Latest / Substack Writers Salon / I Spent an Hour with a Man Who Lives in Flow All Day. Here’s What He Taught Me About Creativity.

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I Spent an Hour with a Man Who Lives in Flow All Day. Here’s What He Taught Me About Creativity. · Substack Writers Salon

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SPEAKER_00: And we are live.
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Welcome everyone to another episode of the Substack Writer's
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Salon.
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SPEAKER_00: And today I have with me David Litwin,
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SPEAKER_00: who's a designer,
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SPEAKER_00: writer,
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and speaker who has spent the past decade exploring his faith
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and life in profound
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SPEAKER_00: ways.
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He is sought after for his understanding of media,
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culture,
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and worldview analysis.
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david's motto is live inspired and everyone he connects with
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leaves provoke
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challenge and liberty he's the author of multiple books
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including creative success
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and the blueprint all right david thank you so much for joining
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me today i think my
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SPEAKER_00: first question is um i want to leave today inspired and liberated
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SPEAKER_01: Okay, we'll make sure that happens.
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SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
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SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm waiting.
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SPEAKER_01: That's our benchmark to set, inspired and liberated.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: All right.
1:01
SPEAKER_00: So in order to feel that,
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SPEAKER_00: I want to start by talking about an issue that I think a lot about,
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SPEAKER_00: I grapple a lot about,
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SPEAKER_00: talk a lot about,
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SPEAKER_00: which is the creative part of our existence.
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SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
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So it seems like you spent years studying that aspect of
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ourselves as humans.
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SPEAKER_00: So I think my question,
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SPEAKER_00: if I want to use a cliche,
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SPEAKER_00: is how to unleash our best creative side of ourselves.
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SPEAKER_00: Are there certain tips and tools like taking a walk,
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SPEAKER_00: meditation,
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SPEAKER_00: hitting the gym,
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SPEAKER_00: whatever it is,
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SPEAKER_00: how do we unleash our best creative self?
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SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank you.
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SPEAKER_01: That's a great question.
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SPEAKER_01: And I think all the things you said are good,
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but I think they're kind of like addressing symptoms versus
1:50
getting down to the
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SPEAKER_01: root cause of like what causes us to be creative.
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And I think there are two things that allow us to become the
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most creative selves.
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SPEAKER_01: That's understanding who we are and understanding why we're here.
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SPEAKER_01: Now, that sounds a little esoteric, but it's really hyper practical.
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SPEAKER_01: The first thing is understand who you are.
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And the best way to understand who you are is to go through
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personality profile
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SPEAKER_01: tests like Myers-Briggs and DISC personality and strength finders.
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SPEAKER_01: And these type of tests,
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because what they do is they force you to answer questions that
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get to the heart of
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SPEAKER_01: who you are genetically.
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SPEAKER_01: Right.
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SPEAKER_01: You could say it's who you who you've been evolved to be,
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SPEAKER_01: who you were designed to be,
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SPEAKER_01: whatever phrase you want to use for it.
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SPEAKER_01: It gets down to who you are at your core.
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When you understand that,
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all of a sudden now things start making sense in your life.
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And it also helps you understand,
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like,
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why have I always been frustrated with this?
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SPEAKER_01: Why have I never been able to accomplish this or this in my life?
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SPEAKER_01: And when you get down to realizing it's like,
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SPEAKER_01: oh,
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SPEAKER_01: my gosh,
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SPEAKER_01: I'm genetically wired to move in this way in the world.
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SPEAKER_01: And you start operating in that.
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SPEAKER_01: Now you're operating,
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SPEAKER_01: you're basically,
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SPEAKER_01: you're sailing with the wind because it's inherently in you,
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SPEAKER_01: right?
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It's the very nature of who you are that's desperately trying
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to get out so that it
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SPEAKER_01: can function as properly as possible.
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SPEAKER_01: So that's the first step.
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And the second thing is understanding what you're called to do
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or who you're called
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SPEAKER_01: to be on this earth.
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SPEAKER_01: And that gets into understanding.
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SPEAKER_01: There's a couple of ways to do that.
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SPEAKER_01: First of all,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: things like job,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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job tests where you basically go through and find out what's
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your career vocational
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SPEAKER_01: path.
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SPEAKER_01: If you look at like, I love watching shows like Chopped, right?
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SPEAKER_01: I'm a huge Food Network fan.
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SPEAKER_01: Yeah, me too.
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SPEAKER_01: On that show,
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you've got someone who started off who maybe they were a
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accountant or in finance
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SPEAKER_01: or they were a lawyer,
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SPEAKER_01: right?
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SPEAKER_01: Because their parents wanted them to be that.
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And then all of a sudden they're cooking or they get somehow
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called in to be a line
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SPEAKER_01: cook or something like that.
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SPEAKER_01: And they fall in love with what they're doing.
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SPEAKER_01: Okay.
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SPEAKER_01: And now they're operating in what I call flow,
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SPEAKER_01: which we all know that word,
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SPEAKER_01: but it's more than just being in a flow state.
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And you can get into a flow state from running and you can get
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a flow state from
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SPEAKER_01: meditating and you get a flow state.
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SPEAKER_01: What about living a lifestyle flow?
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SPEAKER_01: What if your whole life is operated in?
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SPEAKER_01: And so I'm in flow all day.
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SPEAKER_01: And I don't mean to brag about that.
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SPEAKER_01: It's just the fact.
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SPEAKER_01: Because I know I'm here.
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But when I took those tests,
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I took it through a program that doesn't exist anymore.
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SPEAKER_01: But basically, it was called The Call.
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And it was kind of a combination of all of these different
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tests together.
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SPEAKER_01: And I was actually kind of wanting to create something like that.
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SPEAKER_01: This was in 2008.
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SPEAKER_01: The economy was bad.
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SPEAKER_01: People weren't getting as many jobs.
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SPEAKER_01: And I thought,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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what if you did this kind of amalgamated personality gifting
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lifestyle test thing?
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And then people could put that at the end of their resume when
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they went and
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SPEAKER_01: submitted,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: to job applications.
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SPEAKER_01: And somebody said, well, somebody's already doing it.
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SPEAKER_01: So they connected me with this group.
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SPEAKER_01: And so I went into and took the test.
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SPEAKER_01: It was six hours long.
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SPEAKER_01: So it was an exhaustive test.
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SPEAKER_01: But at the end of it,
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SPEAKER_01: the guy said to me,
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SPEAKER_01: he said,
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SPEAKER_01: David,
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SPEAKER_01: he said,
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SPEAKER_01: I'm so looking forward to talking to you.
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SPEAKER_01: He said,
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normally we can tell what people are supposed to do because
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they get like,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: two 90s and maybe five 80s.
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SPEAKER_01: And so we look at their 90s and say,
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SPEAKER_01: you're called to be a,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: a gardener or,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: or an artist or whatever it ends up being.
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SPEAKER_01: They're like, you had 30 90s and 40 80s.
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SPEAKER_01: You could do anything.
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SPEAKER_01: And I was like, wow, that's really cool.
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SPEAKER_01: I felt really good about it.
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SPEAKER_01: They said,
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but there's two things basically exactly who you are gifted to
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be is you should
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SPEAKER_01: either be managing a creative agency.
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SPEAKER_01: My agency is called Pure Fusion Media.
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SPEAKER_01: I've managed it for 30 years.
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SPEAKER_01: Or writing inspirational truth.
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SPEAKER_02: OK.
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SPEAKER_01: And literally, those are the two things that came out of this.
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SPEAKER_01: And so that's what they said.
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So it was like unbelievable that like I'm in flow all day
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because I'm doing what
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SPEAKER_01: I'm here to do,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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and whether you want to see that as like designed or you just
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see it as who you
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SPEAKER_01: were genetically wired to be.
