Want to Build A Castle? Stack a Few Stones Everyday
The above quote is 21 words long. Not very long at all. Could you write 21 words a day? How much time would it take you? I just wrote the above 23 words in less than a minute. If you could take 10 minutes a day to write 80 words a day for 365 days in a row, you could complete a 30,000 word novella or short self-help book (like my book, UNFINISHED).
The average pop song consists of two verses, three choruses, a bridge and an outro. If you wrote one section (pick a verse, chorus, etc.) a day for 60 days, you would have enough material for a full album (10 songs total).
You get what I’m saying. Small, daily habits create a large body of work. Everyone understands this concept, but few follow through with it. The ones that do, however, build castles.
Burgos is a city in northern Spain adorned with structures that have stood for 3,000 years. Among these structures are large churches, monasteries, and the type of structure most synonymous with fairytales: castles. The castles in Burgos are every bit fantastical from foundation to steeple point. When you think of the work it takes to create a castle, you can only imagine how much manpower and how many years it takes to erect a structure truly fit for royalty. But if you were to visit Cebolleros, a small community in the suburbs of Burgos, the story is something completely out of the ordinary.
If you Google Cebolleros, you won’t get many points of interest as a tourist. In fact, one thing dominates the first 100 Google images in a search: Castillo de las Cuevas. In 1977, a welder in the local factory by the name of Serafín Villarán decided to pursue a dream to build his very own castle. At the age of 42, he bought a piece of land and set to the task of building a five-story castle without any real knowledge of architecture. Castillo de las Cuevas (Castle of Caves) was built over a 20-year period by Serafín stone by stone. If you weren’t privy to the background of this castle, you would draw the conclusion that this castle was created in the same fashion as the over 2,500 castles still standing in Spain–by years of brutal labor with large teams of carpenters, carters, ditchers, master masons, woodworkers and stonecutters. But that wasn’t the case with Serafín.
Photo Credit: Javi Rodriguez Godoy
Serafín had immense determination to complete such an audacious project, and we have to imagine that he understood a very fundamental thought that could propel him forward– “If I stack these stones, one by one, on top of each other, in the right configuration, over time it will amount to my dream: a castle.”
Sadly, in 1998 Serafín died before the completion of the interior of Castillo de las Cuevas. But no one can take away from the fact that he fundamentally completed the castle from the exterior.
Building a castle sounds so much more exciting than ‘stone stacking’. If you asked me how to build your dream and I told you to stack stones for 20 years, you would probably call me names and consider me to have slave driver tendencies. But every big goal comes to a point of repeating a skill ad nauseam—It’s stone stacking.
Serafín Villarán not only inspired many by his ability to complete a castle virtually on his own, he also gave us a great blueprint as to the ‘how’ and ‘when’ of completing our personal projects. Here were his steps dissected:
1. Serafín Villarán Bought Land
To build his castle, Serafín knew he needed a place that would fit the following conditions: He needed to work undisturbed by the elements. His land had to be solid ground in which the castle could stand for hundreds of years. The land in Cebolleros proved ideal for both of these conditions.
Claiming Your Land (Working Undisturbed)
I have two young girls. If I chose to attempt writing my book in their presence, it wouldn’t happen. Young children don’t understand the difference of being in the room and being present, nor should they care. If you are in the room, you have entered into a contractual agreement to be their tea party buddy, their waiter, the monster to their super hero.
Your ‘elements’ may look different. Are your distractions are internet related? Carve out 2 times a week you leave the devices somewhere else in order to create. Delete the social media apps on your phone, turn the wifi off on your computer. Live in a noisy part of town? Find somewhere quiet to create. The space in which you create plays as much of a part in castle building as the building itself.
Working undisturbed means avoiding physical distractions, but also mental. I’ve found I’m much less productive when I’m listening to new music. Some say listening to new music can be inspiring; but in the moment of creating, I don’t need to be inspired. I need focus. This may be because I’m a musician and my brain tends to dissect new music, but I know successful non-musician friends also create in the same way.
