Love Your Work

Latest Episodes:

177. Seth Godin: Who Is It for? May 09, 2019

Show notes

How do you market something when you don't know what it is, or who it's for? If you're anything like me, you feel driven to create, but it's only through the process of creation that your vision takes form. It's only through putting that creation out into the world that you begin to realize what it means.

This makes it a challenge to market your creations. If you don't know what it is, you don't know how to sell it. If you don't know who it's for, you don't know how to speak to those people.

I'm honored to have the legendary Seth Godin back on the show. His first appearance was exactly one-hundred episodes ago, on episode 77. My first conversation with Seth proved to be a breakthrough moment for me. The things Seth said to me gave me the courage to self publish The Heart to Start, as well as other, shorter books.

I'm still digesting this conversation, but I think it will prove to be another breakthrough. It helped me answer a lot of questions I had from reading Seth's most recent book, the instant classic, This is Marketing.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

What are "status roles," and how can you use them to help your product spread? Seth will tell you why status is more than just money and materialism.
Why is "specific" a kind of bravery? If you don't know "who it's for," you might simply be hiding from a fear of failure.
Seth calls me out with very direct advice that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Find out why Seth doesn't want me to sell out to easy money.

Links and resources mentioned

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

New Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays

Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative entrepreneur. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/seth-godin-podcast-2/

NOTE: Sign up for the Summer of Starting May 08, 2019

Show notes

I'm launching a new email series. Summer of Starting will help you get out of your own way, stop procrastinating, and start creating.

176. Minimum Creative Dose May 02, 2019

Show notes

Big creative projects are daunting. It's easy to burn out, and procrastinate. The problem is, creative problems don't get solved in one go.

In medicine, there's a concept of the "minimum effective dose." It's the minimum dose at which the medication will elicit a response. If you follow Tim Ferriss, you hear him mention minimum effective dose often.

You heard about the minimum effective dose of weight training back on episode 160. Now I'm going to tell you about the concept of minimum effective dose, as applied to your creative projects. I call it "Minimum Creative Dose".

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

New Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays

Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative entrepreneur. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/minimum-creative-dose-podcast/

175. Vincent Van Gogh's Triumph Over Adversity – Steven Naifeh, Co-Author of Van Gogh: The Life Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Vincent Van Gogh was a loser and a failure. He failed as an art dealer, and as a preacher. He even got fired and banned from his own family's business.

On top of it, Van Gogh had terrible health problems. His gums were sore, he was losing weight, and he had a hacking cough. He was also prone to psychotic episodes, during which he was institutionalized for months at a time.

Vincent never really found his place in the world. He died young, at only 37.

I recently read an incredible biography of Van Gogh. By the end, I was left wondering, what can you possibly learn from this tragic life?

Steven Naifeh is co-author if the incredible [Van Gogh: The Life] (@VanGoghTheLife). It's a 900-page treasure chronicling the life of an artist who is so revered, tourists bring their relative's ashes to spread over his gravesite in Auvers, France.

Steven and his co-author and partner Gregory White Smith spent more than a decade compiling Van Gogh's biography. To do so, they had to sort through mountains of letters and literature from the period of Van Gogh's life. Since neither of them spoke Dutch, they worked with more than twenty translators and researchers to complete the book.

The result is a Van Gogh biography of unparalleled depth, painting in intricate detail the outer and inner life of Vincent Van Gogh.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

Most people think Vincent Van Gogh died in obscurity, but that's not true. Why is it that, as he languished in an asylum, Vincent's work was actually exploding in popularity.
Many people also believe that Vincent Van Gogh committed suicide. How did Naifeh and Smith come to change the opinion of even the most studied Van Gogh historians.
What can you possibly learn from the tragic success of Vincent Van Gogh? Steven shares insights about what he and his late partner and co-author learned from studying Van Gogh's life. It's surprising, and touching.

Links and resources mentioned

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

New Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays

Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative entrepreneur. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/vincent-van-gogh-podcast/

174. Introducing Love Mondays ("Things take time") Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Do you want to love Mondays? If you already love Mondays, do you want to keep loving Mondays? I'm launching a new newsletter that will help you do just that.

It's called Love Mondays, and it's a weekly boost of inspiration to help you find the mindset to make it as a creative entrepreneur. If you're already on my email list, you've already been enjoying these.

