Merce Cardus's Blog, page 79
August 20, 2015
How To Be Insteresting In 10 Simple Steps
You want to leave a mark, not a blemish. Be a hero, not a spectator. You want to beinteresting. (Who doesn’t?) But sometimes it takes a nudge, a wake-up call, an intervention!―and a little help.
This is where Jessica Hagy comes in. A writer and illustrator of great economy, charm, and insight, she’s created How to Be Interesting: (In 10 Simple Steps), a uniquely inspirational how-to that combines fresh and pithy lessons with deceptively simple diagrams and charts.
Step # 1: Go Exploring
Ex...
How to Overcome the 3 Fears Every Creative Faces
In this 99U talk, illustrator Christoph Niemann, author of Abstract City,sh
ares his three biggest fears:the fear of not being good enough, the fear that our work will be irrelevant, and the fear of running out of ideas. Each of these cripple our process in different ways, but asNiemann explains (complete with hilarious illustrations), there are solutions we can apply to each.
Push yourself to learn new things, embrace the grumpiness, and realize that there’s nothing wrong with you when you f...
WEEKEND LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-Publishing, and Better Living: Creativity Inc.


Craft is what we are expected to know; art is the unexpected use of our craft.
~ED CATMULL, author ofCreativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
WRITING
3 Writing Lessons from GO SET A WATCHMAN by Harper Lee, The Write Practice| Tweet
The beloved classic To Kill A Mockingbird has a sequel. Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee was released on July 14th. In its first week of publication, Go Set a Watchman sold 1.1 million copies, t...
August 19, 2015
How To Live Empty
Die Empty: Unleash Your Best Work Every Dayis a tool for people who aren’t willi
ngto put off their most important work for another day.The key is embracing the idea that time is finite, so you should focus on the unique contribution to the world that only you can make.
How you spend your focus, time, and energy
Many productivity systems recommend reviewing work and priorities on a weekly basis. The practice I’m recommending is not intended to replace those weekly reviews or assessments, but...
Why Science and Art Are Not Separate Disciplines
Artists and scientists alike strive “to figure out the deep truths of reality,” explains physicist Brian Greene, author of The Hidden Reality
.The ways they pursue that goal are different, but there’s no reason why two segments of society seeking answers can’t work together. That’s why Greene advocates for the convergence of art and science. When the two camps share insights and ideas about the world, the results can be wonderfully potent.
We’re all just trying to figure out the deep truths o...
THURSDAY LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-Publishing, and Better Living: Awe
Photo Credit: Mark C3kc via Compfight cc
Quote of the dayIt’s not about spiritual awareness, interest, or knowledge. It’s not fi
rst about church, theology, or biblical literacy. It’s not even about wanting your little life to mean something. It’s something that not only believers do. It’s something that every person who has ever taken a breath does. It’s not bound by family, culture, history, geography, language, or ethnicity. It’s not a matter of age or gender. It’s not about any of these...
August 18, 2015
Why Wearing Fakes Makes Us Cheat More
InThe (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, Dan Ariely
examines the contradictory forces that drive us to cheat and keep us honest, in this groundbreaking look at the way we behave.
The relationships between what we wear and how we behave
When thinking about my experience with the Prada bag, I wondered whether there were other psychological forces related to fakes tha go beyond external signiling. There I was in Chinatown holding my real Prada bag, watching the woman emerge from the shop holding...
No One Understands You And What To Do About It
InNo One Understands You and What to Do About It,Heidi Halvorson talks abo
ut the two phases of perception: automatic and thoughtful. People rarely try to move past that first phase where people have a “gist” of who you are as a person — most of the time, that’s all they want.
Perception is tricky
One of the challenges I think that we need to face head on when we think about how we come across to other people is really understanding that perception is tricky and that for your perceiver, the...
HUMP DAY LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-Publishing, and Better Living: Grab Your Wave

Photo Credit: McSnowHammer via Compfight cc
Quote of the day
While the force of gravity keeps a surfer on a surfboard and pulls the board and the surfer down a wave, buoyancy is the force that pushes again gravity and helps make surfing possible.
If the gravity and buoyancy are in alignment, the two forces basically cancel each other out. If either of the forces shifts, such as when you step forward or backward on your board, one end of the board will sink.
A major part of your job as a sur...
August 17, 2015
Commitment, Perseverance, and Habit
In How Champions Think: In Sports and in Life, America’s preeminent sports psyc
hologist delivers a groundbreaking guide to success in all aspects of life—not just sports—from business to relationships to personal challenges of every variety.
People make commitments at the beginning of a new year but commitments are easier to make than to keep
In my work with businesses, I often find a pattern in the results of both a company and the individuals who work there. The numbers are good in the fi...