Working on Solid Foundation
Pouring a strong foundation for finishing any creative project is a mixture of two words: ‘Time’ and ‘No’. When you talk to anyone who quit their project midway through, what’s their response 99% of the time?
“I just don’t have the time anymore.” Or, “Life just got too busy.”
I hear this excuse as, “I said yes to good things instead of great things.”
Set aside your sacred place and time to work on your project, and then anticipate interruptions. Resolve to say ‘no’ to things in life that will try to breach the walls of this sacred time and space. Somewhere along the way you have settled on your projects not really being that important. They are just a nice thing to finish someday. So we politely set them aside for other people’s priorities. Serafín couldn’t imagine not completing his castle, so he worked until the day he died to see it completed. Are you working toward finishing your goals so intensely that only death will stop you from completion? If not, find the time and start saying ‘no’ more.
2. Serafín Villarán Gathered His Stones (Working with What You Have)
As I mentioned, Serafín wasn’t a self-made millionaire or born into a large inheritance. So he had to work with what he had access to. What Serafín lacked in money, he made up for with resourcefulness. His castle was built largely with free natural resources in the form of stones from nearby rivers.
Every personal project will take a decent amount of resources, but it doesn’t mean you have to fund these resources outright. Many people quit at this step because completing their project can be “too expensive.” We live in the age of connections and crowd funding. Use it.
I released an EP in 2014 with some friends under the name The Science Class, which was fully funded by a Kickstarter campaign. This was, in every respect, a personal project. My wife and I were moving away and we knew this might be our last chance to write and record with some very dear friends. We had a batch of five songs that we personally loved and wanted to share with everyone. There wasn’t a theme or a complete sense of musical cohesion between the songs. The glue was under the surface of musical styles. We wrote and recorded these songs with great, lifelong friends. We were lucky enough to have a base of supporters that saw the value of completing these songs over trying to be famous. It’s one of the most meaningful projects I ever had the opportunity of completing. Don’t let the lack of funds be your excuse for not completing your project. We were shocked and humbled when complete strangers backed us with large sums of money, all because we asked.
3. Serafín learned where to place his stones.
Of course, Serafín didn’t place his stones directly on top of each other. This would have created a vertical wall and not the form of the keep, pinnacles, corbel etc. that define a castle form. Serafín had to experiment and gain knowledge of castle architecture. I would be just guessing as to how he went about this, but for you and me, the internet is beautiful resource. This also comes through experimentation.
Learning Where to Place Your Stones by… Placing Your Stones.
I wrote the first draft of my book without editing. I knew it wasn’t good, but for me, editing as I write slows me down and I begin second-guessing myself. I stacked stones on top of each other that didn’t form what I wanted them to form. However, I wouldn’t have known this until I stacked a few stones. It’s ok to learn where to stack your stones through the act of doing. Many times this is a better lesson than just planning for hours on end and not doing the work of building.
You may not have lofty dreams like Serafín, but his principles in building his very own castle will hold up in any personal project you take on. Just build your project one stone at a time.
For other tools and resources, you can purchase my book, UNFINISHED: A Guide to Dream, Complete and Repeat Your Life’s Work
I Wrote a Book Using These Concepts and Others
This past Sunday, I released my second book, UNFINISHED: A Guide to Dream, Complete and Repeat Your Life’s Work. The idea to write the book came out of a few conversations with friends who always had aspirations and ideas of personal creative projects, but never got to “Finished”. I would replay those conversations in my head and think of ways to help them craft a process to finish as well as ways to reward themselves along the way. I never set out to write a book speaking to a large audience. This was just my way of having those conversations in my head put on paper as if I were just talking directly to a friend.
I also thought that if I used the tools I talked about in the book to actually write the book, then that would prove they work.
Well. They worked.
After a year, I had a completed book. I wanted to share with you a few simple tools, structures and processes I used to get to “Finished.” These tools can be used for ANY project that has been swirling around in your head. This is just a snippet of what I cover in the book available on Amazon on Kindle and Paperback.
