# Resources for Building a World Source: https://keningzhu.com/building-a-world Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Resources-for-Building-a-World?index=0x66162fffbd652474e7fc8a2505c29228b14a6e46c7caf514029398c5624839a21cd3d363 Submitted by auditless.eth on 2024-04-10 UTC, 2 upvotes, 0 comments ## Summary This resource page, a personal index of a creative entrepreneur's seven years of archived writing, presents "world-building" as nurturing a creative business like a garden, in a way that feels organic, intuitive, and authentic. The page is organized into sections such as how to begin, building daily rituals, overwhelm SOS, trusting yourself, and lessons from the journey, each linking to individual posts. Highlighted posts include a 10,837-word story of betrayal and how it transformed the author, and an overview of three core themes and daily practices from the last eight years. The page was last updated February 26, 2022, and is described as still evolving as the archives are gone through. ## Article resources for building a world this page is continually evolving as i’m going through my seven years of archives. last updated: feb 26 2022 world-building means: nurturing a “business” like a garden: in a way that feels organic, intuitive, true, authentic, honest to you - evolving your creative spirit and expressing it outwards: channeling your intention to serve, inspire, heal, show up and share your gifts with others. * index of contents best of how to begin building daily rituals overwhelm SOS trusting yourself your brand = your essence distilled lessons from the journey a garden world of your own antiperfectionism 00. best of your art as the life source that fuels your world Read more → the practice of tending to your creative business Read more → 8 practices for how I run my business differently Read more → a 10,837 word story of betrayal — and how it transformed me Read more → three symbiotic practices for art, sharing, & business Read more → an big picture overview of my 3 core themes and daily practices, these last 8 years, and how everything fits together. Read more → the how of making art and money — broken down into a cyclical, ongoing step-by-step process flow Read more → how to give your wealth in order to receive wealth in return. Read more → a mindset that changed everything in how I approach art + business — by inhabiting my whole creative self Read more → on growing a creative business as an emotionally-driven artist — dealing with moods and energy, creative procrastination, paralysis inertia, and guilt. Read more → a simple structure for working on anything in your life Read more → on knowing the art of restraint and letting go Read more → only three elements you need: motivation, momentum, pleasure Read more → 01. how to begin a process i adapted for myself for overcoming inertia Read more → A very cyclical and loose 5 step process to building a vision-business-legacy-castle of your own. Read more → I started my design and coaching studio last fall— chipping away on it during early mornings before work and on weekends- but it’s only been 3 months since I left my job to do this full time. Since I try to be so deliberate about planning my goals, I see the review process as the closing of that loop. At the end of every month, I sit down to look at what I’ve accomplished, and I articulate the lessons to take with me as I continue to grow. Here’s what I learned from months 1-3. Read more → I grew up in a risk adverse, immigrant culture in which the idea of finding the work you loved was always counterbalanced by the idea of having a stable, steady career. When you’re young and uncertain, the easy choice is the one right front of you. It’s the path you fall into out of convenience, as in: This is what I did for two summer internships, so, this is what I’ll continue doing. Read more → This blog post by Keri Smith is one of my favorite advice letters I've ever read, so much that I feel like I need to print it out and reread it when I'm feeling discouraged. She writes about the paralyzing effect of the pressure we put on ourselves for creative work, the importance of paying attention to the energy we feel when we do things. Do more of what gives you an open sense of energy, and less of what doesn't. It's that simple. Read more → "Boldness has power and magic in it. Begin it now." My typography teacher, Jason Heuer, told us that this one quote by Goethe inspired him to change careers and go to design school in his thirties. He said he had the chills just rereading it in class. When you stumble upon words like this (and of course it has to be in the right place and at the right time), it's such a treasure. Read more → One of my friends—Jonah, a data-scientist who loves Scandinavian design and probably maintains inbox zero with no effort— is also impeccably orderly in his domestic life. What impresses me the most? Right after he eats, he immediately does the dishes. No questions asked. His process looks something like this: Read more → For a really long time, I couldn’t say out loud that I was a writer, designer, illustrator, or even artist without feeling like a fraud. I whispered it, mumbled it, and felt sheepish about it. It is too easy, I thought, to pick up a laptop or paintbrush or Photoshop pen tool and call myself an [insert creative title]. I hadn’t earned it. Read more → 02. building your ritual tending to a garden vs. riding energy waves Read more → on growing a creative business as an emotionally-driven artist — dealing with moods and energy, creative procrastination, paralysis inertia, and guilt. Read more → a process i adapted for myself for overcoming inertia Read more → in order to make the most of a day, a life, an endeavor? Read more → only three elements you need: motivation, momentum, pleasure Read more → why learning the creative process will help you do anything Read more → on allowing a day to flow without plans or routines — how time feels like water. Read more → a methodical roadmap for people who have lots of ideas, goals, and intentions for their lives, but struggle with consistent follow through — Read more → A very cyclical and loose 5 step process to building a vision-business-legacy-castle of your own. Read more → When you’re working for yourself, the hardest part isn’t doing the work; the hardest part is juggling