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Okay,
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I'm going to go back to the sentence that I don't think I will
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ever forget.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm in flow all day.
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SPEAKER_00: So being in flow for me is when I'm doing something and I'm so focused.
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SPEAKER_00: I am like super focused and that nobody can pull me out of it.
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SPEAKER_00: Whatever.
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SPEAKER_00: I also play the violin.
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SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I can be in flow.
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SPEAKER_00: Only the shouting children.
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SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I ignore them.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe I should not say that live.
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SPEAKER_00: But because I'm in that flow.
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SPEAKER_00: But you say you're in the flow state all day.
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SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
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SPEAKER_00: Does that mean you're in flow when you're washing the dishes?
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SPEAKER_00: Are you in flow?
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SPEAKER_00: I want to understand your life of being flow all day.
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SPEAKER_01: Sure.
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SPEAKER_00: So give me an example.
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SPEAKER_01: I get up at four o'clock in the morning.
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SPEAKER_00: Why so early?
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Because I've been able to write six books by getting up at four
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o'clock in the morning.
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SPEAKER_01: And so to me,
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SPEAKER_01: being being cognitively aware at that early in the morning,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: people have talked about George Washington Carver,
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SPEAKER_01: right,
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who invented like 400 uses of the peanut got up at four o'clock
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in the morning.
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SPEAKER_01: So I figured if it was good enough for him, it's good enough for me.
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SPEAKER_01: And so I start off like,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: a lot of times they say,
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SPEAKER_01: don't get on your computer right away.
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SPEAKER_01: mellow out till you get there.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm on the computer almost immediately.
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SPEAKER_01: Like I get my protein steak and I'm, I'm gunning.
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And so I start with the most creative processes I can usually
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write it first thing
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SPEAKER_01: in the morning.
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SPEAKER_01: So I am already psyched.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm already motivated.
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SPEAKER_01: I've gotten a great amount of sleep because I go to bed at like eight 30.
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So it's,
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you know,
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it's,
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it's a trial to do this,
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but I go to bed at eight 30 and
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I get up at 4,
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I'm wide awake,
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I work till about 7 or 8,
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and then I start my design job.
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SPEAKER_01: And so now I'm in another creative space.
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So I go from the creative space of writing to the creative
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space of design.
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SPEAKER_01: Around 11, 11.30, when it's about time for lunch, I break out of flow.
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SPEAKER_01: And I go, okay, I'm going to just do some rudimentary tasks right now.
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SPEAKER_01: And so I'll just come out, I'll have lunch.
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SPEAKER_01: You talked about being,
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and you can be in flow when you're doing dishes if you're
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intentional about it,
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SPEAKER_01: right?
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SPEAKER_01: Like if you're not,
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if you are constantly letting yourself be in a state of like
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curiosity and a state
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SPEAKER_01: of questioning,
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SPEAKER_01: then an idea can come to you while you're,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: washing that out.
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SPEAKER_01: that you have to write down immediately and put down.
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SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden it becomes the next thing that,
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SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: spawns your life off into another direction.
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SPEAKER_01: So that's true.
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SPEAKER_01: The other thing that I do is I'll get back into flow about one.
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SPEAKER_01: And it is that hyper creative process.
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SPEAKER_01: You know,
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SPEAKER_01: people tell,
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SPEAKER_01: talk about me and they say,
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SPEAKER_01: I don't know how you can do as much as you can do,
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SPEAKER_01: but you do like five times more than anybody else.
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SPEAKER_01: Now, the one downside to that is,
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SPEAKER_01: I have a therapist in my life that I meet with once a year.
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SPEAKER_01: Okay.
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SPEAKER_01: Just once a year.
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SPEAKER_01: And she basically said to me,
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SPEAKER_01: I was telling her all this stuff and how I was doing all these things and
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SPEAKER_01: everything was going great.
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SPEAKER_01: I was feeling really good about myself that day.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: Right.
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SPEAKER_01: And I was just sharing with her all this stuff.
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SPEAKER_01: And she looked at me and she,
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SPEAKER_01: I mean,
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SPEAKER_01: she,
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SPEAKER_01: her face like just dropped and I'm like,
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SPEAKER_01: this does not look good.
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SPEAKER_01: David, I think your, your resting state is manic.
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SPEAKER_01: Well, that sucks.
9:07
SPEAKER_01: Well, it flow.
9:08
But,
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you know,
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so it is knowing that you can get,
9:12
you know,
9:12
us hyper creatives.
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SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, you're obviously one as well.
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SPEAKER_01: It's easy, I think, to step over that line and go from flow to mania.
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SPEAKER_01: So it's being able to temper it.
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And I think one of the ways and I think this is and I just got
9:26
this as I was talking to you.
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One of the best ways to let flow happen in your life is to get
9:32
ego out of your life.
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SPEAKER_01: What I mean by that is, what does ego do?
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SPEAKER_01: Ego always wants you to internalize, right?
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SPEAKER_01: It always wants you to focus inward.
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SPEAKER_01: It always wants you to focus inward on the past, right?
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SPEAKER_01: Whoa is always about what you're going to accomplish in the future.
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So if you're constantly focused on like,
9:53
where am I,
9:54
you know,
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how am I looking here?
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SPEAKER_01: How am I sounding here?
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SPEAKER_01: What's happening with these people around me right now?
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SPEAKER_01: You're never going to be in flow because it's stagnated through your ego.
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So I have a podcast myself called,
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it's called In the Flow,
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actually,
10:08
In the Flow Unscripted.
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SPEAKER_01: And on my podcast,
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SPEAKER_01: I had on a life coach and he was talking about,
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SPEAKER_01: and he's real big in ego and higher self and stuff like that.
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SPEAKER_01: And,
10:17
SPEAKER_01: and his point was,
10:18
SPEAKER_01: you know,
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SPEAKER_01: the ego is there to,
10:20
SPEAKER_01: it's there to,
10:21
SPEAKER_01: you know,
10:21
SPEAKER_01: it's not a bad thing.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: It's there to self-preserve.
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SPEAKER_01: You know, it's a hundred percent based on your self-preservation.
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SPEAKER_01: And I said,
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SPEAKER_01: yeah,
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SPEAKER_01: but it's a hundred percent built on your,
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SPEAKER_01: your lower self-preservation,
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SPEAKER_01: not your higher self-preservation.
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SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
10:37
okay so let's say i want to be like you and i want to be in the
10:40
flow all the time
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but i yeah but i'm also worried about crossing over to mania so
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how can i be in the
10:50
flow all day and flow gives you joy like for me flow gives me a
10:56
meaning to this
10:58
SPEAKER_00: life it gives me like
11:01
SPEAKER_00: utmost joy when in your flow.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you design all your life to be in the flow all day,
11:09
SPEAKER_00: you're going to be pretty happy unless you cross over to mania,
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SPEAKER_00: which happens.
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SPEAKER_00: So what shall I do to be in the flow all day?
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SPEAKER_01: I think the best way is...
11:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, we're on Substack, right?
11:26
And I think Substack is one of those places where one of the
11:29
things that happens as
11:31
SPEAKER_01: you're on Substack is that you go through the writer's journey.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: And the writer's journey crushes ego.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: It just has to, right?
11:38
SPEAKER_01: You have to deal with the person who says that article sucked.
11:41
You have to deal with the person who says you don't know what
11:44
you're talking about.
11:45
SPEAKER_01: You have to address those things.
11:46
You have to look at the bad note you put up and go,
11:50
oh my gosh,
11:50
that was terrible.
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SPEAKER_01: I'm going to get better for the next time I'm going to do something.
