Consumption is underrated.

“Create. Don’t consume.”

Do you hear this mantra as much as I do? Does it get under your skin too?

Behind every hour of good writing is at least 10 hours of reading.

Every great writer I’ve known is a voracious reader. Every great musician I’ve known is an insatiable listener — among the top 1% of vinyl collectors as well.

Create, of course. But feed that creation properly. Take away the stigma of consumption.

Consumption is an action. It isn’t good or bad. You get to determine its worth.

Treat it as you would any other priority action in your life. Schedule it, if need be. It’s that important.

Consumption gets a bad rap because finding and enjoying the good stuff is hard.

That’s why it’s worth it.

That’s also why curation will always matter. Cutting the fat will always be a valued service.

How about this one? “The iPad is just a consumption device.”

Great! We need more well-designed devices to help us get the good stuff into our brains, whether it’s an iPad, Kindle, or a hardcover. Whatever works.

Don’t starve your creativity. Consume away! Then, please, share the best with the rest of us.

— CJ

French Goodbyes

“I keep telling a lot of my corporate friends and leaders, ‘You’re worried about The Great Resignation? Wait until you see The Great Never Applied in the First Place.’ You’ve got an entire generation of kids growing up on Roblox, TikTok, and Fortnite, who are like, ‘I could work at IBM, VaynerMedia, or whatever. Or, I could make 61K doing [my own thing]. I’ll keep building and maybe get to 200K.’ It’s a blind spot to the establishment — at scale. What we talk about is, ‘These kids are entitled.’ They’re not entitled. They’re aware of their options.” — Gary Vaynerchuck

“I’ve regretted two kinds of decisions in my life: those I made in haste, and the other ones.” — Jeffrey Zeldman

“The real measure of any time management technique is whether or not it helps you neglect the right things.” — Oliver Burkeman via Tim Ferris

“Trying to be a ‘growth hacker’ is really one of the worst ways you can approach the internet. There is a reason tenured marketers do not engage in such things, as they understand the importance of optics, long term reputation, and building something sustainable.” — Adam Singer