In this episode, we explore what it takes to sustain creative leadership—not just for the next launch, but through the marathon of a meaningful career. We sit down with serial entrepreneur and author Chris Ducker to dig deep into his philosophy from his new book, "The Long Haul Leader," where he shares battle-tested frameworks for combating burnout and resisting the relentless drive of hustle culture.

We reflect on how our culture glorifies quick wins and non-stop hustle at the expense of our health, relationships, and lasting impact. Chris opens up about his own struggle with severe burnout during the pandemic, describing the pivotal moment he realized he’d lost touch with what truly made him “him.” We discuss practical strategies that allowed him to recover, including building what he calls a Life Operating System (Life OS)—a set of rhythms and habits designed to make leadership and creative work sustainable for the long haul.

We also highlight the importance of focusing on the right “who” as leaders, and why serving the right people makes all the difference. Together, we offer a smart, honest take on how to build resilience, manage energy, and stay effectively creative without losing yourself to exhaustion.

Five Key Learnings from This Episode:

1. Sustainability beats constant hustle: Hard work matters, but treating hustle as a perpetual lifestyle leads to burnout. Purposeful sprints are powerful only when surrounded by practices that let you recover and refocus.
2. Breaking points clarify priorities: Real change often follows a crisis—those moments of total exhaustion or loss of purpose—but transformation only happens when you intentionally respond, not just notice the warning signs.
3. Design your Life OS: Just like computers have operating systems, leaders need intentional frameworks for health, learning, energizing relationships, meaningful work, and hobbies—layering small “micro moves” for a compounding impact over time.
4. Serve your real audience: Lasting fulfillment and greater impact come from identifying and serving those you’re best equipped to help, not by trying to please everyone or chasing external validation.
5. Burnout is not just part of the job: Chronic fatigue, disengagement, and emptiness are signals that something fundamental needs to change. Effective creative leadership means spotting the signals early and course-correcting—not waiting for a blow-up.

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Mentioned in this episode:

The Brave Habit is available now

My new book will help you make bravery a habit in your life, your leadership, and your work. Discover how to develop the two qualities that lead to brave action: Optimistic Vision and Agency. Buy The Brave Habit wherever books are sold, or learn more at TheBraveHabit.com.

In this episode of Daily Creative, we dive deep into the concept of doubt as a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and effective leadership. We explore a real-world story where doubt reshaped a project and led to a superior outcome, challenging our culture’s bias toward certainty and snap answers. Our guest, Dr. Bobby Parmar, author of Radical Doubt and professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, unpacks the neuroscience and psychology behind how we process uncertainty—and why embracing doubt can be a superpower for leaders, entrepreneurs, and creators navigating complexity.

Together, we examine why most of us conflate intelligence with having the “right” answer, how our brains use doubt to signal that there’s more to learn, and why organizations need to shift from rewarding certainty to cultivating a culture of inquiry. Dr. Parmar breaks down the brain’s “trio” of systems—pursue, protect, and pause/piece together—and shows how effective decision-making requires moving beyond tunnel vision and quick fixes.

We also discuss practical tools for reframing doubt, including leveraging four essential “lenses” (principles, consequences, character, and relationships) when making decisions. Through tangible examples and research insight, we reveal how the most creative and resilient outcomes often emerge when we pause, invite challenging perspectives, and courageously sit with uncertainty.

Key Learnings from This Episode:

1. Doubt as a Doorway: Doubt isn’t a weakness to hide—it’s a signal that more learning and better answers are possible. When handled well, doubt expands possibilities instead of narrowing them.
2. The Brain’s Trio: Our brains switch between pursue (seeking reward), protect (avoiding risk), and pause/piece together (slowing down to learn) systems. Engaging the “pause” system is critical for creativity and wise choices.
3. Four Moral Lenses: Effective decision-making requires balancing principles, consequences, character, and relationships—especially in complex or ambiguous situations. Relying on just one lens can create blind spots.
4. Short-term vs. Long-term Thinking: Focusing only on immediate certainty often undermines long-term value and opportunity. Doubt helps us reframe decisions within a broader context, allowing for patience and creativity.
5. Culture of Inquiry: The best leaders foster environments where questioning assumptions is safe and expected. Encouraging dialogue around uncertainty leads to stronger teams and more innovative solutions.

Get full interviews and bonus content for free! Just join the list at DailyCreativePlus.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Brave Habit is available now

My new book will help you make bravery a habit in your life, your leadership, and your work. Discover how to develop the two qualities that lead to brave action: Optimistic Vision and Agency. Buy The Brave Habit wherever books are sold, or learn more at TheBraveHabit.com.

In this solo episode, we explore a profound question: Are we building our professional lives around fleeting moments, or are we becoming mountains—steady, enduring, and impactful over the long term? We reflect on the contrast between “moment makers” who chase applause and “mountain builders” who quietly cultivate trust, skill, and lasting influence through steady practices.

We examine the cultural obsession with moments of sudden attention and why anchoring our identity or work to them can lead to instability. The episode offers thought-provoking guidance on grounding our creative efforts in durable rhythms, valuing depth over visibility, and making decisions today that will matter years from now. We end with a reminder that while moments energize us, only the mountains we build truly stand the test of time.

Five Key Learnings from This Episode:

1. Moments vs. Mountains: Moments of recognition are exhilarating but temporary; it’s the disciplined, unseen work that builds something lasting.
2. Build Practices, Not Just Projects: Ongoing habits and rhythms—done even when no one is watching—anchor our work and sustain creativity beyond any single project.
3. Value Depth Over Visibility: Focus on the substance and real-life impact of your work, rather than chasing surface-level attention or popularity.
4. Think in Decades, Not Days: Cultivate patience. Prioritize decisions and actions that will leave you proud decades from now, not just tomorrow.
5. Stay Grounded in Purpose: Root your passion in meaning and purpose, not applause, to remain steady through creative highs and lows.

Get full interviews and bonus content for free! Just join the list at DailyCreativePlus.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Brave Habit is available now

My new book will help you make bravery a habit in your life, your leadership, and your work. Discover how to develop the two qualities that lead to brave action: Optimistic Vision and Agency. Buy The Brave Habit wherever books are sold, or learn more at TheBraveHabit.com.