A producer mentality

If you've read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, you may have noticed that people "produce" stuff in the book. For example, Francisco "produced a pack of matches from his pocket." Not to mention that the producers of America are at the very core of the plot itself.

So the word is produce. Everything from "to produce" to "being a producer", produce encapsulates the very virtue of making things, products and services, offering them to the marketplace and thus fulfilling the customer's needs and making their wishes come true. Producing - creating value using your individual abilities - is what both enhances your self-respect and makes the world better.

Put like this it sounds overly romantic, I admit. But try it and see for yourself.

I've noticed myself (and mentioned it a few times both in articles and videos) that knitting, arts and crafts, and sewing are therapeutic to the mind - baking, too. I believe that's because you literally feel yourself producing something from supplies and ingredients and so creating something of more value than merely the sum of the things you used. You see the finished product soon enough, remembering where you started and thus seeing the progress in its full form.

Not to mention writing and coding - both of which are processes where you create something from absolutely nothing. A finished novel or a working software may not be a physical product in the same sense as a self-made chair is, but it's a product nonetheless - a somewhat more mental or intellectual product that often supersedes the chair in value.

Being first and foremost a producer - rather than a mere consumer - gives yourself that special professionalism and high regard that only people who create value can hold for themselves with dignity. You cannot fake producerness. You either are one or you aren't - you either produce more than you consume, or comsume more than you produce. And that's what makes all the difference.

So, in a way, I'm suggesting you die empty - give out your best work every day, in case your existence ends tonight. Because you can do it. You can give out everything your have inside of you during your day, if you so chose.

For what could be more terrible than passing away with unused potential trapped inside?