Consume less, produce more
*Title inspired by Aaron Burr, sir from Hamilton. If you know, you know.
Do you spend more time as a consumer or producer? Have you ever thought about it? I had not.
Consuming comes in many shapes and sizes - buying, watching, eating, etc. Our society has brainwashed us into brilliant consumers. No question about it. And I am no exception.
I consume the hell out of some new lulu lemon shorts. And a whole season of Ozark in a weekend. Even a whole pie in one sitting. The list goes on but you get the point.
But why aren't we encouraged to produce more? Like what? Anything - ideas, art, music, books, businesses, or gardens.
Think about it - what was the last thing you produced? Have you ever produced something?
All I could think of producing was an occasional (bad) dad joke.
Thankfully, Austin Kleon wrote a couple of books that snapped me out of this 99% consumer and 1% producer ratio.
Which is why I am writing this. And is why I have committed to write weekly for the next two years.
The first book is "Steal Like an Artist". In 10 short lessons you realize that nothing is original. All creators steal bits and pieces from other creators they have come across. Then they put their own twist on it. And voila - they have made something "new".
The second one is "Show your Work". Again, in 10 short lessons, you are encouraged to put your work out there. Both early and often. Not worrying about perfection. Or expertise. Because it exposes you to the practice of sharing what you have created. And surprisingly, plenty of people want to see how the sausage is made.
Both simple ideas distilled in to less than 100 pages each. But incredibly freeing.
What held me back, and I assume others, was not being an expert at anything. So why would anyone care to see what I create?
I realized that I have consumed the works of all kinds of artists - authors, podcasters, influencers, musicians, businesspeople. My unique proposition is sharing the combination of their ideas in my own way.
Whose work do you regularly consume?
Instead of continuing to consume (read, listen, and watch), I could start to produce. Then share.
But will anyone see it? Who knows. And more importantly who cares!
Don't produce because you want to become famous or rich. Do it to prove to yourself that you can create. And you have something interesting to share.
I have already noticed the benefits of getting these thoughts out of my head. And trying to do so in an intelligible way.
And it will give me a way to look back years from now. To see who I was.
A quote from Show your Work said, "If you aren't embarassed with who you were last year then you aren't growing enough."
And what better way to grow than to continually be able to look back and be horribly embarrassed with who I was. Sounds kind of fun.
It is also nice to remember that I am doing this in complete obscurity right now. There are zero expectations from anyone. In fact, I could be the only one who ever reads this!
Who could I disappoint? My dog? I don't even have one. My first subscriber? She will love it no matter what. Thanks mom!
My main reason for doing this is to develop a new skill of writing. By sharing what I am learning along my journey.
It feels like a responsibility.
Because the creators I look up to did that for me.
And I am grateful to stand on the shoulders of my giants (Tim Ferriss, Naval Ravikant, Nassim Taleb, Balaji Srinivasan, and more).
Maybe I could produce something useful to you.
I'm willing to try. Even if it takes a while.
My plan is to share some stories. Share some curiosities. Share what I "know". And Repeat.
Here's a link 1 and link 2 if you want to buy the books (not affiliate links). Just want to save you some effort.