We used to believe that using tools is what separates humans from the animals.
And then we saw chimps using sticks to get a quick termite lunch.
And a whole bunch of other animals using tools in creative ways.
(Like ravens bending paperclips into hooks so they can solve complex puzzles & problems.)
So it’s funny to me when I see people not using tools that can completely change their lives.
I take it to mean that they’re letting themselves get outclassed by birds. . .
If I had to highlight one tool that stands out in a class all by itself, I’d have to point to Obsidian.
It’s a simple program that lets you take notes and then connect those notes to other notes.
When I say it that way it sounds awful.
But, man, is it amazing.
Obsidian is the heart of my “3C Content Creation System” and I want to give you a brief introduction to it.
This is especially powerful if you’re a creator of any sort. If you make podcasts, videos, write articles, or maintain a social media calendar for yourself or someone else then this will be awesome.
1. Capture
All artists through all time have taken inspiration from the world around them. If they were a painter, then they’d look at as many paintings as possible. If they were a writer they’d read as many books as possible. If they were a genius, they’d experience as many paintings, books, adventures, and anything else they could experience.
But the top 1% of the top 1% would capture their thoughts / impressions / experiences.
Having a record of what you’re going through right now might not feel valuable to you, but future you might NEED that insight, but it could easily be lost to the sands of time if present you decides not to record it.
So you need a place to capture any & all thoughts & half-brained ideas you have.
This is where Obsidian excels.
2. Connect
Once you have all your ideas in one place, you need a way to sort / arrange / connect them all.
Obsidian is great for this too.
It has a neat feature called “Canvas” that you can think of as a big old worktable.
You can put a whole bunch of articles, notes, images, and whatever else you need to work with into the canvas and then push them around and arrange them in whatever order you want.
I think of it as visual editing.
You can take two notes and ask yourself which comes first. Put the first one first and the second one second.
Then get a third idea. Does it go before the first one? No? Does it go before the second one? Yes? Put it there.
Now you have three ideas sorted.
And you can go through all the topics & ideas that you want to include in your article and before you know it you have a logical outline.
3. Create
Now the only thing you have left to do is write it.
Or film it.
Or whatever.
In Obsidian I usually open a new document next to the mind map and write that way.
I keep one eye on my outline and the other eye on my writing.
Start at the beginning and you’re done before you know it.
Conclusion
It’s a simple system that uses a simple tool to create an unreasonable amount of cool stuff.
I’ve used it for years and it has gotten me tens of thousands of dollars in new business, projects, and engagements. I hope you use it to create amazing opportunities for yourself, too.
If you’re interested in knowing more about it, shoot me a note so I know this is something I should spend more time talking about.
Best thoughts,
~Jonathan
