The answers aren’t online — Kelford Labs Daily

Here’s something all my friends and family know about me (and gently but persistently mock me for):

I like “boring” media.

I read old, out-of-print books about obscure historical figures. I watch long, slow, arthouse movies. I enjoy grinding for XP in RPG video games.

But when forced to defend myself to kind but judgy loved ones, this is what I keep coming back to:

I don’t actually like being bored. It’s that this kind of stuff keeps me from being bored.

The slower, more opaque, or more obscure the media, the more interesting it becomes to me.

I think because it forces my mind to actually pay attention, you know? In a way that scrolling through Reels or YouTube or, let’s face it, even LinkedIn, doesn’t.

To get something out of it, I’ve got to look for the details, notice every word, every frame, or every hidden chest.

And, weirdly, I think that’s where my creative inspiration comes from.

Not from the hypersensory environment of social media or short-form video, but from sparse prose, slow pacing, and repetitive action.

Thing is, though, I don’t think this makes me unique at all. I actually think most people would benefit from giving it a try more often.

From taking more time with a book, with a movie, with a video game.

From slowing down their sensory inputs so they can hear their own mind for a few moments.

Because that’s where ideas come from.

And if you want to make content, marketing messages, or anything else that demands creativity, you need fresh ideas all the time.

I know not everyone has discretionary time to spend on entertainment, so your mileage will vary.

But how I spend my limited entertainment time goes a long way to making my creative time so much more valuable.

So if you’re looking for inspiration for your content or your creativity, you probably won’t find it online or on the channel you want to post on.

You’ll find it offline, in the real-world, at a reasonable pace.

Kelford Inc. shows entrepreneurs the way to always knowing what to say.