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SPEAKER_01: So staying in that curiosity state, staying in that like,
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SPEAKER_01: outside of your self state and just be focused on the,
12:03
SPEAKER_01: not the outside world necessarily,
12:05
SPEAKER_01: but like what you are accomplishing for the outside world,
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SPEAKER_01: I think is the best way to get into flow.
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SPEAKER_01: Now, the other thing is, is everything that you do
12:16
SPEAKER_01: really has already happened, all right?
12:19
SPEAKER_01: Other people have done as well, right?
12:20
SPEAKER_01: Every thought, every idea, other people have probably thought it before.
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SPEAKER_01: The power of us today is that we can combine those thoughts,
12:28
especially now with things like AI that we've never been able
12:30
to do before.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: And so capacity every moment of the day to always be curious.
12:35
SPEAKER_01: So I wrote a note a couple of days ago and I said,
12:37
SPEAKER_01: I said,
12:38
the best answer you can give to someone who says to something
12:42
you do not know the
12:43
SPEAKER_01: answer to is just when they ask,
12:45
SPEAKER_01: do you know how to do this?
12:47
SPEAKER_01: Say not yet.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: I'm not there yet, but I will be.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Give me two hours.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Give me an hour on YouTube.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Give me an hour.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: Everything is figureoutable.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, that book is like you can figure.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:00
So you said something that to understand why are you on this
13:06
earth,
13:07
right?
13:07
SPEAKER_00: To understand your purpose.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: So if I ask you, David, what's your purpose?
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Why are you on earth?
13:12
SPEAKER_00: I'm getting too spiritual here, but let's hear it.
13:15
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, so you've got to look at it a couple different ways.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: The first thing you're here to do,
13:22
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you the answer that I would give in a secular context,
13:28
and I'll give you the answer I would give in a religious or
13:31
spiritual context.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: How's that?
13:33
The answer from a secular standpoint is to live the most vital,
13:37
vibrant life you possibly can.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: And how do you define that?
13:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
13:42
SPEAKER_00: for some people,
13:43
they can say the most vibrant life for me is to be with my kids
13:49
in a small town in
13:50
SPEAKER_00: the suburbs.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: I want to be a global nomad,
13:54
SPEAKER_00: you know,
13:54
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
13:54
SPEAKER_00: with no kids,
13:55
SPEAKER_00: no attachment,
13:56
SPEAKER_00: whatever,
13:58
SPEAKER_00: have my bachelor pad,
13:59
SPEAKER_00: whatever it is.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: So how do you define that?
14:03
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's a great question.
14:04
SPEAKER_01: I talk about this in the blueprint.
14:06
The most vibrant life you can have is the life that allows you
14:10
for the maximum
14:11
SPEAKER_01: amount of future actions.
14:14
What I mean by that is you can say right now,
14:17
it's like,
14:18
oh,
14:18
I want to go get wasted.
14:20
Like my goal in my life is to get wasted every night and to
14:23
party and have fun,
14:24
right?
14:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, what happens is you begin to lose out in certain areas.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: First, your biology.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: Maybe other things start happening.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: You know,
14:32
SPEAKER_01: if you get in a drunk driving accident or you get a DUI,
14:36
now you're bound to something in society and you no longer can
14:39
make the same amount
14:40
SPEAKER_01: of actions in the future.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
14:42
So the goal of life is even if you're the mom who's just at
14:47
home with the kids or
14:48
SPEAKER_01: you're the global nomad,
14:52
SPEAKER_01: being able to accomplish that in everything you do,
14:55
because the mom could have a situation where she is an
14:57
alcoholic or something like
14:58
SPEAKER_01: that,
14:58
SPEAKER_01: right?
14:59
SPEAKER_01: And now she's limiting her future.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: with her children or the global nomad could have an issue where they're,
15:07
SPEAKER_01: um,
15:07
SPEAKER_01: obsessed with,
15:08
SPEAKER_01: with Instagram or they're obsessed with whatever.
15:11
And that's causing them to stress when they don't get the right
15:14
amount of likes or
15:15
SPEAKER_01: responses from people.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: So that's now with that said, I'll go into the religious side of things.
15:21
The religious side of things that I would say is to live
15:24
according to bringing the
15:27
heaven to earth i'll say it that way that's the best way to
15:30
describe it right so
15:32
that and and people look at that and you can say oh that's
15:34
religious or oh that's
15:35
whatever but let's look at it this way what isn't and if if you
15:39
believe in heaven
15:40
what isn't in heaven pain right fear doubt misery poverty right
15:46
if you can
15:47
eliminate those things on earth then you're bringing heaven to
15:51
earth correct
15:53
SPEAKER_01: So that would be the ultimate.
15:54
That's what I would tell someone in a religious standpoint is
15:57
with saying your job
15:58
is to bring heaven or the kingdom as it is spoken scripturally
16:02
to this planet.
16:03
And it's not bringing a whole bunch of churches here or having
16:08
more pastors.
16:09
It's basically doing what you can do on this planet to make it
16:12
look more heavenly.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so how do you do that, David?
16:16
SPEAKER_00: How do you bring heaven on earth by your actions?
16:20
SPEAKER_01: Basically exactly what I said.
16:21
Just take what isn't in heaven or what is in heaven or just
16:27
whatever is on earth
16:28
SPEAKER_01: that isn't in heaven,
16:29
SPEAKER_01: remove it.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: So if it's pain, let's say you're a doctor, right?
16:33
SPEAKER_01: And it's pain.
16:34
So you're going to work with your patients to make sure that
16:36
you have done
16:37
SPEAKER_01: everything you can to eliminate pain out of their lives.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Let's say poverty.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: So you are a,
16:44
SPEAKER_01: you know,
16:44
you're a billionaire and you're going to take your money and
16:47
you're going to put it
16:47
SPEAKER_01: towards philanthropy instead of trying to put it towards something,
16:50
SPEAKER_01: you know,
16:51
SPEAKER_01: buying the next yacht or whatever it ends up being,
16:54
SPEAKER_01: right?
16:55
SPEAKER_01: You're going to be doing that.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: So it's just, what can you do to make this a better place?
17:00
SPEAKER_00: And is it... Okay.
17:02
So are you trying to improve the word or are you trying to
17:06
improve yourself?
17:08
Because there is like Rumi,
17:10
the Persian quote,
17:11
has the saying,
17:12
when I was young.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: I was hoping you'd go with that quote.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: It's my favorite quote.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: It's a great quote.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: Which is, when I was young, I was smart.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: I wanted to change the word.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: Now I'm old and wise.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: I want to change myself.
17:27
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
17:28
But do I need to think if we focus on ourselves,
17:32
especially at my rotten age now,
17:35
is...
17:38
SPEAKER_00: somehow, inherently, I would change the word if I start with myself.
17:43
Rather than me trying to eliminate poverty,
17:46
maybe I can try to eliminate my poverty.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: And that would kind of solve the word poverty.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: So how would you see that perspective?
17:59
SPEAKER_01: I love that question.
18:00
And I'm going to answer that with a song that I actually I
18:02
wrote about three or four months ago.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was six months ago.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: It's called What Will I Be Giving Back?
18:07
Because I was struggling with this and I struggled with it
18:09
because of the Rumi quote.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: Right.
18:11
SPEAKER_01: That was what brought this song out.
18:13
And the song is basically it's like when I've run my final
18:17
track,
18:17
what will I be giving back?
18:20
SPEAKER_01: And I thought about what do we give if you believe in,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:25
SPEAKER_01: let's just go into one religious system for a second.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: Just believe in God.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: If you believe in God, right?
18:30
SPEAKER_01: What do you think back to God when you die?
18:33
SPEAKER_01: Are you giving him all the accomplishments you've done?
18:37
You know,
18:37
hey,
18:37
I did this because it's kind of talked about even in Scripture.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: It's like I did this, this and this.
