In creative domains, all that matters is what you create(Output), not how much time you took or what tools you used(Input).

People really admire tough hustlers who are always working and for whom life is all about hardworking and there’s clearly nothing wrong with hardworking. Productivity, grind, and hustle are very glorified nowadays, but do they really make you successful? The answer may vary but in creative domains, the answer is no, in creative domains what makes you successful is what you create(output), not how much time it took you to create, or what tools you used(input).

Naval Ravikant talks about this input-output hypothesis which basically says that the output is not same for everyone even if the input is same, for example, a construction worker’s reward for working 2 hours will not be the same as an engineer working for 2 hours. You won’t get rich renting out your time, to become wealthy seek work that is tracked by outputs and is judgement-driven.

Even if you are in a creative domain but are employed or freelancing you might yet again be trapped in the input trap because most of the creative industry pay for hours or productivity and not for what you are creating, no matter what domain you belong to you can rarely escape the input trap by being employed or freelancing, to escape the input trap you need to build your own craft and audience to whom the only thing that matters is your output. One other way to put it would be if you are a creative you should be judged by your creativity, not by productivity.

Thank you!

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