a space to think together—on creativity, attention, and work that matters.
When you feel stuck, it might be time to disappear.
To recalibrate and grow in the absence of resonance.
When the noise gets too loud, seek solitude.
Tune into the inner signals.
No need to explain.
Your run-up may look like a step back to others—and that’s okay.
Return only when you’re ready.
Take your time to dig. To explore.
When the time comes, share your findings.
Surprise yourself first.
Then come back and surprise us.
Determination:
[de- = “completely” + terminare = “to limit, end” (from terminus = “boundary, limit”)]
= “bringing something to an end”
Ideas end where determination stops.
Creativity isn’t about our ideas, the outcome, or any tangible result.
It’s about who we become along the way.
The joy of the creative act comes with a bill of commitment and initiative.
It asks us
to show up—even when inspiration fades and doubt creeps in.
To experiment in the unfamiliar.
To face our fears of failure.
To break through comfort zones and expectations.
To question our views and even our values.
To keep going—especially when distraction is tempting.
And push through resistance.
The result is like a trophy—just proof of our participation.
The real reward is meeting our most creative and courageous selves.
And the more we persist, the more we stand out.
“Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but doing it like you love it.”
—Mike Tyson
Creativity is not a destination—it’s a lifelong journey.
Dedicating our time and attention to the creative act is one of the most promising, fruitful, satisfying, and courageous investments we can make in ourselves.
Once unleashed, it multiplies infinitely—each realized idea holds seeds for the next, just like fruit.
The art and challenge is to cultivate it in our lives with patience and faith.
In 2011, I visited a design conference in Singapore.
Leading creatives and artists were sharing their works, stories, and wisdom.
At that time, I was working on my final thesis. It was also a time when I felt completely lost.
I couldn’t think of what to do after my studies.
Should I go back to my job as a fashion graphic designer?
Should I apply to an ad agency?
Apply to an ad agency?
No way felt right.
Continue reading “Do What you Love”
Create choices before you make choices.
Divergent thinking is the ability to generate as many different ideas, options, or solutions as possible from a single starting challenge—such as a problem, task, question, or constraint.
In this early stage of the creative process, it’s all about quantity—not quality.
It’s about exploring and expanding possibilities—pushing approaches and directions. Especially the weird ones.
This is not the time for rules, restrictions, concerns, evaluations, judgments, or criticism.
Accept that, and the process begins to feel like play—twisting, turning, and transforming ideas in any way you can imagine.
Divergent thinking is the mental expansion before creative decisions are made.
The key is to let every single bit of mental data breathe.
No thought is trivial.
We’ll see which of them survives throughout the process.
Only then will a decision be made—and chances are high that it might be the best one.
Mr. Miyagi:
“Are you ready?
Daniel:
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Mr. Miyagi:
“I guess I must talk.
Walk on road.
Walk right side—safe.
Walk left side—safe.
Walk middle—sooner or later, get squish just like grape.
Karate, same thing.
Either you karate do ‘yes,’ or karate do ‘no.’
You karate do ‘guess so’—squish like grape.”
It took me three decades to truly understand this valuable message from one of my favorite childhood movies, Karate Kid (1984).
In this scene, Mr. Miyagi appeals to Daniel’s self-awareness by demanding a decision.
Not a lighthearted decision.
Not one made out of youthful naivety.
He demands a conscious and honest one.
The question is:
Do or don’t.
Both decisions are valid.
He is not saying “don’t ever quit.”
He is saying, “Whatever your decision is—do it like you mean it.”
He warns that hesitation, indecision, or half-hearted effort is where danger lives.
The “middle of the road” is where unfinished projects, excuses, blaming, and shattered dreams lie.
Mr. Miyagi talks about 100% commitment—the kind that will inevitably lead to clarity and growth.
I can see why it took me so long to understand. It takes maturity.
And the appreciation of time that young people simply cannot have.
In their perception, time seems to be infinite.
Adults become conscious of their values and limitations.
That’s when we realize:
Every “yes” means saying “no” to something else—and vice versa.
The sooner we understand this trade, the sooner we learn to prioritize and dedicate our attention to what truly matters to us.
At some point, I knew what I wanted to do—become a freelance illustrator. That was my dream, and I decided to turn it into my goal.
I was determined to achieve it.
Yet starting your own business comes with fears and doubts.
While working on my illustration portfolio, those insecurities led me to invest time in a plan B—just in case I didn’t succeed.
Plan B was to fall back on the things I used to do in the past—the kind that worked but didn’t fulfill me.
It slowed everything down.
The moment I stepped fully to one side of the road and declined all not-goal-related requests, everything changed—because now I no longer had to trade my time, focus, and determination.
I feel that I made that 100%, non-negotiable commitment Mr. Miyagi talks about.
And after a few months, I started receiving the kind of commissions I had dreamed of.
Starting any life-changing endeavor with commitment is a constant, decision-demanding adventure.
And that‘s the secret to daily excitement and fulfillment.
Consume or create—it’s that simple.
Spend time or invest it.
Be inspired or ignite.
Stay passive or get active.
