It seems like backwards math, but by creating, we are actually “getting” more than we are “giving.”

Create more than you consume

Most people are passive. They take information in.

“One of the characteristics common to best-selling authors is a focus on creation. They are much more interested in producing information than consuming it. — Dawson Church

Have you ever noticed there aren’t too many books for children on how to ride a bike?

While travel books can “make it almost like you’re really there,” you’re not really there.

How about a study course for babies on how to walk? Complete with diagrams, charts, and a table that parents can fill in with progress. TIP: babies can’t read. BONUS TIP: babies don’t need a book to teach them how to walk, they just need to try, fall down, learn, and try again.

This is an excerpt from the upcoming “Spark” due out in a few weeks!

The book in you’re holding in your hands in my 14th book. Let’s do a little math. What is 14 minus 14? Zero! Excellent. Book number one took me 36 years to write. Book number two took another 10 years.

When people ask me how I come up with the ideas on what to write about then I know they’re not creators. I have too many ideas. I have so many words. I have descriptions and scenes and philosophies and topics I don’t know much about but can’t wait to learn about so I read and watch and then to really learn: I write.

To use the quote above and apply it to myself:

I am much more interested in producing information than consuming it.

This part is where the physics gets a little difficult to explain, but by creating, I am actually “getting” more than I am “giving.”

By doing, I am learning more than reading or watching or listening to someone telling me to do.

Yet, here we are, here I am going on and on about doing and creating and writing and you’re reading.

I can’t write your book for you. I can’t paint your painting or create your recipe or compose your song. Well, yes, of course I could, but that’s not the point. The point is for you to do, to make, to build, to write, to create.

Because let’s face the cold, hard facts: there is no substitute for experience.

Through creating, I am learning.

By creating, I am giving.

By creating, I am receiving more than I am giving.

I’m not suggesting we all become prolific creators who…OK, fine, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.

If there are “secrets” in this book that I wish to convey only to those who read it through and through, this is one of them: create.

Consuming is passive.

Creating is active.

If you read this book and think about creating an experiment with your kid it’s like reading the manual on riding a bike. There is no substitute for experience.

Most people are passive. They take information in.

We can’t change the past. We can create our present reality. By creating our present, we are setting the trajectory of our future.

Yes, I have a book planned for next year called: Create.

Because it’s just that important.

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