18:41
SPEAKER_01: And,
18:41
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:42
SPEAKER_01: in Scripture,
18:42
SPEAKER_01: it's like the God's,
18:44
SPEAKER_01: you know,
18:44
SPEAKER_01: God says,
18:45
SPEAKER_01: hey,
18:45
SPEAKER_01: I never really knew you.
18:46
Like you didn't that was not really you didn't do it for me
18:48
kind of thing.
18:48
SPEAKER_01: You did it for your own agenda or for clicks or whatever.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: What if it's what is imprinted on your soul?
18:55
What if it's what you what you have accomplished in yourself
18:59
through the things
19:00
SPEAKER_01: you've done that then becomes here's my gift back?
19:05
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: I had this little micro soul when I started,
19:08
SPEAKER_01: and here's what my soul has done in the process of getting here.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: Now,
19:12
SPEAKER_01: again,
19:12
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to turn off anybody who,
19:14
SPEAKER_01: you know,
19:14
SPEAKER_01: doesn't believe that way or whatever,
19:16
SPEAKER_01: but it's a cool way of looking at it,
19:17
SPEAKER_01: right?
19:18
SPEAKER_01: However you see the world,
19:20
SPEAKER_01: what if it's about what you have become,
19:22
SPEAKER_01: not from the standpoint of status,
19:25
SPEAKER_01: but from the standpoint of soul?
19:27
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pivot a bit and talk about creativity,
19:34
SPEAKER_00: especially that my audience are writers,
19:37
SPEAKER_00: authors,
19:37
SPEAKER_00: publishers,
19:39
SPEAKER_00: and
19:42
I read the book,
19:45
and I always think about this quote,
19:48
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: And she talks a lot about the morning pages, like journaling.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: And there's one sentence that resonated with me.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: And they asked her, why do you do this every day in the morning?
20:09
SPEAKER_00: She said, I do this to cross to the other side.
20:13
SPEAKER_02: Mm.
20:15
And for her,
20:16
what does she mean by crossing to the other side,
20:19
which is the creative side?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: And the idea,
20:22
SPEAKER_00: and I believe in it,
20:24
SPEAKER_00: but it might be a bit woo-woo,
20:26
but the idea of creativity comes from a higher level or a
20:33
higher status that we can
20:35
SPEAKER_00: only reach
20:37
if we cross to that side or if we get ourselves into the flow
20:41
or if we get
20:42
SPEAKER_00: ourselves into that creative status of our beings?
20:49
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe in that?
20:51
SPEAKER_00: And if you do,
20:52
how do we cross to the other side of creativity where the
20:56
creative juices keep
20:58
SPEAKER_00: flowing?
20:59
SPEAKER_01: I do believe in that.
20:59
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
21:01
I think the first thing that I would say to that is that you
21:04
have to recognize that
21:07
SPEAKER_01: You're not going to get there.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: You can,
21:12
SPEAKER_01: you can imposter it,
21:14
SPEAKER_01: but you never get to that crew,
21:16
SPEAKER_01: true creativity or to creative a capital C,
21:19
unless you have gotten those things out of your life that block
21:22
you from getting
21:22
SPEAKER_01: there.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: So things like, so I'll look at it this way.
21:25
SPEAKER_01: So I'm a script writer, right?
21:27
So I write,
21:27
you know,
21:28
I'll write a movie script and in my story,
21:30
I play God in my story.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: I am I am God essentially as the writer of my story.
21:35
My central character in my story is not the one that like just
21:40
is my star.
21:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:42
SPEAKER_01: It's the one that's there to fulfill my agenda the most in the story.
21:47
So I have to give that character everything to accomplish what
21:51
my agenda for the story is.
21:52
SPEAKER_01: Now, they don't know it.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: And it may suck for some of it.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: Diehard is always my great example of that.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: Right.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: Diehard is a really shitty experience for the for Bruce Willis.
22:02
But yeah,
22:03
it's progressing forward and it ends the way it's supposed to
22:07
end.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: Right.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: Hans Gruber does get if we talk about Joseph Campbell,
22:11
SPEAKER_01: which you referenced in yours,
22:13
SPEAKER_01: you know,
22:14
SPEAKER_01: the villain dies.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: And so you have that situation.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: So you have to.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: You have to connect to whatever that is in your life that's that higher,
22:24
SPEAKER_01: greater thing,
22:25
SPEAKER_01: greater self,
22:26
SPEAKER_01: greater good,
22:26
SPEAKER_01: God.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm not kind of a universalist.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: I am very strong in what I believe.
22:33
But I also know that people get there in different ways or do
22:38
things in different ways.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: So I don't want to ever say, this is the way you must do this.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: But there is that desire of like,
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Ego wants to hold you back.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what I love about Substack is there's so few,
22:54
SPEAKER_01: there's less people with ego.
22:57
But if you're writing to fulfill something that your father or
23:01
mother said to you
23:02
SPEAKER_01: when you were nine years old,
23:03
SPEAKER_01: and you're like,
23:03
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to get them back,
23:04
SPEAKER_01: so I'm going to become a writer,
23:05
SPEAKER_01: it may motivate you,
23:08
SPEAKER_01: but it doesn't necessarily satisfy.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: So how do I get that creative...
23:18
SPEAKER_00: juice flowing more than... Curiosity.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: 100%.
23:23
SPEAKER_01: Be as curious as you possibly can.
23:24
So recognize that you don't want to be at the top of your game
23:29
or you don't want to
23:29
be the top fish in the tank because the biggest fish in the
23:32
tank is the one that's
23:33
SPEAKER_01: the least flexible.
23:35
You want to be the most mobile fish in the most influential
23:38
tank you can be in.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: Right?
23:41
So that's surround yourself by people who are way more powerful
23:45
and way more
23:46
SPEAKER_01: insightful and way more creative than you are and learn from them.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Don't compete with them.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: Learn from them.
23:52
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: Because what happens is, and I hate this about things.
23:57
SPEAKER_01: You'll see this in movies.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: You see it around people.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: Songwriters especially, right?
24:00
They'll write these great songs and then they're just jerks
24:03
when you meet them in person.
24:05
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to listen to your music.
24:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't care how profound you are if you're a jerk.
24:10
SPEAKER_01: right?
24:10
You're writing to satisfy either a financial need or an ego
24:15
need or a whatever
24:16
SPEAKER_01: need,
24:16
but you haven't gotten the process in your life to be the type
24:19
of person I want to
24:19
SPEAKER_01: follow.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: But don't you think we should separate the art from the artist?
24:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, I think not Nabokov.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Was it one Nabokov who killed his wife or something?
24:29
SPEAKER_00: But we still like his art.
24:31
And if I'm expecting all the artists to be these perfect
24:35
humans...
24:35
Not perfect.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Not perfect.
24:38
SPEAKER_01: Just grounded.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: Right?
24:39
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to be perfect.
24:41
You just have to be willing to...
24:42
You can still be a shitty person and produce good art.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: You don't think so?
24:49
SPEAKER_01: Kind of.
24:50
SPEAKER_01: I think you can produce good art.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: I don't think as you can't be a good artist.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: How's that?
24:57
SPEAKER_01: Because the artist is the person that somebody meets, right?
25:00
SPEAKER_01: The artist is the person and it may actually,
25:02
that interaction with that person may cause them to regress on
25:06
how they feel about
25:07
SPEAKER_01: your art.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:11
I think we disagree on that because I like the art to stand on
25:16
itself and many,
25:17
many great
25:20
SPEAKER_00: pieces of art were created by people who've done terrible things.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: I think here's how I would say it.
25:33
I would focus on being the best artist you can be rather than
25:37
focus and let your
25:39
SPEAKER_01: art kind of come out of that rather than creating the best art you can.
