The Seeds You Plant Shape the World You See

How same inputs can result in different outputs.

Why can two people read the same book, watch the same movie, hear the same advice—yet walk away with completely different takeaways?

The world isn’t what it is, it’s what you notice.

Your brain is constantly filtering information based on what matters to you. If you are not intentional about what you focus on, you will end up absorbing random, unhelpful ideas instead of the ones that actually move you forward.

What if you could train your mind to filter for success? To spot patterns, connect the dots, extract insights that change your life?

Four people watching the same movie will pay attention to different things depending on their goals and motivations.

A bodybuilder will pay attention to actors’ physiques and google their training plans.

A fashion geek will wonder what brands they put actors in.

A guy starting to bald will carefully inspect every character's hairline.

A schizophrenic will… notice something the rest of us don’t.

Same input, different takeaways. Your mind filters information based on what matters to you. This principle applies to everything you consume and participate in—books, podcasts, conversations.

The ideas you focus on shape your reality. You don’t see everything—you see what aligns with your goals, fears, and obsessions.

Planting seeds

In the first phase of the creative process, we are to be completely open, collecting anything we find of interest.

We can call this the Seed phase. We’re searching for potential starting points that, with love and care, can grow into something beautiful. At this stage, we are not comparing them to find the best seed. We simply gather them.

A seed for a song could be a phrase, a melody, a bass line, or a rhythmic feel.

For a written piece, it may be a sentence, a character sketch, a setting, a thesis, or a plot point.

From Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”

More:

5 Lessons From Rick Rubin's "The Creative Act: A Way of Being" (1/2)

You throw seeds on the ground, notice how they grow, and water the ones you like. There's a ton of space for seeds but not much space for fully grown plants. In fact, growing more than 4-5 is rarely possible. Most of us have one to two plants that we take full care of and a few supporting ones.

Some plants bear nourishing fruit. Some just taste good. Others are complete trash. They all have something in common thought—once those plants grow deep roots, they are hard to replace.

Net of ideas

The more knowledge and ideas you have, the more reality you unlock. Like getting access to hidden layers of the world, unraveling reality. Sounds cool, because it is.

How to use this to your advantage

1. Be intentional about what you consume

   • Better seeds = better fruits. Give your brain better material to work with.

   • Read, watch, and listen with a clear purpose—what are you looking for? What’s your goal? If you don’t know what’s your goal yet, turn everything off, and sit in silence as long as you find it. Or use my template from the welcome email. This is definitely the most important point here.

2. Expose yourself to high-quality inputs

   • A well-chosen book is worth more than 100 random YouTube videos.

   • Talk to smart people. Borrow their mental filters. Talking to people who have already walked the path you want to take is one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received.

3. Write, reflect, revisit

   • Writing clarifies thoughts. If you don’t write, your ideas stay vague and foggy.

   • Go back to old notes—connect them to new ones. Compare your problems, worries and goals. Build a living network of insights.

4. Take action on what you learn

   • Knowledge without application is just entertainment.

   • Start before you are ready. Experiment. See what actually works.

Pattern Recognition

As you fill your mind with more and more concepts, they start connecting. Ideas don’t exist in isolation—they form patterns.

The ideas you plant in your mind shape everything in your life. Consuming good ideas results in better ideas of yours.