#1: I WORKED IN SECRET
I decided if I was going to write a book, I wouldn’t tell anyone that wasn’t a part of the process until I was done with the first draft. There were two main reasons I did this:
1. No one was waiting for it. I didn’t feel like I was letting someone down by not finishing the book. No deadlines. No release date. I could just write.
2. Studies have shown that those who tell people about their goals are more likely to quit before completion. Derek Sivers, the creator of CD Baby backs up this concept with his brilliant, but short TED Talk entitled: Keep your goals to yourself.
#2: I SCHEDULED MY WRITING TIMES
With two kids, a wife and a full-time job, the reality was that this book wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t take the time. I carved out two times a week where I could get away and work in two-hour blocks. I hate the term “making the time.” It paints the illusion that we can create a magical day with 26 hours in it. Instead, we have to take the time from something else. In my case, it was the times when I would normally just be watching TV. I sacrificed those times to complete something I felt passionate about. Every goal or project WILL COST YOU SOMETHING.
(On top of this schedule, I used a great process from the book The Clockwork Muse by Evictor Zerubavel to work through my book in sections.)
#3: I HAD ACCOUNTABILITY
Notice in the section where I talked about working in secret that I mentioned not letting anyone know who wasn’t a part of the process. A big part of my process is to have someone I have accountability towards. When nothing is at stake to finish our personal goals, we tend to not be as disciplined to complete them as we would a paying job. With this in my, I did that…
Sort of…
When I would get stuck in the book, I made an oath with a close friend that I would pay him a set amount of money if I didn’t finish a section within the week. I now had a weightier reason to complete my book. I made it an amount of money that would hurt if I lost it. This worked so well that I did this on multiple occasions.
My new book ‘UNFINISHED’ is NOW AVAILABLE!
As children, our passions came easy. We would doodle for hours and hours and we didn’t know what the word ‘editing’ meant. As we got older, our passions were pushed aside for the busyness of life, for the fear of failure, for poor excuses. Unfinished, is a book for hopeful creative’s to reclaim their passions; to Dream, Complete and Repeat Their Life’s Work even when life gets busy and the excuses to NOT complete projects are endless.
I set out to finish this book in hopes it will give creative types and people with big dreams the tools to get to the finish line and then to say “Done, what’s next?”
UNFINISHED was designed to be short, to the point and to get you immediately building your routine towards ‘FINISHED’. I hope that you’ll pick this book up and be inspired to complete the goals and creative projects that are swirling around in your head. You can pick up the Kindle version HERE or the paperback version HERE.
The Four Walls We Build with Cynicism
I’m overly cynical and I live in a world of overly cynical creatives. Call us a product of companies overselling to us consumers. Call us a product of watching people we admire reveal their hidden agendas. Call us a product of our own self-awareness. Whatever caused it doesn’t matter. What we are left with is a world of untrusting, jaded individuals and that includes myself.
I have a group of friends that I give permission on a regular basis to provide feedback on my character. One of my friends once told me he didn’t feel comfortable ever sharing music he loves with me because I always have a pre-formed opinion of their motives based off the genre or the way they look. It was a great moment for me to realize that labeling artists by way of my cynicism was a personal character liability.
Being a cynic and being a creative can be an insufferable combination, and I’m actively working to fix that. I’ve become aware watching others cynics being cynical of others shuts people off to their personal work. They lose opportunities to connect because of this negative trait. I believe there are four walls cynicism builds between us and the world.
WALL ONE
Being cynical of the creative efforts of others raises the expectation of your own work.
If you have the confidence to be outwardly cynical of others, then you better be ready to bring something amazing to the table. If you jump on social media as an author and rail another author’s work, you better be prepared to deliver something better. I don’t have data behind this, but I’m convinced hyper cynical people on social media produce less content than those that aren’t because they’ve called for standards that even they can’t obtain in their own work.
WALL TWO
You forget that those creating content are real people with real emotions.