25:44
So I think you'll be a happier person because those people
25:47
aren't happy a lot of times.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
25:49
SPEAKER_00: They're not happy.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: So the question is, do you want fame or do you want happiness?
25:54
SPEAKER_01: And that becomes a question.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: That's not like a multiple, you know, like a and or question.
26:00
SPEAKER_01: That's just a question for you because you can live your life and,
26:04
SPEAKER_01: you know,
26:04
SPEAKER_01: and be famous and never be happy.
26:07
SPEAKER_01: And that's okay if that's what you want.
26:10
SPEAKER_01: But you just have to kind of ask yourself, is that what I want, right?
26:12
SPEAKER_01: You watch a show like Billions or you watch a show like Power.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: And we watch these shows and everybody gets,
26:19
SPEAKER_01: you know,
26:20
SPEAKER_01: you're thrilled at watching the entertainment.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: I think we lost Natasha.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: There we go.
26:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're back.
26:31
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: So, all right.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: For me, I want to talk about habits.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Habits?
26:39
SPEAKER_00: So, habits.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Habits.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Your daily habits.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: I think you mentioned you waking up before, being in flow.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: Can you take us through your daily habits?
26:53
that would bring you that first level of fulfillment and level
26:58
of negativity or
27:03
eliminate any distractions and make you feel that you're
27:08
designing your own life.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: So what are your habits?
27:14
SPEAKER_01: So I don't have like a, a habit, like a set habit list anymore.
27:20
SPEAKER_01: Like I have a fitness product out in the world.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: So I try to work out.
27:23
SPEAKER_01: It's a pool based fitness product.
27:25
SPEAKER_01: And so I like work out in my pool,
27:27
SPEAKER_01: you know,
27:27
SPEAKER_01: at a sporadic time,
27:28
somewhere between about one and four o'clock or five o'clock in
27:31
the afternoon,
27:32
SPEAKER_01: just because I like it.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: Right.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: So you work out three hours a day.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
27:36
SPEAKER_01: I work out somewhere in between there, somewhere in that period of time.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: Like, it's not like I go, I work out at three o'clock or I do whatever.
27:42
So it's like somewhere in between there,
27:43
I jump in the pool and do my workout.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: I think it boils down to do everything that I do in my life.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: I love.
27:52
So I had a conversation with somebody this morning and I was
27:55
talking about how in
27:55
SPEAKER_01: the last couple of years,
27:56
SPEAKER_01: because of that fitness product,
27:58
SPEAKER_01: unfortunately,
27:58
SPEAKER_01: because it was a manufacturing disaster.
28:01
Um,
28:01
I've had to grind more than I've grinded in probably like 10
28:05
years,
28:06
right?
28:07
Just nose to the grindstone,
28:08
just working rather than just being able to create.
28:11
And I told the person I was on the phone with,
28:13
I said,
28:13
I started with like,
28:14
I don't like it.
28:15
SPEAKER_01: And I said, that's not true.
28:16
I said,
28:17
it's what I love the least because everything I do in my life,
28:20
I love.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: So whether that's me working on,
28:24
SPEAKER_01: I have an AI radio station in the world right now called Flare AI Radio.
28:28
So I write songs and have over 200 people submit songs from
28:31
around the world to my
28:32
SPEAKER_01: radio station.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: I have an AI modeling agency.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: I write books.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: I write on Medium.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: I paint.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: All these different things that I do, and I love doing all of them.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, so for me, it's doing what you love all the time.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: That to me is freedom, right?
28:49
SPEAKER_01: That to me is opportunity where basically there's nothing in my life.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: In fact, I actually realized for my own life, I play all day.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: So when I get off work, I better stop playing.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Like I better work at my family.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: I better work at my relationship with my daughter.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: I better work at, you know, those types of things.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's, I'm blessed enough.
29:08
SPEAKER_01: And if there's anything I can wish for anybody who's on here, it'd be
29:12
play all day right you know just be be in a situation where
29:16
your job your vocation
29:17
SPEAKER_00: is about play i see and for people who are and so i you know so you're an
29:27
entrepreneur and being an entrepreneur gives you that
29:30
flexibility and that love and
29:32
And not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and not everyone
29:37
is said to be an entrepreneur.
29:39
Do you think you can find that level of love and happiness and
29:43
fulfillment if
29:44
SPEAKER_00: you're working in a corporation in a nine to five job?
29:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: We'll step back a little bit, right?
29:52
SPEAKER_01: Let's go back to high school.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: And this becomes a much more fundamental question.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: High school never taught you to figure out who you were.
29:59
It never taught you the things we talked about at the beginning
30:01
of this course,
30:01
SPEAKER_01: you know,
30:02
SPEAKER_01: beginning of this,
30:02
SPEAKER_01: this sub-stack life.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: It taught you how to do math.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: It maybe, maybe now, you know what I mean?
30:09
SPEAKER_01: It taught you, it taught you science.
30:10
SPEAKER_01: It taught you the general things, but it never got into who you were.
30:14
So you shuffled through school and then all of a sudden now
30:18
you're in a job that
30:18
SPEAKER_01: you may or may not be not qualified for,
30:22
SPEAKER_01: but designed for.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
30:23
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: So can you be happy there?
30:25
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: But I think it becomes a much more...
30:29
fundamental question going back to high school where high
30:32
school itself should be
30:33
SPEAKER_01: the launching point to somebody's destiny or somebody's opportunities.
30:40
SPEAKER_01: So if you're not there and you didn't have that happen in your life,
30:43
SPEAKER_01: then the question you have to ask yourself is,
30:46
SPEAKER_01: can I be happy doing what I'm doing?
30:49
SPEAKER_01: And the answer may be no.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: Right.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: It literally may be no.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: It may be yes.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: It may be,
30:53
SPEAKER_01: you know,
30:54
SPEAKER_01: as you as you find new creative ways to do things,
30:57
SPEAKER_01: there may be possibilities there for you.
30:59
SPEAKER_01: But it also may be no.
31:01
So as you go through those things like the personality profile
31:04
tests and you find
31:05
SPEAKER_01: out,
31:05
SPEAKER_01: you know what,
31:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm not.
31:07
The one thing that that test that I did came back to me said
31:10
you might want to use
31:11
SPEAKER_01: a calculator for higher math equations.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: Cause I sucked at the math side.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, so I don't want to be an accountant.
31:18
SPEAKER_01: I don't like accounting.
31:20
It's not my thing,
31:21
but I know what things,
31:23
what I am good at and what I do love.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: So I think that that becomes,
31:27
SPEAKER_01: you know,
31:27
SPEAKER_01: does that,
31:28
SPEAKER_01: hopefully that answers the question,
31:29
SPEAKER_01: but I think that anybody,
31:31
SPEAKER_01: I'll give you a great example.
31:32
SPEAKER_01: There's a, I lived in Nashville, Tennessee for like 20 years.
31:35
SPEAKER_01: And there's this African-American man who works at Costco and
31:39
SPEAKER_01: And every single person that comes through his line, he makes laugh.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: And he laughed.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's beautiful to watch.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: Every time I would go to Costco, I would just look for him.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: And nobody didn't laugh with this guy.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: And most people would not love the job.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: But he loved what he was doing.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: And it was thrill.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: It was play to him.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: So he played all day.
32:03
SPEAKER_01: And then he went home and did whatever else he did.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: So since I'm a journalist, I'm going to play the devil's advocate.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: So buckle up.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: All right.
32:13
SPEAKER_00: So for me,
32:14
the idea of we were born this way or we're inherently good at
32:19
this or that,
32:21
do you think it's a bit limiting where we're only depending on
32:26
our inherent talent
32:28
SPEAKER_00: rather than actually working at stuff?
32:30
SPEAKER_00: For example, I'm going to give you an example.
