Build Something So Real, So True, That It Demands To Be Remembered…
10 thoughts, ideas & creative finds on choosing personal truth over external validation, experimenting beyond comfort zones, and taking your unique interests seriously
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The Rundown 16: What You Create in the Process & Who You Become is the Real Art
The Rundown 17: Entrepreneurship is Really Just Organized Creativity
The Rundown 18: Your Role Isn’t To Conform To What Exists, It’s To Create What Doesn’t
Hey Everyone,
Before I begin this week’s Rundown…
**I’m currently developing an All-in-One Notion Dashboard to help you streamline your creativity, productivity and income — so you can manage the technical, creative and financial aspect of your work easier. it's not just another project management tool or content calendar, but a complete operating system for the modern creative professional who needs to be both artistically fulfilled and commercially successful. You can join the waitlist here.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…
The Rundown — Here’s what I found over the course of this week that has helped me, inspired me or gave me some creative pushes…
On legacy versus validation — “I think the hardest part for most people is thinking we need the world to validate our work, but the fact is, we need the world to receive the benefits from it. Don’t wait for validation to start. Start and let your work be what you continue to develop and contribute for generations long after you’re gone .” (—) — From a recent post on Instagram… I think if you can remove the worry and fear of what the “external” will think, and focus more on purpose, intention and bringing your gifts to the world, you’ll play a different game… a much bigger game… and one that will contribute long after you’re gone.
On creating content that’s both authentic and viral — “You use your personality, or unconscious things, to make your content feel different or feel like your own… if you just copy exactly what someone else did with the exact same images with the exact same style, no one’s going to give a f—k about you… but if you include your personality somehow, whether it be the copy or images or whatever, when you bring your personality out a bit more, it makes that unique to you. (—Tom Noske) — The niche is you… this is what I’m always trying to stress for creators… you can see what “styles” of content are doing well, but then you have to add your personality, content, context and art to it. A year ago I saw certain types of reels doing really well giving immense value from a combination of b-roll footage and screenshots on processes, so I tried it myself. I added my own b-roll, my personality and my processes… the results turned into 15M+ video views across 5 reels… authentic & viral without losing yourself.
On knowing what you want and why you want it — “As we chase desires, how often do you think about why you even want things? Is it motivated by money, status or genuine curiosity? It was only after I graduated that I was heading in the direction of someone else’s definition of success rather my own.” (—Mylene Mae) — Mylene is spot on here… I urge everyone to consider why you want what you want… was it ingrained into your mind since you were young… was it because you saw others have it and that made you think you needed it to feel the same way? The sooner you can define what success looks and feels like to you, the faster you can create that life for yourself than trying to fit into everyone else’s.
On experimenting with your work so you can expand more abundantly — “You should never ever let yourself get stuck in a box… when we find something that works, or we find something we’re good at, it’s easy to keep wanting to do that thing. But what we don’t realize is that we might be building these walls. Everything feels safe, but the less we let ourselves experiment, the higher these walls become.” (—Mylene Mae) — Another great video from Mylene that I thought I should include because this message is vital. I see this online all the time and I also remind myself often to experiment. Just because you’re good at something, doesn’t mean you should only stay there… I think it’s equally important to experiment with your craft, ideas and purpose so you can find the expanded version of what you’re here to do… that, and it keeps you growing versus staying in comfort zones too long. The faster you experiment with your work, the easier it becomes to not care what other people think.
On predicting what will be successful — “How can you predict what will be successful and what may never take off.” — On a recent podcast, I spoke about our greatest indicators for success, how to find the talents we should focus on most, hidden signals in our outcomes, knowing what or when to quit versus what’s worth pursuing no matter what, excerpts from Scott Adams’ book How to Fail At Almost Everything & Still Win Big and more — My latest podcast on this can be found here (APPLE, SPOTIFY)
On creating a brand and growing business with community — “Building a brand challenge… bring people together… by giving your audience a clear goal to hit every single day, it will turn training into a shared experience that keeps people showing up and also participating in their brand.” (—Tatum Brandt) — I believe the best way to grow any business or brand is with community at the forefront… when we all embody the principles, values and mission, then we are living the very essence of what the brand stands for instead of just hoping and wishing… I’m even thinking of running my own brand and creativity challenge coming up so stay tuned for that (or reply to me and let me know if you’d be down to run with us as a group). Whatever you’re building, find a great way to have your community participate. If you’re a smaller brand, look for a few people who can participate so you can all show off your progress and accountability. Either way, it’ll be good to be of service.
On doing “hard” things — “There’s a brain structure called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex… When people do something they don’t want to do… adding anything they don’t want to do, like add 3 hours of exercise per week… when people do anything they don’t want to do, it’s not about adding more work. It’s about adding more work that you don’t want to do. This brain area gets bigger… it grows larger in people that overcome challenges… and can be found in people who live a long time” (—Andrew Huberman) — You have the ability to do “hard” things… and often, it’s about doing the “right” things not everything. So, if you focus on the “right” things, which may feel “hard,” you will find yourself living a more intentional life, undistracted by externalities and a more fulfilling one in the process.
On taking your hobbies seriously — “The future is built by the people who take their hobbies too seriously.” (—Anu Atluru) — I couldn’t agree more… each of you have something you can’t stop thinking about or being innately curious about… maybe even infatuated with… this is often your soul speaking to you and giving you direction. Don’t be afraid to go all in on something you’re truly called to… the world is waiting for your contributions.
On creating your own niche — “Whether it’s solving problems others haven’t tackled, practicing creativity daily even when inspiration feels distant, or pursuing a vision that others might not understand… your role is to create what’s missing, not replicate what already exists.” (—Matt Gottesman) — You’re not here to replace what already exists.. you are here to advance it. We were told from a very young age what our options were, but what was missing was being told to learn and trust our intuition, gifts, talents and our own path… that’s where we develop our character, build accountability and ownership, learn leadership and grow in our faith for something much larger than we can understand at the human level.
Playlist — Smooth Jazz House DJ Mix — A great playlist from RE: Tape Studios on YouTube @retapestudios of Chill House to work to… great for creating, designing, writing, computer work.
Build Something So Real, So True, That It Demands To Be Remembered…
The evidence is undeniable — your most meaningful work emerges when you stop asking for permission and start answering your calling.
From authentic content creation to embracing discomfort…
from taking our passions seriously to doing the hard things…
every creator's journey points to the same truth: legacy begins where validation-seeking ends.
Your role isn't to seek approval from a world too busy scrolling…
It's to build something so real, so true, that it demands to be remembered.
Now go create your legacy.
Until next week,
– Matt
P.S. If you found value in this week's insights, consider sharing this post with someone who might need this reminder about the power of individuality. ↙️
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