Click or craft.
Spectate or play.
Browse or build.
In between lies boredom and serenity.
Every day begins with this switch.
The choice is yours.
If you are persistent you will get it. If you are consistent you will keep it.“
—Beeple
A simple boost to your productivity:
Deliberately created time pressure can be a mighty productivity tool.
For example, the next time you work outside in your favorite café or university, use the pressure of the declining battery power of your laptop or device to boost your focus.
“We live in an outcome-focused culture,” Seth Godin writes in his book The Practice.
During industrialization, this made sense—outcomes needed to be fast and predictable.
But we’re entering an era of automated results and democratized, open-source knowledge
—all just a tab away.
In the face of peak efficiency, one thing remains inimitable:
The process.
Not the generated one — the experienced one.
The unique, lived journey to the result.
That’s the place of personal growth, meaning, and creative confidence.
Continue reading “Creative Confidence”
While my parents and brother drove me to the Düsseldorf airport I stared out the window and thought, “What am I doing? I just want to go back home. I want to chill on the couch, play Pro Evolution Soccer with my brother, or hang out with friends. That’s all I want to do right now.”
Instead, I was about to embark on an adventure on the other side of the planet.
I longed for this day for years, and I was so nervous. I never traveled alone before and never thought I would find the courage to do so.
But here I was now. I clutched my backpack nervously, not knowing what to expect.
The journey started in Sydney and ended in Beijing after four and a half months. And it changed everything.
Traveling alone, handling situations, and making all decisions myself brought me closer to myself.
I got along well among strangers, in unknown places, in solitude, and with myself. This realization was the missing spark to finally pursue my dream of becoming a freelance illustrator.
Solo traveling is the ultimate way to poke our comfort zone. Physically and mentally.
If you ever thought of traveling all by yourself, I would like to encourage you to. I know it takes courage. But it’s worth it.
And if you decide to embark, may I give you some advice?
Set a specific goal you would like to achieve during your journey.
A mission can be your compass and push you to interact with people and unfamiliar environments.
My mission on the trip was the final thesis for my study—I made a design report about creativity on the other side of the world.
I gathered as many creative findings and information as possible and presented them in a book.
Traveling with a mission forced me to contact, visit, and interview artists, designers, and ad agencies throughout my journey.
I explored art exhibitions in every city and village I crossed, collected local design magazines, and searched for visual treasures and anything that caught my attention.
Thirteen years later, I still say that traveling alone was one of the best decisions I made in my life.
And again, I encourage you to take the leap if you feel the urge to travel, too.
You will explore unknown territories, externally and internally.
And you’ll unlock skills, capabilities, and attitudes that will change and enrich you and your future.
If solo travel is just too challenging for you, it’s totally understandable. There are other ways to sneak out of your comfort zone and strive for solitude:
The Walk
Take a walk in the woods. No company, no phone.
The Coffee
Sit down in a local café. Again, no company, no phone. Just you, your drink, and your eyes.
The Trip
Spend a weekend in an unfamiliar city. Book a room, get on the train, and wander through the streets.
Try it, and feel free to share your experience with me.
“Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do.”
—Seth Godin
(Book: The Dip)
There are three types of briefings:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
When limitations unleash creative freedom.
The ideal client’s brief feels like a guardrail. It always keeps the creator heading towards the right direction while leaving enough space to switch lanes and try alternate approaches.
It’s the perfect mix of creative freedom and joint goal alignment.
One of the most idea-sparking projects I had as an illustrator was the creation of a movie key art. The briefing was super clear in terms of aesthetics and the key elements, while it outlined three specific approaches I could explore visually. Just the right amount of limitation and impulses to generate dozens of ideas without losing myself in the process.
When too-tight reins eliminate passion and potential.
A too-narrow briefing feels like moving on tracks. There’s no space for serendipity, alternate perspectives, or novelty—in short, there is zero risk involved.
It’s hard to explore the unknown on already paved roads.
This approach of apparently “playing it safe” reduces positive tension and excitement within the process—an ultimate novelty-killing mindset.
Usually, in these rigid collaborations, everyone involved just seems to look forward to arriving instead of moving.
When absence of guidance becomes a creative nightmare.
The worst briefing sounds like this: “You have absolute creative freedom.” It’s like leaving someone in the desert without a map or compass and asking them to find the oasis.
This might be ok for open-ended, budget-free collaborations, but the moment money and time pressure are involved, chaos is inevitable.
It’s not a sign of trust or confidence —it’s negligent.
A collaboration that agrees on this sole rule is based on laziness from both sides—the client and the creator. Providing services naturally comes with expectations on both sides.
If there are no expectations articulated, how do we ever know we meet them? And how could we ever quote that?
The creative mind is a pro at building missing puzzle pieces.
But it needs to know in which picture it should be implemented in the end.
If the briefing is not good at the moment, try to make it through honest communication.
If you manage to set the guardrails and the goal together—great.
If not, say thank you for the request and decline.
“Most people will change their desires, even their values, before they will change their behaviours.”
—Blair Enns
(Book: The Win Without Pitching Manifesto)