32:33
i am i've always been the book nerd and i've not been much into
32:37
sports but that was
32:39
on the expense of me working out so i only started working out
32:44
like in my late 30s
32:45
or in my 40s and because i believe i am inherently not good
32:52
that sports i'm the
32:53
book nerd so there is no way for me to be good at it so what's
32:58
the point of trying
33:00
SPEAKER_00: and the minute i removed
33:02
this thought from my head that i'm not i'm not born this way or
33:07
that way and all i
33:08
need is to work hard i actually i can do it i work out five
33:13
times a day i know how
33:15
to lift weights i you know it might be like not it did not come
33:20
as naturally as
33:21
people who are like born and with an athletic physique but i
33:27
talked myself out of
33:29
SPEAKER_00: it and if i
33:31
SPEAKER_00: Like if I say the example of an accountant,
33:36
if let's say I want to do my books myself for my business and I
33:41
keep telling I'm
33:41
SPEAKER_00: not good at this,
33:42
SPEAKER_00: I would never improve.
33:44
SPEAKER_00: I would say, no, I'm a creative person.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Math is not for me.
33:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm inherently not good at it.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: And that is so limiting for me.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: And I advise the writers that talent is overrated.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: What really matters is consistency, hard work, and putting in the hours.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: If I can say I was born Shakespeare,
34:06
SPEAKER_00: then I'm going to...
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Shakespeare did not become Shakespeare just because he had the talent.
34:12
SPEAKER_00: He had to work at it.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: And I worry about...
34:17
throwing these labels of I'm inherently good at this because
34:21
it's limiting.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: So how would you answer that?
34:24
SPEAKER_01: So first of all, that was not devil's advocate.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: That was ego shattering in the situation of what you said.
34:30
We have the capacity to do and become anything we want to be,
34:33
especially today.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: So there is no accomplishment you cannot do in your life.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm never going to dunk a basketball like Michael Jordan.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: I know where limitations are, right?
34:43
SPEAKER_01: There's certain limitations that do exist.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: But the ability for anyone to do and become anything they want
34:50
SPEAKER_01: is absolutely, the threshold for that is like way up there now.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: You can do anything you want.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: I taught myself how to,
34:59
SPEAKER_01: because of my fitness product,
35:01
SPEAKER_01: I hired people to do video editing for me,
35:03
SPEAKER_01: right?
35:04
SPEAKER_01: And it took too long.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: So in 10 hours, I learned to become a video editor.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: And not only did I do my own videos,
35:10
SPEAKER_01: but within a month,
35:11
SPEAKER_01: I made $10,000 doing some of my clients' videos.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
35:15
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
35:16
SPEAKER_01: So absolutely 100% that's possible.
35:18
SPEAKER_01: You made a comment, which is really powerful.
35:20
SPEAKER_01: Have you read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield?
35:24
SPEAKER_01: Of course I did.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: All right.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: So he would talk about it with resistance.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: You basically named resistance when you said,
35:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm not very athletic or the thought was,
35:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm not very athletic.
35:37
SPEAKER_01: That was not you speaking that.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: That was resistance speaking that through you.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe.
35:45
But if I take one of those tests or one of those tests that you
35:49
mentioned in the
35:49
SPEAKER_00: beginning,
35:50
SPEAKER_00: maybe it's going to show that,
35:52
SPEAKER_00: well,
35:52
SPEAKER_00: who you are is not a person who's interested in sports.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: Good point.
35:58
SPEAKER_01: But I think that I think anyone can do anything.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: So it's not like I'm going back on what I'm saying.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually agreeing with you.
36:07
SPEAKER_01: So I've told people,
36:09
SPEAKER_01: if you ever have a negative thought in your head,
36:11
SPEAKER_01: just recognize it's not you.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: Right.
36:14
And so,
36:15
but we,
36:15
we don't say,
36:16
and I wrote this in the book,
36:17
the blueprint.
36:18
I said,
36:18
we don't say I have a bad,
36:21
I I'm feeling like I'm having a frustrating day today.
36:26
SPEAKER_01: We say life sucks.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: Right.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: Or,
36:30
i'm dumb or whatever it ends up being right we're using that
36:33
kind of language
36:33
around us and then that carries weight as to its impact in our
36:37
lives so i've told
36:38
people everybody i talked to i said never say i am to a
36:42
negative say i feel like to
36:44
a negative and always for a positive say i am so i am strong i
36:48
am powerful right
36:49
SPEAKER_01: then the um what's that movie called not the notebook um
36:55
SPEAKER_01: I forget.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
36:58
SPEAKER_01: What was that movie?
36:59
SPEAKER_01: It was with Emma Thompson.
37:03
SPEAKER_01: The 1950s movie.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: Okay, anyway.
37:05
SPEAKER_01: It says you are strong, you are powerful, you are something else, right?
37:11
SPEAKER_01: So it's affirming things in your life and all the negatives just say,
37:14
SPEAKER_01: it's what I feel right now.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: So I'll have a day where I'm like,
37:18
SPEAKER_01: I feel horrible or I feel lousy or whatever,
37:20
SPEAKER_01: but I'm never going to say my life sucks or I can't accomplish that.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing you can't accomplish to that,
37:28
SPEAKER_01: especially with YouTube,
37:30
SPEAKER_01: with AI,
37:31
SPEAKER_01: with Google search.
37:33
SPEAKER_01: You can learn anything.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: So do you think there's a risk of taking these tests because they might
37:39
SPEAKER_00: re-emphasize some of the limiting beliefs that you have in your head?
37:44
SPEAKER_01: No.
37:47
SPEAKER_01: I think that when you move according to the way you're wired...
37:52
SPEAKER_01: your body will inherently respond in a very positive way.
37:56
SPEAKER_01: And so it won't be frustrating for you, but it will also open you up.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: So I'll give you a good example.
38:01
SPEAKER_01: So with my AI radio station, okay?
38:04
So I have people that are writing,
38:05
started off writing songs using ChatGPT.
38:09
SPEAKER_01: And ChatGPT wrote their entire song for them.
38:12
When they heard it for the first time through Suno and the song
38:15
was created,
38:16
SPEAKER_01: they fell in love with the writing process.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: And five,
38:19
SPEAKER_01: six songs later,
38:20
they were now writing 20% of the song or 40% of the song or
38:24
100% of the song.
38:25
SPEAKER_01: And so now they started off thinking, I'm never going to be a writer.
38:28
SPEAKER_01: I could never do that.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: Are now writing some great music that we put out on our radio station.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Hmm.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:35
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
38:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: So you wrote six books, you said?
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: And what was the publishing process like?
38:46
SPEAKER_01: So I published everything that I did.
38:47
SPEAKER_01: Why?
38:49
SPEAKER_01: Because two reasons.
38:51
SPEAKER_01: One,
38:51
SPEAKER_01: I didn't necessarily want to go through,
38:54
SPEAKER_01: and this is probably,
38:55
SPEAKER_01: I will say this about myself.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: This was me.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: hesitant at first going, is this going to work for me?
39:04
SPEAKER_01: Am I, you know, is a publisher going to pick this up?
39:06
And my first book probably wouldn't have been,
39:08
you know,
39:09
but I learned through the process.
39:10
The second thing was I had a friend of mine who'd published
39:12
books and he said,
39:13
SPEAKER_01: dude,
39:13
SPEAKER_01: your best bet is to just self-publish.
39:16
SPEAKER_01: He said, you'll have more flexibility, you'll have more opportunity.
39:18
SPEAKER_01: They're not going to take all the money from you.
39:20
They're not going to wait six months to put it out,
39:22
you know,
39:22
that kind of thing.
39:23
SPEAKER_01: So that was why, that's how I did what I did.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: And you're going to continue with the self-publishing path?
