September 22, 2025

Your Favorite Activity

Would you pay a ton of money to have a calligrapher on retainer?

Probably not.

I know I wouldn’t.

Why?

Because calligraphy has close to zero value for me.

It’s not that I can’t appreciate it - I can!

It’s that I have no use for it.

The fact that I don’t value calligraphy probably seems horribly unfair to a calligrapher who has devoted their life to the practice and loves doing it.

Unfortunately, the world doesn’t owe you a high income merely for engaging in your favorite activity.

You have to create a lot of value if you want to make a lot of money.

So where does the value come from?

The value of calligraphy (or design or coding or architecture or video production or whatever else) is derived from how much the client believes it will improve their life.

It’s the OUTCOME of your activity, not the OUTPUT of your activity, that matters most.

Yours,

—J

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