What Keeps Me Moving Forward
And Why I Wrote "Comedy Mindhacks"
This morning I woke up and realized that Comedy Mindhacks officially releases today. You’d think that would feel different by now. This is like my fortieth book, so it’s not exactly unfamiliar territory. Even so, release days always create a strange mixture of feelings for me: Excitement, relief, curiosity, uncertainty, and so on. After spending 14ish months working on this project, there’s something odd about suddenly letting it go and watching it make its way into the world.
When I published my first book about fifteen or so years ago, I imagined release day would feel like arriving somewhere. What actually happened was much less dramatic. I celebrated for a little while, but was already thinking about and working on the next project. And…that’s how it’s been ever since. I guess that’s because books have never been the point for me. Comedy isn’t the point either. Teaching isn’t the point. That’s who I am and that’s my vocational calling. Writing, speaking, podcasting, publishing, and performing all matter to me, but they’re just vehicles for teaching. One great upside of that is, if I’m teaching, that means I’m also learning and growing.
And that’s something that’s fascinated me for years: Growth. It’s strange to me how people either continue moving forward or gradually stop. I’ve spent enough time around comedians to know that most of them aren’t primarily afraid of bombing, hecklers, bad crowds, or negative comments online. Those things can sting, but they’re usually temporary. The fear that seems to linger much longer is the fear of stagnation. It’s the fear of waking up five years from now and realizing they haven’t improved, their skills haven’t developed, and their dream has quietly settled into neutral.
If I’m being honest, I’ve wrestled with that fear myself. I’ve felt it as a comedian, a writer, a professor, a podcaster, and just about everything else I’ve attempted. There are seasons where progress feels obvious and exciting. There are other seasons where growth feels invisible and difficult to measure. During those stretches, it’s easy to wonder whether the effort is producing anything meaningful at all.
That’s one reason this book exists. Over the past year-and-a-half, I’ve collected observations, mental models, perspective shifts, and lessons from comedy, teaching, psychology, logic, rhetoric, communication, and everyday life. Some of the insights in the book came from conversations with comedians. Some came from studying motivation and human behavior. Others emerged during long drives home after shows when I had far too much time alone with my thoughts. What connected all of them was a simple question: What helps people keep moving forward?
The answer, at least from what I’ve observed, rarely involves giant breakthroughs. Most growth happens through smaller shifts in perspective. A comedian, for instance, stops blaming the crowd after a bad set and starts examining their material. A writer stops waiting for inspiration and starts building habits thus vanquishing the myth of “writer’s block.” A performer stops chasing everybody’s approval and starts doing what ignites them, which in turn helps them start to find their audience. Looking back, many of the most important changes in my own life simply started with a different way of looking at the same problem.
That’s what I hope readers find in Comedy Mindhacks. I don’t expect every idea to resonate with every comedian. I don’t think there’s a single framework that solves every problem. My hope is much simpler than that. I just hope somebody reads a chapter, sees a situation differently, and takes another step forward that they might not have taken otherwise.
As I sit here on release day, I’m grateful for the people who’ve been part of the journey. Some have been reading these articles for a while. Some listen to my podcast, attend my workshops, or come to shows. Creating things is always a gamble because nobody owes me their attention, which makes every bit of support feel meaningful. The funny thing is that release day doesn’t really feel like an ending anymore. It feels more like a checkpoint along the road. The book is finished, but the work continues. There are still jokes to write, shows to perform, lessons to learn, and ideas worth exploring. If anything, today simply reminds me that momentum is built one project, one insight, and one step at a time.
If you’d like to show some love and order a copy, here’s the link: Comedy Mindhacks: 100 Mental Shifts To Help Comedians & Creatives Succeed.
If you click HERE, you can see some sample pages. If you don’t yet subscribe to this site, you can still get a 10% discount at your purchase with the code: MH10LIVE. But, if you become a FREE Subscriber, you can automatically get a 15% discount.
If you sign up as a paid subscriber, I’ll send you a 35% discount. Also, when you join that inner circle, you’ll instantly unlock my entire premium comedy vault:
The Joke Writer’s Lab Video Course: Unrestricted access to my step-by-step joke writing course on Udemy.
The Comedian Spotlight: A feature and promotion to my entire audience in an upcoming newsletter!
The Joke Blueprint Playbook: My 17-page manual for structuring your thoughts and polishing your jokes.
The Premium “Round-Up” Newsletter: My exclusive weekly deep-dive delivered every Sunday.
The Round-Up Repository: Full access to my private database containing every past and future newsletter.
👉 Click HERE to Upgrade Your Subscription & Unlock the Vault.