*** Please Note ****
This review contains affiliate links, I make a little coin when you click through and make a purchase, but it comes at no extra cost to you. If you don’t make a purchase I thank you for reading the review as it stands.
1. Introduction
There is something that you have wanted to do since you were a child but stopped considering when you became an adult. That may be to become a painter, start a business, create a not for profit or travel the world whilst writing a blog. In Dan Norris book, Create or Hate, he delves into the forces of creating and hating. The book helps you to explore creating as an energy to get the ball moving and disempowering hate so you can start to get shit done. To use that oft quoted Star Wars reference, its like operating in the light side of the Force, or the Dark Side.
2. Who this book is for
This book is for those who have thought they have lost their creative side. For those who have lost their dreams and aspirations to at start remembering creativity and its benefits. For the person who has seen failure quite often and may feel like that doing something else, rather than using their creativity is the way to move forward.
3. My journey with the book
I have read Dan’s other two books before this, 7 Day Start Up and Content Machine . 7 Day Startup had taken a few times for me to read and get started with doing ‘something. The beauty of this book is you go from nothing, to having a product or service business in 7 days. There is a real startup concept in the book which did not resonate with me much. But going from nothing to something in seven days is an eye opener as its a good reason to stop bullshit excuses and start doing. That something for me was taking this blog a lot more serious over the long term. This means getting shit done now. Content Machine is the blue print of how to write content that gets seen. Dan takes you from the point of view of if you want to be taken seriously when you write. If you are a blogger, then stop with writing for fun. Take the viewpoint of being a content marketer. There are awesome guides, templates and philosophies of taking you from average writer to well thought out, detailed and planned content producer. The hidden gem of that book is Dan’s product is not useful for written content, it can also apply to podcasting, video, slideshares, writing a book you name it.
With Create Or Hate, this helped me to get down to the nitty, gritty and start getting shit done ( I must trademark that phrase one day). I used to feel like that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted on my blog posts or twitter tweets or Facebook updates as I hated. I hated that no one read my work. I was good at using limiting beliefs and having those whoa is me moments. After reading Dan’s book I decided that hate is not going to be in my repertoire anymore. So I decided to make changes straight away in how I wrote for my blog by doing the following.
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Write because someone needs to read it. It may not be today but it will definitely be tomorrow
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Write to be able to produce at least one article on this blog every week. Being consistent is helpful.
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Achieve daily micro goals as small wins help with being directed towards being more creative.
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Accept that I am creative even if what I produce is shit. This WILL improve and get better over time. By ‘doing something’ and reassessing and learning and improving on previous results helps to get creative and wanting to improve.
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Look at those aspects of my life that empower creativity and reduce self limiting beliefs and lose the hate.
4. What I like about this book
I prefer the fact that Dan has written this as a short, punchy read. It will take you no more than a coupleof hours to asorb the book. I also find that Dan states in one chapter that you consider chasing shiny objects. In other words, sometimes you need to chuck items at a wall and see what sticks. You don’t know until you try. That involes trying new things until something sticks.
5. What I didn’t like about the book
That for the first time reading I found that I had to examine myself. To stop, take stock and realise that I needed to understand some things that I was doing and that brought up uncomfortable feelings. In one chapter Dan suggests to stop chasing learning and start fucking actually doing stuff, to go and create. To create more, much more than you consume. Some of you reading this will know that feeling, you get so fired up about starting something you rush and spend money on that e course, then an eBook and then a conference. You spend so much time learning, you don’t do anything, let alone start. So I came to realise that yes, if I don’t understand something, go and learn enough to get me started then go and do it and muddle my way through. Yeah most times the learning is in the doing.
6. Who this book is good for.
When you are ready to make a start in an endeavor you are interested in, this book is for you. When you are ready to move towards that item you want to bring into the world based on you creating, then this book is definitely for you. If you want to be a perennial learner and take in and absorb as much as you can before you start doing things (start a business, paint pictures, write a book, do workshops), then this book is not for you. If your an online troll and you revel in snarky, negative comments and prefer to be that type of keyboard warrior, then this book is definitely not for you.
This book was good for me because I realised that to start actually getting anywhere, I needed to be creating. Not thinking, not dreaming, not hoping, but doing. By creating those micro goals I need to hit daily and by being consistent, then I know I am on the right track.
7. In summary
Let’s recap in summary here
a) This book is about learning to, as Dan would say ‘get shit done’. By nurturing your creative side, these elements can help in getting you going and doing. b) Hate is a powerful motivator too, the book speaks of self limiting beliefs and can hinder in you doing because you get ‘comfortable’ in that world of hate.
Is this book worth the read? Absolutely. Even if it gets you to realise that being creative and doing stuff can help you push past those fears and that place of hate. I have this as one of my favourite quotes and it also happens to be in the book;
There are two wolves and they are always fighting.
One is darkness and despair, the other is light and hope.
Which one wins?The one you feed….
One is darkness and despair, the other is light and hope.
Which one wins?The one you feed….
As stated at the beginning of this review, if you purchase through my affiliate link, this is at no extra cost to you.
Buy the book Create Or Hate here
Follow Dan:
Dan Norris’ website
Dan Norris on Twitter
Dan Norris on Instagram
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