Hey, it's André & Shawn…
Quick reminder that enrollment for Ideas to Assets closes tonight at midnight PST. You can read the details in Friday's email.
Last Friday we wrote the following sentence:
Ideas to Assets is our instruction manual for modern digital alchemy.
It seemed so obvious the moment we wrote it. And, from the readers' perspective, it may seem like we knew where we were going all along.
“Ah, yes, of course…modern digital alchemy…those crafty b@stards…”
But here's the thing — we were just as surprised to see that sentence appear as you were.
“Maybe I didn't write you, but I found you.” — songwriter Hoagy Carmichael in reference to his song Stardust.
That's often how creativity works. We have an idea — maybe a little vague and rough around the edges — and we get it out of our heads and onto the page or screen.
Then, something begins to emerge…connections are made, ideas expand, and days later, we're looking back on something we're really proud of.
Creativity feels like magic. And we're certainly open to the possibility that it is.
But, we also know that you can engineer opportunities for magic to emerge.
Ten days ago, the 6,500+ words you've read and thirty-two minutes of video you've watched about modern digital alchemy didn't exist.
But the ideas that inspired this series were there waiting to be discovered and turned into something valuable for you and us.
All it took was a little “spark”…
That's what Ideas to Assets is all about.
Falling in love with the creative process, doing the work day after day, and then watching (often in stunned disbelief) at what appears.
If you're an Initiate, Spectator, or Digital Alchemist, and Ideas to Assets feels like a “Hell Yeah!” to you, you'll find the order link below.
Enrollment closes at midnight tonight. We don't know when enrollment for ITA will open again.
We suspect Ideas to Assets will be a full course someday. But we don't know when.
(If you already own the 2019 version you'll get the 2021 version — and all future updates for free. And, if you enroll in the 2021 version, you'll get access to all future updates for free as well.)
Hell Yeah I'm Interested in Ideas to Assets…
(Scroll down the page until you see the red order button, then click that.)
And, if you've been in our world a while you know that we don't want anyone to leave empty handed.
We deeply appreciate your attention — it means the world to us. Check out the P.S. below for a small token of our appreciation.
If you're interested in creativity and personal knowledge management, here's a mini-course of selected resources we think you'll find useful, inspirational, and (very) enjoyable.
Start with Inputs & Outputs (Personal Knowledge Management). That's an overview of PKM through our eyes with links to many related resources.
Don't be deceived by the estimated “7 min read.” There are enough ideas and links in that article to keep you busy for weeks.
Next up is a playlist from Stanford professor Tina Seelig:
“Workers are puzzle builders, they get stuck when missing a piece,” she says. Truly creative people “are quilt makers — they can fit anything together.”
Quilt makers…we love that.
- A crash course in creativity: Tina Seelig at TEDxStanford
- Tina Seelig: The 6 Characteristics of Truly Creative People, (99U)
- Get Ideas Out of Your Head & Into the World | Tina Seelig | Talks at Google
And a few more from other big thinkers…
- The surprising habits of original thinkers | Adam Grant
- We also enjoyed The Daily Show's Secret to Creativity, in season 1 of Adam Grant's podcast.
We would like to share two resources from David Kelley, IDEO and Stanford d.school founder. The first is free, the second is a book we loved:
- How to build your creative confidence,
- (Book) Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All (David and his brother, Tom Kelley)
Finally, here's a fascinating discussion by sleep expert Dr. Matthew Walker and Dr. Rhonda Patrick about sleep.
While we recommend the entire 2 hour 37 minute interview, we want to draw your attention to a five minute snippet where Walker talks about “informational alchemy” (direct link here between 18:11 and 23:16).
These are resources we've found valuable and inspiring. Enjoy!
P.P.S
If you've been wondering about the Easter Egg mentioned in last Monday's email, we revealed it today.
You just have to look…