I remember when I first saw Listener live. After the first song, I made the poor judgement call that I thought they seemed pretentious and they were trying too hard to be different. After the show, a friend and I ran into the guys from Listener and within two minutes, I realized I made a huge mistake. These guys were the real deal: humble, funny and gracious. Who was I to make such a hasty judgement? I judged them as a product, or an act, before I met them as real people with real emotions and convictions.
WALL THREE
You miss out on life-changing experiences.
For the most part, life change doesn’t happen in safe, comfortable, routine experiences. Life change happens in the midst of unfamiliar cultures, unpredictable circumstances and in conversations with strangers. When you are constantly cynical, you close yourself off to experiencing life from different vantage points. You miss out on becoming a better version of yourself.
WALL FOUR
You miss out on career opportunities.
I sometimes wonder if the most verbally cynical people realize how many potential employers have already written them off with one search through their social media profile. What’s to make a potential employer think you will be any less unnecessarily cynical within their organization?
I believe us overly cynical individuals look at it as a personal asset and not a personal liability.
“It’s a defense mechanism.”
“It protects us from those who would try to take advantage of us.”
Because of this viewpoint, not many of us feel like it’s a characteristic we should be actively eradicating in our lives, which is disappointing. If you feel like you’ve become an overly cynical person, THIS article may help you tackle the issue.
Be kind, give people the benefit of the doubt, search for the root of your pessimism. It may open you up to new experiences and opportunities.
If You Want To Chase Your Dreams, Set Runways and Boundaries: A Conversation with Todd Henry
Recently, I had the opportunity to interview one of my creative heroes, Todd Henry. Todd is a speaker and author of three books: The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice, Die Empty and Louder than Words: Harness the Power of Your Authentic Voice. He’s also the founder of The Accidental Creative podcast that has been going strong since 2005.
Before all of this became Todd’s full-time career, he was a creative director at a large non-profit and doing The Accidental Creative on the side. The focus of my interview was to find out a few things about his process to create something on the side while managing a full time career, a family and all of the chaos that comes with it. It was also to figure out how he knew he was ready to make the leap into chasing his passions.
Jason: Back when you first started The Accidental Creative Podcast, you were working as a full-time creative director with a wife and a child, and in the process of adopting a second. How did you carve out the space for the AC podcast on top of everything you were already doing?
Todd: One of the first things I did for myself was to carve out my own physical space by adding a home office. I believe that space is crucial and is a physical manifestation of what’s going on in your head. The second thing was to carve out times in my day that were predictable and I wouldn’t be interrupted. I would work from 5:30am-7:30am every morning on my first book and 9pm-11pm on The Accidental Creative Podcast.
Jason: It seems to me that keeping a schedule like that could lead to burnout. Did you have an end goal in mind while working so intensely?
Todd: We knew we were working towards something and The Accidental Creative podcast was gaining ground and I was speaking more. During that time we were beginning to build a runway. I couldn’t do both my job as a creative director and the AC podcast for long. We had to either stay or make the leap.
Jason: You bring up a great subject. There’s a danger in working on side projects when you are also gainfully employed somewhere else. If your full-time employer feels you aren’t giving 100% and they see you are putting 5-10 hours into something on the side, that side project becomes a liability. What advice would you give those trying to balance keeping a happy boss and putting in work on their passions?
Todd: You have to be very clear with your boundaries and be open with your employer. First, if your side project is in any way competitive with your current employer then it becomes a question of ethics. I think you should immediately take corrective action either in your employment or your side project. Secondly, have open conversations with your employer. Being open and honest is key. Frame your side projects in a way that your employer can see the benefits of what you’re doing and how it may help positively impact your employer. Lastly, your full time career cannot suffer. That has to be your primary focus.
Jason: How did you know you were ready to make that leap from your career as a creative director into full-time speaking, podcasting and writing?
Todd: Every startup needs at least two years of resources to get them through that ‘make or break’ period. We set a financial goal for ourselves to have two years of income saved up. Boundaries are also really important. We made a pact that if after a year we didn’t see an upward trend then I would start looking for another job.
Jason: When people talk about chasing their dreams, financial stability seems to be five steps down in the conversations. Financial planning is a weakness with many creative types. If financial stability is paramount to EVERYTHING in chasing our dreams, how do we make that a priority in our conversations?