39:31
SPEAKER_01: A book that I just wrote,
39:32
SPEAKER_01: The Blueprint,
39:33
SPEAKER_01: which is what I call,
39:34
SPEAKER_01: it is not a way to see the world,
39:36
it's a way to explain the world through what I call a new
39:38
strategy of sight.
39:40
SPEAKER_01: That one I'm giving away because it's the most influential,
39:43
SPEAKER_01: it's the most important book I've ever written.
39:47
And so I don't want money to get in the way of this message
39:51
getting out there into the world.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: So I'm just giving this book away, at least for now.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: If somebody comes to me later and says,
39:55
SPEAKER_01: David,
39:55
SPEAKER_01: we'll pay you to,
39:59
SPEAKER_01: we want to publish this book,
40:00
SPEAKER_01: we'll give you this,
40:01
SPEAKER_01: then I'll do it.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: But for now, I just want to give that book away.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:06
SPEAKER_00: And what are you planning to do next?
40:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: Good question.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: Good question.
40:13
SPEAKER_01: I have a children's book that I wrote,
40:16
SPEAKER_01: but I still needed the last little bit of finalization on it.
40:19
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: I am in the process right now.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: Like I told you, I had an AI modeling agency.
40:27
SPEAKER_01: We're on the cusp of some seven-figure projects.
40:30
If I move into seven-figure projects doing these AI advertising
40:33
projects,
40:34
then I'm
40:36
Probably going to ramp up my company from three people to six
40:40
or seven and really
40:42
SPEAKER_01: tackle and be the number one world-renowned AI agency.
40:49
Right now,
40:49
we're already there for modeling,
40:50
but we're not there for just general population.
40:55
so and where does how do you Substack for all of this where does
41:00
theSubstack fit in
41:01
the equation of your business and your community so Substack i
41:05
don't use for
41:06
business per se it's not where i'm necessarily going i could
41:09
because i have a book
41:10
called creative success so i could pivot and run everything as
41:14
this like hey hire
41:16
SPEAKER_01: me for this you know consulting for your business
41:20
SPEAKER_01: I just don't choose to do that.
41:21
SPEAKER_01: And that just is a personal preference of mine where it's just,
41:25
SPEAKER_01: I love Substack because it's thoughtful.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: And I think a single thought could change the world, right?
41:31
SPEAKER_01: If in 2016,
41:33
a controversy involving a black or blue dress or a gold or
41:37
white dress hit the
41:39
SPEAKER_01: entire landscape in one day,
41:41
SPEAKER_01: if you remember that whole thing.
41:42
SPEAKER_02: I remember, yeah.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: It literally went around the world in a day.
41:47
SPEAKER_01: And everybody was talking about it on every news station.
41:50
SPEAKER_01: They brought in all sorts of people to talk about this.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: If that can happen, then a thought or an idea can do the same thing.
41:56
SPEAKER_01: That's what I believe.
41:57
SPEAKER_01: So that's why I wrote the book MLK 2.0,
41:59
SPEAKER_01: which is basically that I believe,
42:01
SPEAKER_01: and this is my personal belief,
42:04
SPEAKER_01: that everyone has been given a world-shaping idea,
42:07
SPEAKER_01: an idea that could change the world.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: And how do you unleash it?
42:11
SPEAKER_01: How do you unleash it?
42:13
SPEAKER_01: Read the book.
42:14
So,
42:14
I mean,
42:15
ultimately,
42:16
it's like 12 different things that I step you through,
42:18
Anta.
42:19
SPEAKER_01: And the first one is to know who you are.
42:23
SPEAKER_01: Second one is get resistance out of your lives.
42:27
SPEAKER_01: And then the third one is don't just share everything with everybody.
42:31
SPEAKER_01: Just ask for it.
42:32
SPEAKER_01: Start cultivating it, right?
42:33
SPEAKER_01: Get into a space where whether it's meditation or whatever,
42:37
SPEAKER_01: where you're ready to receive that idea,
42:39
SPEAKER_01: right?
42:40
Because some people will never go there because they don't like
42:42
the silence.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: They have to be on the phone.
42:47
SPEAKER_01: They have to be doing something.
42:48
SPEAKER_01: They can't get and sit in silence.
42:49
If you can't sit in silence for five minutes,
42:51
you may never receive that idea.
42:54
Not that it can't happen,
42:55
but maybe that silence is where it's waiting for you.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: So what's your idea that will change the word if you can share it?
43:04
SPEAKER_01: So the premise of the book,
43:06
SPEAKER_01: The Blueprint,
43:07
SPEAKER_01: is a central statement,
43:09
SPEAKER_01: which is that the world doesn't spin on the actions,
43:13
SPEAKER_01: beliefs,
43:15
SPEAKER_01: or statements of the society.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: Spins on the outcomes.
43:21
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
43:22
SPEAKER_01: And when you understand that,
43:23
SPEAKER_01: when you recognize,
43:24
SPEAKER_01: because actions,
43:25
SPEAKER_01: beliefs,
43:25
SPEAKER_01: and statements are all personal preference,
43:28
SPEAKER_01: right?
43:28
SPEAKER_01: We do what we want any old time based on what we believe,
43:33
SPEAKER_01: what we want,
43:34
SPEAKER_01: or whatever pleasure we're desiring,
43:36
SPEAKER_01: right?
43:37
SPEAKER_01: And so we can do that.
43:38
SPEAKER_01: The first action that I commit,
43:39
SPEAKER_01: if I want to go,
43:40
SPEAKER_01: you know,
43:40
SPEAKER_01: I say it this way,
43:41
SPEAKER_01: it's like,
43:41
SPEAKER_01: if I want to take my neighbor's wife a cookie or I want to,
43:45
SPEAKER_01: you know,
43:45
SPEAKER_01: go sleep with her,
43:46
SPEAKER_01: I can potentially do that.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: The outcomes of that moment
43:51
SPEAKER_01: are undetermined, but they are also objective.
43:55
SPEAKER_01: They just happen, right?
43:57
SPEAKER_01: And so when you recognize that basically everybody lives on this,
44:00
SPEAKER_01: most people who talk on this planet,
44:02
SPEAKER_01: who interact on this planet,
44:04
SPEAKER_01: who govern on this planet,
44:05
SPEAKER_01: focus on actions.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: If you focus on outcomes,
44:09
SPEAKER_01: if you recognize that outcomes don't have a worldview attached to them,
44:13
SPEAKER_01: don't have a belief system attached to them,
44:15
SPEAKER_01: they just freaking are,
44:16
SPEAKER_01: and you start addressing that,
44:18
and then you basically take a look at an outcome and you tie it
44:21
back to the initial
44:22
SPEAKER_01: action in a way that doesn't come off moralistic or pious or whatever or
44:27
SPEAKER_01: judgmental,
44:28
SPEAKER_01: You can create unbelievable inroads into science,
44:33
SPEAKER_01: into medicine,
44:33
SPEAKER_01: into law,
44:34
SPEAKER_01: into academia,
44:35
SPEAKER_01: all of it.
44:36
SPEAKER_01: So that one statement has changed my life.
44:41
SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Okay,
44:43
so what books would you recommend for people to create a life
44:49
by their own design
44:51
SPEAKER_00: and be fulfilled,
44:53
SPEAKER_00: be in the flow,
44:54
SPEAKER_00: and come up with that great idea that will change the world?
44:59
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
44:59
SPEAKER_01: So obviously the war of art,
45:02
I think is an essential book because basically what it does is
45:05
it prevents all
45:06
SPEAKER_01: those blockades and all the,
45:08
SPEAKER_01: all the strategies of the blockades from happening in your life.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: That would be the first one that I would recommend from that perspective.
45:16
Um,
45:16
my recommendation would be to,
45:19
I'm trying to think of the next best book.
