We just moved, so all of our art is in a pile on the living room floor. On top is something I made myself:
Staring at it from the couch, I find myself thinking, Dang, I love this piece!
I didn’t make it to be on display for other people. I certainly didn’t make it to sell. I made it because I like the design. I made it because I wanted it to exist.
My writing is very much the same. My blog posts are often memos to myself. (For example, 1000 Little Choices.) They’re reminders of things I need to keep working on. Or they’re detailed justifications for the habits I’m trying to reinforce. Or they’re bits of wisdom my past self would have benefited from. (For example, anger is optional.) I write what I need to read, and quite often, other people tell me it’s just what they needed to read too.
It’s smart business to think about what other people want and make that for them, but for me at least, that’s never as satisfying as making something for yourself.
Make the music you wish existed.
Build a business you would love to purchase from.
Create an app that solves a problem you face every day.
Cook the kind of food you can’t find at a restaurant but badly want to eat.
Usually, if you wish it existed, other people do too.
Chris Loper has been writing about self-improvement and helping busy adults with habit formation since 2017.
He also writes an education blog for parents and students for Northwest Educational Services.
Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the cocreator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of transformative classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families.
His most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more.
In 2021, Chris published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons.
He lives in Issaquah, WA where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.