253. Creative Success in Extremistan (Not Mediocristan)

<p>If you want to succeed in anything creative – whether that’s writing, art, or entrepreneurship – you’re navigating unfamiliar territory. Everyone else is living in Mediocristan, but you’re living in Extremistan. You need a different approach for deciding how you define success.</p> <p>“Extremistan” is a term introduced by Nicholas Nassim Taleb in his book, <a href= "http://kadavy.net/blog/posts/the-black-swan-book-summary/"><em>The Black Swan</em></a>, which I summarized on episode 244. We tend to think we’re living in the opposite of Extremistan: Mediocristan. When we as creatives measure success and make our decisions as if we are in Mediocristan, we ruin any chance we have of succeeding in the world we’re actually in: Extremistan.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --></p> <h3>Extremistan defined</h3> <p><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>Extremistan is an imaginary place where events are random and unpredictable, and the impact of those events are extreme. It’s a world full of “Black Swans.”</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --></p> <h3>Extremistan vs. Mediocristan</h3> <p><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>Mediocristan is a place that’s the opposite of Extremistan.</p> <p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:list {"ordered":false} --></p> <ul> <li><strong>Extremistan is unstable.</strong> Mediocristan is stable.</li> <li><strong>Extremistan is the world of the unpredictable and unexpected.</strong> Mediocristan is the world of the predictable and expected.</li> <li><strong>Extremistan is full of singular events (“Black Swans”).</strong> In Mediocristan, the same things happen over and over.</li> <li><strong>Extremistan is full of variables that scale infinitely.</strong> In Mediocristan, all variables fall within a range.</li> </ul> <p><!-- /wp:list --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --></p> <h3>We’re used to Mediocristan</h3> <p><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --></p> <p>Our modern world is built to be Mediocristan. We think we can predi