45:23
SPEAKER_01: Um,
45:26
I don't necessarily have one per se that would be like,
45:29
that's like the perfect book for that.
45:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
45:32
SPEAKER_01: obviously I,
45:33
SPEAKER_01: you know,
45:33
SPEAKER_01: I talked about my book MLK 2.0,
45:35
SPEAKER_01: which goes through that whole process,
45:37
SPEAKER_01: but I don't want to just be,
45:38
SPEAKER_01: you know,
45:38
SPEAKER_01: this is not a pitch.
45:39
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not trying to pitch my book.
45:42
SPEAKER_01: I would say,
45:44
SPEAKER_01: be a reader of life.
45:46
SPEAKER_01: And by what I mean by that is, is that the thing about a reader, right?
45:51
SPEAKER_01: I have a poster in my, in my, what I call philosopher's language.
45:54
SPEAKER_01: I converted my, my dining room into a room that's just about thought.
45:59
And in that room is a poster that says leaders are readers,
46:02
but writers are revolutionaries.
46:05
SPEAKER_01: And the reason why leaders are readers is it, you have to be curious.
46:09
SPEAKER_01: You have to humble yourself to read something.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: Because it means you don't know something.
46:16
SPEAKER_01: So you are reading to do that.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times, even readers don't take that into real life.
46:22
SPEAKER_01: They think that when they're in situations and circumstances with people,
46:25
SPEAKER_01: they need to be the one in control.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: They need to be the one at the head of the game.
46:31
SPEAKER_01: Treat every situation like you're reading something from it.
46:36
SPEAKER_01: And I guarantee your life will start looking different.
46:39
SPEAKER_01: Right.
46:40
SPEAKER_01: If you remain at the top and this is this is what I know.
46:43
SPEAKER_01: And so now I'm going to tell everybody that this is what I know.
46:46
SPEAKER_01: You won't get there.
46:47
SPEAKER_01: So I'll give you a good example.
46:48
I was in a I was in a business course back in California and it
46:52
was a high level course.
46:53
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was I was 25 years old.
46:54
SPEAKER_01: So the youngest guys in the whole thing.
46:57
SPEAKER_01: And, uh, and we had a breakout session.
47:00
And so I did all this talking cause I knew a lot about what was
47:03
going on and I felt
47:05
SPEAKER_01: really good after I was done.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: And behind me is my coach, right?
47:07
SPEAKER_01: She's kind of monitoring the situation.
47:11
And when it ends 20 minutes later,
47:12
she says to me,
47:13
she says,
47:13
David,
47:14
you said a lot.
47:14
SPEAKER_01: That was, you know, and I go, yeah, it wasn't amazing.
47:16
SPEAKER_01: I felt really good.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: And she said, what'd you learn?
47:19
SPEAKER_01: I said, what do you mean?
47:20
SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, that was 20 minutes of time.
47:22
That was 20 essential minutes with like people that are way
47:25
more influential than you.
47:26
SPEAKER_01: What'd you learn?
47:27
SPEAKER_01: And I went, crap, I didn't learn anything.
47:31
SPEAKER_01: Do you know what I mean?
47:32
And it was like,
47:32
it was,
47:33
they got stuff out of me,
47:34
but I didn't get anything out of them.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: So when you live that way, I guarantee you it's, it will change.
47:42
SPEAKER_01: It's good.
47:43
SPEAKER_01: You know, your life will change.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: Fascinating.
47:47
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I have some questions and comments here from the people here.
47:50
SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for everyone who joined us.
47:53
So Kathy Small here says,
47:56
eliminate negative people or people you don't want to be in
47:59
your life.
48:00
SPEAKER_00: and eliminate negative influences and what's getting in the way.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: Then there's Sue says, Sue Reid says, I love that you love everything.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: Kathy Small agrees with you.
48:14
Kathy Small is asking,
48:15
I think,
48:16
the name of the book,
48:17
I think,
48:17
of your book.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: Let me put this.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: The name of the book is The Blueprint.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: I'll show you where you can get it.
48:24
If you just go to this page right here,
48:26
you can download your own copy of it.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: Ah, good.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
48:31
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing it.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: So now, Kathy, you can download the book.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: And then Sue says, I have loved this talk.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: Thank you both so much.
48:38
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Sue, for joining us.
48:40
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so before we conclude, David, how can people reach you?
48:43
SPEAKER_00: How can they read your books?
48:45
SPEAKER_00: How can they connect with you?
48:48
SPEAKER_01: So the best way to get me is just through my website at davidwlitwin.com.
48:52
SPEAKER_01: It is a...
48:55
SPEAKER_01: treasure trove of me.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: It's like, it's, it's a lot there.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: Like,
48:59
SPEAKER_01: it's like,
48:59
SPEAKER_01: it's,
49:00
SPEAKER_01: it's like my writings,
49:01
SPEAKER_01: my,
49:01
SPEAKER_01: my art,
49:02
SPEAKER_01: my,
49:03
SPEAKER_01: you know,
49:03
SPEAKER_01: there's even a Seinfeld script that I wrote on there.
49:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: Which you can find.
49:07
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, it's just, it's, it's a fun place to just kind of hang out.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: Now,
49:10
SPEAKER_01: the other thing that's on there that I really love,
49:12
SPEAKER_01: and I don't know if you know about this,
49:13
SPEAKER_01: Natasha,
49:14
SPEAKER_01: but do you know what Adelphi is?
49:16
a delphi okay so delphi it's delphi.ai i believe and delphi is
49:23
a new it came out
49:24
about four months ago where it's like your own custom gpt but
49:29
it's more kind of the
49:31
the the etsy model than like just doing your own generic kind
49:35
of version on over a
49:38
SPEAKER_01: million of my words
49:40
So if you go there at the hop of the page and you ask me any
49:43
question,
49:43
I mean,
49:43
try to stump me.
49:45
It will answer you back in my voice and literally in my voice
49:49
because it actually
49:50
SPEAKER_01: has my voice on it if you want to use it.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: But it will tell you how I see the world.
49:56
SPEAKER_01: I even go to it sometimes and ask it questions.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things it was talking about at one point,
50:03
SPEAKER_01: it brought up the phrase,
50:05
SPEAKER_01: bringing sacred to the street.
50:08
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, oh, I love that phrase.
50:10
SPEAKER_01: That was such a cool, you know, a cool idea.
50:13
And so,
50:13
you know,
50:14
I go there and actually test myself or ask myself my own
50:17
questions.
50:18
SPEAKER_01: And it's a it's a beautiful little thing.
50:20
SPEAKER_01: You'll you'll love it, especially as you've written the number of books.
50:22
SPEAKER_01: So you have lots and lots of words to be able to plug in.
50:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll check it out for sure.
50:27
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
50:28
SPEAKER_01: I'll write it down here.
50:29
SPEAKER_01: I think it's Delphi.ai.
50:31
delphi.ai sure i'll check it out well thank you so much david
50:35
for your time i
50:37
SPEAKER_00: really enjoyed the conversation and it was like an elevated high level of
50:42
conversation it says a lot to think about about our work
50:47
creativity comes from um
50:49
why do we do what we do our position in the world how do we
50:53
give back and of course
50:55
SPEAKER_00: about writing and publishing
50:56
SPEAKER_00: So, and thank you for everyone who joined us today.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: And I will do the replay with clips and I'll also send a newsletter.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: And for anyone here, make sure as well to check out David's newsletter.
51:13
SPEAKER_00: And my newsletter is called Read and Write with Natasha.
51:16
And thank you so much for joining me for another episode of the
51:20
Substack Writer's
51:21
SPEAKER_00: Salon.
51:22
SPEAKER_00: And until we meet again.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: Ciao.
51:26
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
51:27
SPEAKER_02: It was a blast.
51:28
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.