Many of them include one of the more than 11,000 highlights I've built up over years of reading about how history's greatest artists and thinkers have carved out their own unique places in the world.

Others are the gems pulled out of conversations you've heard right here on Love Your Work.

Those of you already getting these emails know I told you about how Georgia O'Keeffe decided to quit modeling to double down on art. I've told you about how professor Dean Simonton's work shows that quantity of creative work leads to quality of creative work. I've shown you how neuroscientists have discovered that the best predictor of so-called "insight machines" is brain patterns that show a high level of self awareness.

Today, I'm going to give you an insight from comedian Steve Martin. If you ever feel like your big break will never come, this will keep you going.

And if you'd like to get a boost in your inbox every Monday morning, go sign up for the Love Mondays newsletter at kadavy.net/mondays

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

New Weekly Newsletter: Love Mondays

Start off each week with a dose of inspiration to help you make it as a creative entrepreneur. Sign up at: kadavy.net/mondays

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/introducing-love-mondays/

173. Austin Kleon: Keep Going Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Austin Kleon (@austinkleon) woke up one day and realized two things: The world seemed to be filled with more and more anger and distraction every day, and – to make matters worse – consistently doing creative work wasn't getting any easier.

Austin had already written three New York Times bestselling illustrated books. Millions have already learned to Steal Like an Artist – the title of his first book – and they'd learned to put their work out there with Show Your Work.

Austin wasn't sure how much more he had in him. That inspired him to write his new book, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

Why making something for yourself is technically making something for someone else. Learn about the many different ways that focusing on your own creative expression can reach others.
How can you be a valuable asset to the creators you admire? Austin shares a specific story that shows you why you have more to offer than you might think.
What one thing can you do in the morning – or rather, not do – to do your best work yet?

Links and resources mentioned

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

Free Creative Productivity Toolbox

I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/austin-kleon-podcast/

172. Change Your Identity, Change Your Actions Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

If you do particular actions on a regular basis, you'll change your identity. For example, if you make it a habit to write every day, you'll eventually see yourself as a writer.

But it can work the other way around, too. If you change your appearance, you can change your identity. If you change your identity, you can change your actions.

In this week's episode, I share my own experience of changing my identity, in order to change my actions.

What should be our next Patreon goal?

Take our survey at kadavy.net/goals.

Free Creative Productivity Toolbox

I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/identity-actions-podcast/

171. David Allen's Accidental Legacy Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

David Allen (@gtdguy) has built a legacy. He's created a system that helps millions of people get more of what they want out of life. Getting Things Done, the book, has sold millions of copies. And there's an entire cottage industry of GTD apps and consultants, all over the world.

Even if you've never read or heard of GTD, you or someone you work with probably operates with "next actions," and "contexts."

David and I talked more about the GTD system back in his first appearance on the show on episode 85.

This time, we'll be talking about David's accidental legacy. How does somebody create something that spreads like wildfire and changes the culture?

Today, we'll talk about:

Your day to day actions are guided by meaning on various levels. How can you think about the different levels of what's meaningful to you, and how can you think about what actions you need to take to make those things happen?
Why does David's screensaver say "let go?" Following a system like GTD may feel like it's for control freaks, but learn the difference between being in control, and under control.
What was the one email David got that made him decide that GTD was ready to scale globally?

Links and resources mentioned

We've reached a new funding goal! We now have detailed show notes, starting with next week's interview episode. Start supporting Love Your Work at patreon.com/kadavy. Free Creative Productivity Toolbox

I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

Show notes: http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/david-allens-getting-things-done-legacy/

170. No, I'm Not Building a Legacy Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Lots of people want to build a "legacy." They want to be remembered when they're gone.

It's a natural product of our fear of death. But is it realistic to want to build a legacy? Is it realistic to believe you can control whether or not you're remembered? And might aiming to build a legacy prevent you from doing the type of work that builds legacies in the first place?

I examine these questions in this week's episode.

I quadrupled my creative productivity. Sign up and I'll send you the tools I count on: kadavy.net/tools

Feedback? Questions? Comments? I love to hear anything and everything from you. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Tweet at me @kadavy, or email me david@kadavy.net.

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