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For a long time, I insulated myself from stuckness. I executed, day in and day out, without the slightest hint of resistance, without the mere possibility of shooting blanks. I was on a never ending creative tear, rarely coming up for air, rarely questioning whether the volume of work was dangerously high. And it paid off. I impressed people, made good money and built an artistic identity predicated on…

My whole life, I never fit in. Never felt understood, never felt accepted, rarely had strong a sense of place, always felt like an outsider and constantly felt like creature from another planet. So I tried everything. I played sports I didn’t like, joined clubs I didn’t enjoy, wore clothes that didn’t fit and made friends who didn’t reciprocate. I took classes I didn’t understand, tried religions that didn’t…

[ View the infographic! ] “Everyone should wear nametags, all the time, everywhere, forever.” That’s my thesis, philosophy, dangerous idea and theory of the universe. My name is Scott, and I’ve been wearing a nametag for past four thousand days. And after traveling to hundreds of cities, a dozen countries, four continents, meeting tens of thousands of people, constant experimentation and observation, building a enterprise and writing a dozen…

Yeah, but shouldn’t I be out there generating business? That’s the artist’s dilemma. That it order to monetize our creativity, sustain our career and support our lifestyle, we have to put down the pen, put on the commerce hat and start pounding the pavement, spending most of our days trying to get noticed, get liked, get retweeted, get interviewed, get booked, get hired, get reviewed, get paid and get…

Entrepreneurs relish the romantic notion of having no boundaries, no obligations, no expectations, no responsibilities, no schedule to keep, no time constraints, no place to be, no one to answer to and no one breathing down their neck. That’s why we hired ourselves in the first place. So we could do whatever we want. The flip side is, too much freedom is a dangerous thing. First, it means too…

Too often, mediocrity rises to the top. I watch marginally talented people get fame they didn’t deserve, land gigs they didn’t earn, make money they didn’t work for and achieve success they didn’t sweat for. Meanwhile, I’m hustling my ass off, doing legitimately great work, work that actually improves humanity’s future, and the marketplace yawns at my efforts while greatness passes the world by like a fart in the…

In baseball, just over a hundred players hit a homerun on their first at bat. Makes sense. That’s a lot of pressure without a lot of experience. Most players are lucky enough to eek out single, barely get on first, maybe steal a base or two; then, with smart running, a solid lineup and little luck – score – then hustle back to the dugout in the hopes of…

Creativity isn’t hard. It’s simply a matter finding the best path for us. We can ingest substances that lower our inhibitions, enhance our creative flair and broaden our minds. We can surround ourselves with creative, why-not-people whose artistic energies echo into our world. We can expose ourselves to inspiring materials that disturb us to the point that we have no choice but to start creating something of our own….

Every time I read an article about someone in my field doing something amazing, my heart always ends up in conflict with itself. The fundamentally affirmative part of me encourages people’s success to inspire my own productivity: Good for you. Right on, man. I am genuinely delighted for your success, thrilled by your accomplishments and fueled by your energy. In fact, I’m going to use your life as a…

The hard part about hiring yourself is, every paycheck is different. Some are big, some are small, and in lean times, some are not existent. But we asked for this. It’s all part of the job description. The minute we go out on our own, we forego financial stability. We trade in consistent and predictable compensation for the freedom to follow our dreams without looking over our shoulder. And…