all the little things surrounding it. In this post, I’ll share how I compartmentalize, juggle, and manage all the different types of tasks I do as a one-person operation. Read more → Why and how I strived to break the wake up-check phone impulse, and created more mindful, focused mornings. This rule has made the biggest difference in my productivity and wellbeing. Read more → When you’re driven and ambitious, the natural thing to do is to set really high standards, and be hard on yourself until you reach them. Growing up, I dreaded — then learned to love — unsmiling, disciplinarian Chinese or Russian-style teachers. The standard was perfection. Good work wasn’t to be rewarded, it was to be expected! But since graduation, getting a 9-5 job, quitting my 9-5 job, starting a business, and growing into myself as a full-time creative, I’ve changed my mind about the way I frame hard work and expectations. Read more → Before I quit my day job, I binge-read everything I could about what it would take to support myself as a creative professional. How do I balance the business side of things— marketing myself, getting clients, building a digital presence, sharing my stuff, and that awful-sounding word, networking— while doing the tender, loving craft of my work? Read more → on how drastically my life changed (in 2015) after starting a morning routine — and a detailed process on building your own. Read more → 03. overwhelm SOS the antidote to overplanning, creative paralysis, and time pressure— to live in the creative flow. Read more → why you’re feeling stuck, and how to get back in creative flow — by aligning with your creative metabolism and workflow, and tuning into creative birth/death cycles. Read more → on growing a creative business as an emotionally-driven artist — dealing with moods and energy, creative procrastination, paralysis inertia, and guilt. Read more → vulnerability is a muscle of accepting potential pain Read more → balance is finding your center while in motion Read more → finding the balance in making art for myself and for others Read more → why do what feels good is only compass you need to navigate the wilderness of being alive Read more → ways of combating the feeling of “not enough” when you’re addicted to sweet taste of accomplishment Read more → When you’re working for yourself, the hardest part isn’t doing the work; the hardest part is juggling all the little things surrounding it. In this post, I’ll share how I compartmentalize, juggle, and manage all the different types of tasks I do as a one-person operation. Read more → When I first started doing creative projects, I would often get sucked into this corrosive cycle— grandiosity, inertia, guilt— and eventually become paralyzed. In this post, I write about how the paralysis happens, why it happens, and some strategies I've used to overcome it. Read more → Summary Block This block has no content yet. Items you add to the page connected to this block will display here. 04. trusting in yourself trusting in the resonance of wants / needs / highest good Read more → trusting yourself is the confidence and comfort — that there is an “infinite” you always taking care of you, and being able to let go, to surrender. Read more → reflections on my year and musings on the process - what I learned, how I suffered, and how I grew as an artist and human being in 2019 Read more → I wrote a personal piece about feeling like a fool while learning to dance, perfectionist tendencies, and being overly apologetic as a creative person. And some wise words that helped me with my creative confidence. Read more → If there's any lesson that's struck true to me lately, it's this: that we can't predict, anticipate, and plan for the infinite possibilities of the future. As much as I like to set up structures and routines for myself and my growth as an artist, I try to remember to let myself trust in the unfolding mystery that is my life. Read more → I grew up in a risk adverse, immigrant culture in which the idea of finding the work you loved was always counterbalanced by the idea of having a stable, steady career. When you’re young and uncertain, the easy choice is the one right front of you. It’s the path you fall into out of convenience, as in: This is what I did for two summer internships, so, this is what I’ll continue doing. Read more → 05. your brand = your essence distilled on cultivating a visual brand for a feminist writer — expressing her softness and strength. Read more → reflections on my approach to personal branding — which to me, is not about maintaining an image, but about expressing the living truth of who we are Read more → on the nature of carving a niche, serving our audience authentically, and building a “brand” for oneself. Read more → As a creative, it’s at first hard to think about (let alone talk about) the idea of building your “personal brand” without feeling like you’re full of bogus. It has something to do with a fear of conveying an inflated sense of self-importance, only to have someone tell you hey, you’re not as good / interesting / talented / cool as you think you are. Doing the work is already hard enough, without the pressure of needing to constantly prove and promote yourself. While creative work originates from a deep place, the idea of conveying a “personal brand” comes off as superficial, salesy, and pushy. But it doesn’t have to. Read more → 06. lessons from the journey reflections on my year and musings on the process - what I learned, how I suffered, and how I grew as an artist and human being in 2019 Read more → a list of things I learned from my first six months of being a full time artist-business-human being. (well, all at the same time.) Read more → I started my design and coaching studio last fall— chipping away on it during early mornings before work and on weekends- but it’s only been 3 months since I left my job to do this full time. Since I try to be so deliberate about planning my goals, I see the review process as the closing of that loop. At the end of every month, I sit down to look at what I’ve accomplished, and I articulate the lessons to take with me as I continue to grow. Here’s what I learned from months 1-3. Read more → 07. a garden world of your own A very cyclical and loose 5 step process to building a vision-business-legacy-castle of your own. Read more →