About 5 or 6 years ago, I started writing a book about my process and the mindset I have that allows me to have the motivation and insatiable hunger to learn new things and work on lots of projects. The book was called The Mind & Time Method. I completed most of the book with the exception of a few chapters towards the end but the majority of the content is there. 

When I started writing it, I had every intention of completing it within a few weeks. But as per usual, the writing process isn’t as straight forward as that. One of the very techniques I talk about in the book is to work off an inspired thought. Which is exactly what I did. I plowed through a good chunk of the first two chapters in about a month. 

But then life got in the way. At the time I was working full time as an Art Director at an ad agency and actively running my old clothing brand Aetheraeon Clothing at the same time. I was also writing and recording music weekly. But that didn’t kill my motivation for writing the book. I would carve out time every day to continue writing and making a dent in the book every chance I got. 

Before I even started writing I wrote an outline that followed a logical path of concepts and ideas that were foundations for more concepts and ideas as the book progressed. I do feel bad that I never finished it and released it like I said I would. It’s also pretty strange to see where my ambitions lie today compared to where the were during the time I was writing the book.

At the time I wanted to get in on the whole “being a thought leader” in the design industry. I kept seeing lots of designers I looked up to and even people who I’ve seen grow along side me reach that level of recognition and doing the things I wanted to. I figured with time and effort I could reach that level as well. And the fact that I had people around me constantly asking me how I was able to do so much in so little time, I figured that instead of me explaining it all the time, I would actually write all of it down and turn it into a book. 

In hindsight, that was more ambitious that I originally had thought. But even so, I would never let that be an obstacle. I didn’t even have any idea of how one would go about writing a book and getting it published. So I did the first thing that comes naturally to me, and that was going to Google and typing in “how to self-publish a book” and began my research.

It is now 2020 and I have a good majority of the book done. I know for a fact that a lot of the stuff I wrote about 5 years ago is stuff I either no longer do or have found better ways to do them. So that’s the reason I am writing this post. I decided that over the next few weeks, I will publish every chapter of the book I have written so far as is here on Eagle & Bison. 

I figured that what I have written about could potentially help someone. I have no idea if I will ever finish writing this book but if I do, I would most likely rewrite it all anyway. So I might as well let what I have written so far see the light of day.

So below is an outline of what you can expect to see over the next few weeks. This is the exact outline I used while writing with the names of the chapters and the sections I wanted to touch on.

FOREWORD

• The Reason Why This Book Exists
• What To Expect

INTRODUCTION

• Core Concepts
• How To Stay In A State Of Creating

Chapter 1 – FEAR AND WONDER

• Introduction
• Self-Realization
• Question Everything
• The Power of Learning
• The Internet is Your Friend

Chapter 2 – TAKE ACTION

• The Creative Ideation Process
• Finding and Following Your Dreams
• Being A Self-Starter
• Getting A Push From Within
• The Non-Existent Race Against The Clock
• Plan Ahead
• Taking The First Steps
• Learn As You Go

Chapter 3 – GET SH!T DONE

• Start With The Basics, Grow Over Time
• Consistency Is Key
• Build A Solid Output and Follow-through Plan
• Keep People Guessing
• Assess and Improve
• Learn From My Mistakes

Chapter 4 – MANAGING YOUR MIND & TIME

• Adding More Skills To Your Belt
• Research Things That Relate To Things That Interest You
• Explore Every Avenue
• Sacrifice Good Things To Achieve Great Things
• Having Control Over Your Mind And Your Time
• Adapting To Time Constraints
• Optimizing Your Down Time
• Take Breaks And Be Lazy

Chapter 5 – WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

• Start Where You Are
• Creating Realistic And Unrealistic Goals
• Keep Your Expectations Humble
• Avoiding Disappointment
• Dealing With Disappointment
• Pick Yourself Up And Start All Over

Chapter 6 – EXPLORE NEW MEDIUMS

• Keeping Yourself Busy
• Preparing For The Unexpected Surge Or Lack Of Ideas
• Write Everything Down
• Combining Ideas
• Experiment With Different Creative Mediums

Chapter 7 – IMPRESS YOURSELF

• Impress Yourself
• The Satisfaction Of Knowing You Did A Good Job
• Never Stop Learning

Chapter 8 – APPS & TECHNIQUES

• Project Management Apps
• Social Media Scheduling
• Content Calendar Creation
• Other Stuff