Todd: That’s a great question. We (creatives) don’t like to talk about stability. My wife and I spent many years living well below our means. Low overhead means maximum flexibility. Live on less than you bring in. Try to be lean. I drive an 11 year old Honda CRV that’s paid for. Sure, I could drive something nicer, but we make life decisions based on if it will add to or inhibit our freedom.
To hear more from Todd Henry on these subjects and all things creative, check out the following resources:
The Myth of ‘Hard Work’
“She’s a hard worker. She puts in at least 60 hours a week and is getting nowhere.”
I overheard that phrase the other day and cringed. At some point, we decided to equate the amount of hours we put in with the term hard work. While working 60+ hours a week can certainly be hard, we shouldn’t readily associate that with putting in hard work.
It reminds me of a line from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams:
“So, the hours are good, are they?”
“Yeah. Though now you come to mention it, most of the actual minutes are pretty lousy.”
We count up our hours like war medals, but if we are honest, most of the minutes working aren’t fruitful. So what does real hard work look like?
HARD WORK looks like the tough, honest five minute conversations we avoid.
HARD WORK looks like sacrificing entertainment to spend 20 minutes on a personal project you’ve put off.
HARD WORK looks like those emails that take one minute to write about something we want to ask for, but are too afraid of rejection.
The most effective people I know focus all their time in the morning around HARD WORK while the rest of us are just pushing around busy work, filling our hours, avoiding the work that could be fruitful.
If this sounds like you, here are a few resources I would suggest to help battle filling your minutes with busy work:
LINCH PIN by Seth Godin
Easily one of my favorite career books based on the idea of working effectively and becoming indispensable.
THE FLINCH by Julien Smith
Easily one of my favorite books. Short and to the point – getting over the fear of failure; that ‘flinch’ that stops us from doing real, hard work.
THE 4 HOUR WORKWEEK by Tim Ferris
OTHER RESOURCES
Todd Henry has a great PODCAST on his daily tasks that keep him focused and productive.
I use a Moleskine Professional Notebook. It has places for daily goals, projects broken down and page indexing to keep it all straight.
I’m also releasing a book in late March that will focus on ways to tackle hard work. You can sign up HERE and I’ll let you know when it’s available.
A Spotlight On Ruth Oosterman – Visual Artist
Once a month, I’ll be directing your attention to people I feel are amazing examples of prolific creators. People who live busy lives, but carve out the time to create. People who put the excuses aside and do the work.This month, I want to introduce you to visual artist, Ruth Oosterman.
I first heard of Ruth through an article about the creative collaborations with her daughter, Eve. Subsequently, Ruth is also responsible for the beautiful crow for the cover of my forthcoming book, Unfinished: A Guide to Dream, Complete and Repeat Your Life’s Work.
Ruth is a mother of two and still finds time to create daily. You may also have seen Ruth’s videos floating around the internet of her collaborations with her daughter, Eve.
I was curious to find out how she finds the time to work. Here’s the interview:
You recently had your second child. What was the process like getting back to creating after adjusting to your new life?
Ruth: It took at least 5 weeks for me to be able to start feeling settled enough to find the time to create. It was tough since all of our “genius” ideas seem to come to us when we are either in the shower or feeding a newborn at 4 am, without a paper, pen or extra hand in sight to write or sketch them down. I felt as if I was going through withdrawal not being able to create that at 5 weeks something just snapped and I knew I had to figure it all out. I had to ask myself what I was willing to sacrifice in order to get that creative time in the evening. I now sacrifice an extra half hour or hour of sleep every night and no longer watch TV or internet surf in the evening, with the exception of one or two nights a week.
Was it a harder adjustment after the first or second?
Ruth: It was actually easier after the second one, whether that was due to a higher level of confidence in myself as a mother or Theodore is just an easier baby.
You are most known for your co-creations with your daughter. Was this born out of trying to figure out how to create and be a full-time mother at the same time? How did this come about?
