Here Is The Biggest Lesson I Learned Since The Pandemic

You Have Limited Time on Earth, So You Need to Create Your Creative Assets Now

In this article, I will do something that I have never done before. I will allow myself to write on the spot. I do not have any plans. I do not have any structure. I will write the title after I finish the article.

I have no idea where this article will end up. I have no idea how I will proceed. I will just focus on writing one sentence. And then the next one. And see what happens.

I will not care about quality or virality. I will care about listening to what my inner voice tells me. I will focus on getting my message across. I will keep this very simple. I will not use any fancy words. I will listen to my heart and share my excitement with you.

I am very scared about where this journey will take me. I have never tried anything like this before. I am shocked why I have never tried doing something that is so simple and direct. I wonder if I would experience any writer’s block if I used this method. A writing method that is purely based on openness, foolishness, emergence, surprise, and wonder.

“Everything is meaningless. I will die soon. I do have limited time on this Earth. What are the things that I truly care about? What will make me truly happy and productive? What are the things that I want to accomplish before I die? What are the things that I can do now so that my future self in 10 years will be proud of me?”

My mind was racing with these thoughts since the pandemic started. I wanted to create radical change in my life but did not know how to do it. However, I felt this urgency in my stomach. This was now or never. This was the start of my adventure. I would finally act as a hero of my own life.

You can see the results of my adventure below. Here is what I created in about 20 months:

Have you seen how this article is progressing without any structure? Even I do not know what is coming up next. And I think this is beautiful. Jumping into the unknown is a bit like jumping into cold water — it terrorizes you at first, but then you feel alive. You realize everything is possible. You can write whatever comes to you and speak your heart out.

You want to take control of your future. You want to follow your passions and curiosities. You want to make the most use of your skills and creativity. Then, the best way forward for you is to create your creative assets. The only time you have is right now. You need to create like there is no tomorrow.

Creating your creative assets is the best way forward to be happy, productive, and rich in your life. What do you care about? What do you wish to create? Do you want to write a book? Do you want to establish your own online business? Do you want to create your YouTube channel or TikTok? Do you want to create your Instagram brand? Do you want to create your music? Start acting on it today. Start it right now — like in 10 seconds. The only time you have it is right now. Your life is short and you might not have another chance tomorrow. The only day you have it is today. There is no tomorrow.

Exercise: What assets do you wish to create?

Make a list of all the things that you would like to create during the next six months. First, apply divergent thinking to create a long list of possibilities. Think of lots of possibilities and ideas. Second, reduce your solution space by deciding on your shortlist of top fields or actions. What are your priorities? What do you wish to create? Choose your top 3 priorities to act on. Which ones are the ones you truly care about? Which ones are more rewarding and worthwhile for you?

How I created my assets: A very simple method

Whatever you wish to create, you need to work on it for 30 minutes every day. You do not need long hours to practice your craft or to create your assets. Even if you have 30 minutes a day, you can still make this work. Start now and take very small actions towards your big vision. Do not worry about quality. Do not try to make it perfect. Crappy work is absolutely fine. Have a scrappy mentality and work with whatever you currently have.

I have followed this method since the pandemic. Using this method, I have written nearly 400 articles on Medium. My goal has been to create a minimum viable draft or product each time. I have stopped worrying about the quality of my contribution. Instead, I trained myself to show up at the page and start writing a sentence. Word by word. I tried to write as if I were talking to myself. After I finished my first crappy sentence, I wrote another sentence. Before I knew it, I realized that I could create a short article in less than an hour.

Make it simple and have a laser focus

I had been procrastinating writing online for more than a decade, so you can guess how rewarding and exciting I have found this simple method: Start now, show up on the page, make it small, make it easy, write it as if you are talking on it, and make it crappy. You need to make a simple decision to start now and you will have a laser focus from then on.

Be scrappy and do not worry about quality

Using a similar philosophy, I started two YouTube channels and I created more than 600 videos since the pandemic. I started shooting videos in Turkish, my native language. I did not care about quality. I just cared about capturing my story. As I fell in love with shooting videos, I have achieved enormous momentum. I upload one video every day on my YouTube channel.

Allow yourself lots of experiments and failures

I have even become a TikToker during this process. I allow myself to conduct at least a couple of small experiments every day. These experiments might be shooting a video, writing a blog, creating doodle artwork, dancing on TikTok, learning something exciting, or sharing my excitement with my students in class. What matters is I need to scare myself every day. I need to get out of my comfort zone and embrace the unknown.

Do not take yourself seriously: Be open and foolish

I do not need to try to be perfect in anything that I do. Perhaps I need to embarrass myself with a stupid dance. Perhaps I need to create crappy art to reward myself. Perhaps I need to allow myself to be foolish and curious. Perhaps I need to stop worrying about how my peers or other people will evaluate my work. Perhaps I need to let go of all the pressures and expectations that have held me back up until now.

Exercise: What are you denying yourself?

Ask yourself: What opportunities or experiences are you denying yourself? Make a list of all the things you are denying yourself. Complete the reflective writing exercise using the doodle poster below:

Keep it simple

I have started writing this article without any plan. I just allowed myself to put my thoughts on this page. I did not have any outline — I just followed my heart. I just kept it very simple. I imagined I was talking to myself. I did not worry about quality, contribution, or virality.

Listen to your inner voice

I just listened to my inner voice. My voice was very scared at first, and now I realize that my voice has become courageous, clear, simple, and direct. I wonder why I have not used this method in my earlier articles. It is the first time that I am writing without any fear of being judged. It is the first time that I am writing just for myself. It is the first time that I am not worried about my English or writing skills. I feel free.

Takeaways:

• Do not wait. Start now. You have 10 seconds to act on your vision.
• Start today. Create like there is no tomorrow.
• Allow yourself to create crappy work.
• Do not take yourself too seriously. Allow yourself to make mistakes.
• Get out of your comfort zone. Scare yourself.
• Conduct a couple of small experiments every day.
• Celebrate your failures — they are amazing learning opportunities
• Write as if you are talking to yourself.
• Jump into the unknown and see what happens.
• Dive into chaos when you are creating art. Make a mess and enjoy it.
• Life is too short for perfectionism, worry, stress, and anxiety.
• Celebrate your weirdness. Own it and turn it into a strength.
• Make your life simple by being clear on your vision.
• Focus on your true priorities. At any given time, you cannot have more than 3 priorities.
• Show up every day, even if you do not feel like creating or writing.
• Listen to your inner voice. Give credit and space to your voice.
• Try to achieve the minimum viable product, art, blog, or video.
• Do not care about virality or results. Focus on your process and enjoy that process of creation.
• You need foolishness, curiosity, flexibility, experimentation, and courage to create your renaissance.
• If you write for 30 minutes a day, you will have created more than 90% of people.

Fahri Karakas is the author of the Self-making Studio. You can explore more here.