#54 David Kadavy: Creative self-actualization

David Kadavy will help you follow your curiosity, find your way to creative self-actualization, and learn to discern what you really want.

Listen now on Apple, Spotify, Google, Overcast, or Youtube.

He’s an author and thinker who has profoundly shaped my thinking as a creative person since his first book, Design for Hackers, taught me the fundamentals of graphic design when I was a wet-behind-the-ears computer programmer.

David is a prolific author, podcaster, self-publishing coach and speaker who has published seven books and 281 podcast episodes so far.

This conversation covers a ton of ground, sharing his journey from the midwest to Silicon Valley to Latin America, across four books, multiple startups, and speaking around the world. David's commitment to following his curiosity inspires me and he shares real wisdom in here about thinking about the impact you want to create with your work and navigating the existential challenges of a creative life.

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Links & resources mentioned

• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email

• David Kadavy: website, Twitter, podcast

  • David's podcast: Love Your Work

  • David's newsletter, Love Mondays

  • David's books:

    • Design for Hackers

    • The Heart to Start

    • Mind Management, Not Time Management

    • Digital Zettelkasten: Principles, Methods, & Examples

• Related episodes

  • #9 Amy Edmondson: Building teams where people feel safe

  • #49: Founders Pledge - Thoughts on entrepreneurship and philanthropy

• People & orgs

  • 80,000 Hours

  • Effective Altruism

• Books

  • Work, by James Suzman

  • Doing Good Better (effective altruism)

  • Why We Make Things and Why It Matters, by Peter Korn

  • Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

  • The Time Paradox, by Philip Zimbardo

  • Born Standing Up, by Steve Martin

  • So Good They Can't Ignore You, by Cal Newport

  • The Case Against Education, by Brian Caplan

  • The Art of Learning, by Josh Waitzkin

  • My Creative Space, by Donald Rattner

• Other resources mentioned

  • Donald Rattner on David's podcast

  • Founders Pledge

  • Ezra Klein podcast with James Suzman

  • Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford commencement address

  • Social desirability bias

  • Theranos - Elizabeth Holmes

  • Taylorism

  • NaNoWriMo