The first year of Eve’s life finding time to create was relatively easy. I would either wrap her up on me or place her in the playpen with some toys. It was when she became mobile that it became incredibly difficult so I began to look for ways we could create together. It started off with her having an art area stocked full of supplies in order to buy myself some creative time. However, all children just love to participate in anything they see their parents doing so soon enough Eve began to work on the same projects. It was through these off the cuff collaborations that the idea to collaborate on a more serious level, was born.
I believe if you don’t have a sacred place to work, then getting to ‘complete’ is incredibly difficult. Do you have a dedicated space to create?
Ruth: I wish. I am slowly working on getting a studio area set up but at the moment I create wherever there is room. I think it is incredibly important to have a dedicated area as it only enhances the creative fire but also gives you an atmosphere that belongs to just you and your imagination. Right now I am on the opposite end of the spectrum where I will create either at the dining room table or office desk that I share, this means that at the end of the day I need to clean it all up. It is that much more difficult to find the motivation to continue the next day knowing I have to drag out all of the supplies and begin again rather than starting where I left off.
What are a few things that usually hinder you from just dreaming about a project to completing it?
Ruth: Time. Before children I had plenty of it but I never understood the true value. Now that I am a parent and truly realize how precious that solo time to create really is, I have very little of it. Distraction is another one, I tend to have so many ideas that the concept of capturing them all overwhelms me so I will begin working on something unrelated to the my original goal. Doubt is another one. Sometimes the fear that the end result will fall short of my imagination prevents me from even attempting it, this is something I strive to fight every chance I get.
What tools do you use to get over those obstacles?
Ruth: To get over the obstacle of limited time I have had to rearrange my priorities. Would I rather catch up on my favourite TV show or focus on creating, go out for a coffee or create a painting, the choices can be hard at times but it comes down to what you value most. For the distraction I have created an “ideas” book, every time I have a concept I want to try out I quickly write it down. This way if I end up becoming distracted the idea still lives on for a future rainy day. As for the doubt, well that is just a daily battle but I am confident I will win the war through time and determination.
What or who inspires you?
Ruth: My daughter, Eve, has become my muse and inspiration. Just having been given the gift of being able to witness the way she creates with a glimpse of her magical imagination has inspired me to completely change my artistic style. Her lack of second guessing and doubt is incredibly beautiful and I strive to be more like her in more ways than one, children are truly a gift.
Are you the type that focuses on making your artistic weaknesses stronger or are you solely focused on your strengths?
Ruth: Before my daughter was born, I tried to play up my strengths and stuck with what I knew I could do. Since having Eve and being influenced by her lack of second guessing, I have openly embraced my weaknesses and have discovered an amazing amount about myself and what I cam capable of. I only needed to embrace the chance of making mistakes and see it as a way to grow instead.
Todd Henry has a process he calls his ‘Dailies’ – A set routine of tasks he does in the morning before his day begins that help him be more productive and focused. Do you have daily rituals (even if you don’t always adhere to them) that if you do, set you up much more into the creating mindset?
Ruth: At the moment, I am happy if I get a chance to eat something or have a few moments of quiet to myself. Any previous routine has been thrown out the window with the addition of our second child, hwoever there are a few things I like to do that gets me into a productive mode. Maybe it is a creative person stereotype, but I am the most productive in the evenings. Once the kids are in bed, I turn off all technology (tv, cell, etc) and sit down with all of my supplies spread out, this way I have no reason to get up and become distracted. Last, but definitely not least, music. Having a playlist set up with the right music really helps to get into the mindset to create.
What advice would you give to people struggling with the regret of ditching their passions because life handing them a difficult hand or busyness got the best of them?
Ruth: It is never too late. I remember I put off painting for almost a year just because the sight of a blank canvas was too intimidating. I lost an entire year to the idea of failure, that loss is something that can no longer haunt me because I have turned it into a lesson learned. The things that happen to you in life, whether tragedy or busyness, they are what moulds you into the unique and beautiful person you are. Those are the things that you can translate into your passion and create beauty that no one else will be able to. You should never let that go to waste.