Paul Gauguin was a bit of a dick. At the age of twenty-three he lucked into a cushy job at the Paris Bourse (France’s stock exchange). A friend of the family had organised it for him and it paid a good salary. Paul was quick to get the hang of trading and turned out to […]
Tag Archives: Creativity
That old Greek thinking guy, Socrates Johnson, is reported to have said something like: If I know anything, it’s that I know nothing. No one quite knows exactly what he said as it was all jotted down by that Phil Plato guy. He could have been making it up himself. No one knows. And that’s […]
When you procrastinate, I don’t believe it’s the type of task that’s important. You might choose to watch television or bake a cake. It doesn’t matter. Nor does the ease of the task you choose make much difference. You might choose to procrastinate by doing something you actually find quite difficult, like going for a […]
Did you hate it?” No, the interviewer replies. “Shame. You’re supposed to,” says McQueen. When it comes to getting someone’s attention, you’ve got to go for emotions. If you don’t at least try, you’re guaranteed to fail. If you’re not thinking about how your audience relates to your writing, you shouldn’t call yourself a copywriter. You’ve […]
I get so worried by what other people are doing. It’s the worst kind of anxiety. Right now, I’m reading The War at the End of the World by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. It’s great. It’s also massive. 750 pages. And no pictures. I’m halfway through and can’t believe how dense the damn thing is. The […]
In 1963 things were really beginning to take off for Rowlf. After a false start recording several commercials for Purina Dog Food, he was put in the cupboard and almost forgotten. But when his owner was invited to do a skit on The Jimmy Dean Show, Rowlf was brought back in for a second shot at stardom. […]
After spending an evening with social media expert and general ‘smart guy’, Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee), I decided to check out SlideShare. “Green light your ideas” Have you come across this yet? It’s basically a social network based around sharing slideshows. Sounds weird, I know. But I kind of like it and spent some time designing my own […]
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‘When we tell stories about creativity…we neglect to mention those days when we wanted to quit, when we believed that our problem was impossible. Instead, we skip straight to the breakthrough. We tell the happy ending first. ‘The danger of this scenario is that the act of feeling frustrated is an essential part of the […]