Hiya,
Chocolate or Broccoli? I know. I know.
Me too. I first read about this decision-point in an article about weight loss (brilliant piece by one of my favourite authors). But it made me think about how this shows up in creativity.
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something crafty
When you have to write headlines, the most comforting decision in the moment is to start writing headlines. That’s chocolate.
Researching is broccoli. Coming up with insights and ideas first is broccoli. Do either of these things first and headlines flow much easier.
When you have to come up with campaign ideas and you start coming up with executional ideas, that’s chocolate. Start with the bigger insights first. That's broccoli. Ideas flow easier once you have those insights.
When you’re feeling stuck and you feel the pull of Instagram or Twitter, that’s chocolate.
Don't bite. Keep pushing through.
When you have a chance to work on a personal creative project but choose a night out with friends or binge-watching Netflix instead of working toward your creative and financial freedom, chocolate.
The easier choices in small moments are the ones that make creativity harder overall. (For bonus content, replace the word "creativity" with "life" in this last sentence).
Of course, we can choose chocolate once in a while. But whether it’s food, exercise, binge-watching, binge-drinking, binge-scrolling or creativity, we can’t let our brains run on autopilot. They will always choose chocolate.
Our brains aren’t leaders. They’re followers.
Choose broccoli more often and it's what your brain will crave. And over time, it even becomes the obvious sweeter option. So I've heard anyway.
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something self-helpy
When people create content solely for likes and followers, that’s chocolate.
This is when they blindly follow formulas and share content and language that “works”. And by “works” I mean preys on the vulnerabilities of our human brains. They’re betting we’ll choose their cheap ass chocolate. And they’re often right.
Years ago, I had a mentor who said, “The problem with technology is that it evolves faster than our ethics.”
Social media is such a powerful tool. Posting regularly on LinkedIn is part of what's changing my life. But on the whole, social media is a hot steaming pile of caca. People can't control what they create or consume.
If content were food, we’d all be diagnosed with content obesity.
And since these platforms won't ever be properly regulated, we have to do our best to regulate ourselves and the creators. And we do this by not clicking on the "10x" caca.
And as creative people, we do this by creating more broccoli. I think a lot of creative people don’t create because most other content is garbage. But that's why you should. That's why you'll stand out.
How?
Create to be helpful. To help your younger self and your current self. Create to learn. Create to be you. Create to grow, not a following, but yourself. Ask yourself, “Would I actually like this? Is it valuable? Am I taking advantage of human brains or respecting them?”
It takes longer to create quality content but the more you do it, the better and faster you get at it. And it will stand out more than the crap being fire-hosed all over the internet.
You won't grow as quickly as the 10x'ers but over time, broccoli always wins.
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something anything
That's it for today. Have a confident and creative week.
❤️
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PS. Want to build your creative craft and confidence? Here are 3 ways I'm trying to help—
1. My first course, Writing Under Pressure, helps you write headlines quickly when you're under the gun. For now, I'm keeping the price at $150 vs $179.
2. To get the book, A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters, go here.
3. To 🪓 me anything, reply to this email.
If you liked this, share it with someone you like. If you disliked it, share it with someone you hate—https://mailchi.mp/nelkencreative/broccoli
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