*Typing*

If you are truly a contender, you know it is not enough to have done it. Nor is it enough to have done it a thousand times over. You must do it again and again and again. And, once you do it again, it will only count the moment it is done. After this fleeting moment has passed, the scoreboard is cleared and you must do it again. And, each time that you do it again, you must not think of the previous time that you did it. For the previous time does not matter. It does not exist. It does not count.

You become your competition. Even if you win, you will inevitably become who you compete with. And so you must be very careful about who you choose to compete with.

Most of the work you see produced today isn't worth competing with. It lacks quality. It lacks care. It lacks intention. It lacks originality. Furthermore, it has yet to stand the test of time. Unless a work has endured for more than a decade, you can't know whether or not it is any good.

This is why it's far better to compete with dead writers, artists and entrepreneurs. Compete with Virginia Woolf. Compete with James Baldwin. Compete with Georgia O'Keeffe. Compete with Jean-Michel Basquiat. Compete with Coco Chanel. Compete with Steve Jobs.

But, whatever you do, don't compete with those alive today. There are exceptions, of course. But, most of those who claim to be writers, artists and entrepreneurs are nothing more than influencers, content creators and AI-puppets playing dress-up.

One of Lil Wayne's most beloved music videos was shot behind-the-scenes of another music video.

While Lil Wayne was filming "Got Money", he decided to shoot another music video for his song "A Milli". It was shot on the very same day and in under an hour.

Unlike its big-budget counterpart, it was filmed for next to nothing on a hand-held camcorder. It was raw. It was uncut. It was unpolished. It was human.

A lot of times, the behind-the-scenes footage is as good as the actual footage. Not because it's perfect, but because it's flawed.

If you're building McDonald's, don't pout when your food doesn't receive the same culinary recognition as a Michelin Restaurant.

If you're building The French Laundry, don't whine when your food doesn't enjoy the same astronomical sales quarters as a fast-food franchise.

They're two entirely different enterprises after two entirely different things.

One is a matter of quantity. The other, quality.

If you're lucky, you have one great idea a year.

They're not like good ideas. They're extraordinarily rare. For every hundred or so good ideas you have, you might have one truly great idea. Worst yet, it's difficult to recognize a great idea when it appears. Great ideas usually look like bad ideas.

They're offensive. They're outrageous. They're aggressive. They're polarizing. They're foreign. They're unearthly. They're uncomfortable. Great ideas scare the living shit out of you.

In fact, when a great idea enters your mind, your knee-jerk reaction should be to shake your head and say...

"There is no way we can get away with that."

If you run a creative agency, fear must become your playground.