small power

"You are always an inch from catastrophe."

My dad said that to me recently. Disconcerting and completely true. There is a lot we take for granted in our daily lives that could turn on a dime.

Yesterday I overheard this guy ranting to his friend at the gym.

He seemed to be going through this period in his life where the kitchen sink was coming at him all at once. His fiancée was having some serious health problems, his ex-wife and kids were having problems and fighting with each other, his dad had just died unexpectedly, and he was overwhelmed at work and didn't feel appreciated.

On the surface, it seems abnormal and unfair. But that's just life, ups and downs, for everybody. At this very moment, someone is having the best day of their life, and someone is having their worst.

It seems like we are in control, until you realize you're not.

What we can control is actually pretty limited. We're in charge of a small set of things. But that smallness is powerful.

Small actions are how you make progress on anything and how creatives can achieve things.

It's way easier to make a beautiful 1,000-square-foot house than an 8,000-square-foot one.

The small house can be a cohesive statement. The big house, more often than not, becomes a collection of compromises — broken massings, huge empty walls, a lack of identity.

The architect's problem with a big house is the same as the creative person's problem with too many goals. It stops being one thing.

The same is true for pots and planters on a patio. For outfits. For kitchens. The best ones are almost always a narrow material palette repeated with intention.

When you look at Florence's famous Duomo below, you might say - this is really complex and ornate. And relative to most construction today, that is absolutely true. At the same time, I think it's fair to say this is a relatively straightforward repetition of a few motifs and materials.

My greatest downfall has always been wide focus. Wanting to do everything simultaneously. The only way I've ever actually made progress on anything is by narrowing down to one thing and doing it today.

Whatever situation you're in — best day of your life or worst — all you can do is right now. Almost all of the difficulty and anxiety I've ever had has come from worrying about some future event rather than the actual event itself. It's almost never as bad as you think.

So take one thing. One decision in one room. One paragraph in that book you want to write. 10 minutes on the stairmaster. Make it small enough to finish. And just do it today. Say no to everything else.

For me, it started with one post a day. First on Twitter, then Instagram. And that consistent practice increased my surface area of "luck." More at-bats, more eyeballs, more knowledge of what people respond to.

Gradually, I made better and better content, did more projects, and over time, I got opportunities to partner with some really great people and brands.

But it's not some great event, decision, or arrival. It's just pointing your life in one direction, one day at a time.

That's all you really can do (and honestly, what a relief).