get moving, but first you gotta lift that heavy weight so you can get the cascading effect of the drop set.

Give, Give, Give, and Take

By Brendan O’Meara

It’s easy these days to want to broadcast your own work as part of the self-marketing, self-promotional machine. It’s only natural, but it can be tiresome and transparent to the recipient, the audience you seek to serve.

Instead, the greater self-promotional tactic—if you want to get cynical about it—is to always be giving. Always be sharing people’s work you admire without commentary.

“Retweet with Comment” is just another way to be intrusive.

It’s not too hard to put into practice, but when you see something, share something. Give to the community and it will give back. Maybe not immediately, but you’re not in this for the quick gain, are you?

In the digital potluck we routinely attend, you want to bring other people’s work to the dinner table.

You vs. You

By Brendan O’Meara

I’ve got news for you: You’re not in competition with other writers, artists, etc.

You’re only competition is you.

Who you were a ten years ago, five years, one year ago, yesterday.

Are you better or worse than that person?

That is the only metric that matters.

You Anoint You

By Brendan O’Meara

When I was talking to the great poet Jericho Brown, a mentor told him he would be a poet.

Just like that.

And he thought, and I’m paraphrasing. It’s that simple. I’m a poet because I declare that I am a poet.

Nobody will make that choice for you. Nobody will anoint you. You anoint you.

You are a writer when you decide to write.

You are a painter when you decide to paint.

But you must do the thing. The only person who needs to give you permission is yourself.

It Can Never Be About Outcome

By Brendan O’Meara

It can never be about outcome otherwise you will grow bitter and resentful.

As trite as it sounds, it has to be about the journey.

If you want to be a great golfer, you have to fall in love with the driving range.

If you want to be a great baseball player, you have to fall in love with the batting cage.

If you want to be a great writer, you have to fall in love with doing immense amounts of crappy writing in isolation.

If you want to be a bodybuilder, you must fall in love with the gym.

We see the outcomes of these tasks—replace them with whatever resonates with you—but fail to see the titanic effort and work that goes largely unseen to reach the stage.

Fact is, anybody who’s ever made it, finds a way to fall in love with the grind. Sure, there are goals and golden coins along the way, but what you find is that when you fall in love with the practice the outcomes will take care of themselves.

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