Coffee With Cole: The Digital Writing Podcast

Episode: How to Build Focus, Habits, and Resilience as a Creator
Host: Nicolas Cole
Date: October 13, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Nicolas Cole dives deep into the underlying fundamentals of becoming a resilient, productive, and focused creator. Rather than strictly focusing on technical skills, Cole shares mental frameworks, practical routines, and mindset shifts crucial for digital writers, ghostwriters, and entrepreneurs. The discussion spans how to develop focus, structure your time, build habits gradually, and continuously refine your creative process in the face of daily distractions, competing priorities, and the temptation to jump to the next “new thing.” Cole also candidly shares personal routines, hard-won lessons, and habits that enable sustained output and well-being.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Qualifying Leads vs. Maximum Volume

Timestamp: 12:30 – 19:10

• Reframe the Question: Rather than obsessing over how to perfectly qualify a lead, Cole insists that beginners should focus on volume: talking to as many people as possible, especially at the start.
• Counterintuitive Truth: Often, the people who seem unqualified might be your best clients, and vice versa.
• Meta Takeaway: “Almost every question I see in the chat gets solved with volume. And it’s such a hard answer because it is the honest truth. It’s just not the answer that everyone wants to hear.” (14:18)
• Hormozi’s Framework: Don’t jump to “better” before you fully exploit “more” (volume). “The challenge and the problem is that most of the time, [trying new/different] is actually the mistake, because you already have something that’s working… You just need to do significantly more of it.” (16:52)

2. Productivity Through Skill and Batching

Timestamp: 19:10 – 37:40

• Skill Multiplies Effort: Improving skill is how you get more output from the same amount of time. Cole emphasizes that skill-building is the essence of productivity.
• Quote: "The more skill you have, the more the same amount of effort yields a higher output." (19:54)
• Batching is Critical: Repeatedly switching between different types of tasks (e.g., writing ads, writing newsletters) slashes productivity.
• Levels of Batching: Go beyond type—batch similar formats within writing, outreach, or calls.
• Personal Example: Cole schedules consecutive calls, then shifts to solo work, avoiding fragmented schedules.
• Quote: “Every time you switch the task you’re working on, you just cut your effectiveness in half… Nothing crushes productivity more than bouncing between different things.” (23:58)
• For Neurodivergent Brains: Cole admits, “I have severe ADD, and I’m unmedicated. But I have spent years… really have to train myself. Like, this is the one thing we are going to do right now.” (31:28)

3. Endurance and Capacity Are Built Over Time

Timestamp: 37:40 – 43:12

• Growth Mindset on Endurance: What seems untenable today becomes normal with repetition. Cole’s ability to do hours of client calls or deep work blocks grew “shockingly” over a few years.
• Analogy: Like marathon running or weightlifting—capacity grows as you practice.
• Quote: “In the beginning, you can barely write one client piece in one day… The more that you do it, then you can write two pieces… then three… Your endurance improves.” (39:13)

4. The True Cost of Adding New Goals or Habits

Timestamp: 43:12 – 52:36

• Capacity is Finite: If you want to add something (a habit, a new project), something else must go.
• Hard Question: “Anytime you say you want to do something, you have to answer the question: What are you going to give up in order to do it?” (45:13)
• Personal Sacrifice: Cole gave up leisurely mornings with his wife and an hour of sleep to grow his business, opting for early rising and work.
• Quote: “You have a life constructed. Any time you say, ‘I want to do something new,’ … the real question you need to ask is, ‘What am I willing to give up?’” (47:31)
• Not About Sacrifice Everything: Cole clarifies he’s not suggesting to “burn the candle at both ends” but to make conscious trade-offs.

5. Routines, Biohacks & Wind Down Strategies

Timestamp: 52:36 – 1:01:20

• Evening Routine:
  • Stops water at 8pm to avoid sleep interruptions.
  • Supplements: glycine, magnesium, vitamin C, L-theanine, small melatonin.
  • Blue light glasses at 7:30pm—massive impact on winding down.
• Morning Routine:
  • Chugs a liter of water upon waking, sometimes with lemon and salt.
  • Waits 60–90 minutes before caffeine, adds MCT oil to coffee.
• Mindset: These tweaks matter on the margins—“fringe stuff”—but core productivity still comes down to doing the work.
• Quote: “This is not the secret to how do I reach out to more clients. The secret to reaching out to more clients is reaching out to more clients. This is just the fringe stuff.” (1:01:03)
• Handling Distractions: It's “a skill”—no hack replaces battle-testing your focus every day.

6. The Daily Battle & Consistency

Timestamp: 1:01:20 – 1:10:45

• No Perfection—Just Repetition: Every day requires re-choosing to do the work; there’s no “forever fix.”
• Quote: “Everything we’re talking about here is actually a daily battle. Every single day I am trying to protect time. Every single day I am trying to batch. Every single time I am managing distractions…” (1:03:55)
• Example: Writing on the plane: did well one way, “failed” on the way back. The next chance, try again.
• Powerful Framing: “Every day that you do it, you are practicing doing that thing. Every day you don’t do it, you are practicing and getting better at not doing it… It’s all a skill.” (1:08:13)

7. Building & Sticking to New Habits

Timestamp: 1:10:45 – 1:12:22

• One at a Time: Only introduce one new habit at a time; don’t add another for at least a month.
• Expect Setbacks: Adding a new habit often destabilizes the last one—progress is slow and iterative.

8. Deep Work & Life/Business Balance

Timestamp: 1:12:22 – 1:17:40

• Deep Work is Scarce: Larger business means less time for sustained focus, hence earlier mornings/weekends are essential.
• Endurance Principle: What used to exhaust him for days is now just routine due to expanded capacity.

9. Making Painful Tasks Fun

Timestamp: 1:17:40 – 1:20:31

• Trick Yourself: Add novelty into your least favorite tasks (e.g., special coffee, unique breakfast) to make them bearable.
• Don’t Swap Hard Work for Pleasure: Instead of using novelty to avoid work, use it as a reward or motivator to accomplish tough tasks.

10. Diminishing Returns & Overwork

Timestamp: 1:20:31 – 1:24:09

• Yes, You Can Work Too Much… Eventually: Actual diminishing returns arise much later than people think—your mind gives up before your body.
• Fitness Analogy: “Personal trainers don’t exist to help you lift the weight. They exist to help you not give in to your mind.” (1:22:47)

11. Navigating Client Pushback & Multiple Paths to Success

Timestamp: 1:24:09 – 1:27:09

• Conviction Over Methods: Success comes from confidence and conviction, not a single “correct” method.

12. Master the Fundamentals—Always

Timestamp: 1:27:09 – end

• Pro Athlete Mindset: World-class performers don’t hunt for esoteric tricks—they keep obsessively practicing the fundamentals.
• Full Circle: “Every question and every problem gets solved with volume. Period. Full stop, end of story.” (1:32:07)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Volume:
  “Almost every question just for...good overarching meta takeaway for everyone here, almost every question I see in the chat gets solved with volume.” (14:18)

• On Productivity:
  “The more skill you build, the more output you get per unit of effort in time. That is literally the definition of productivity.” (20:50)

• On Batching:
  “Every time you switch the task…you just cut your effectiveness in half. Nothing crushes productivity more than bouncing between different things.” (23:58)

• On Sacrifice:
  “Anytime you say you want to do something, you have to answer the question, what are you going to give up in order to do it?” (45:13)

• On Routines:
  “This is not the secret to how do I reach out to more clients. The secret...is reaching out to more clients. This is just the fringe stuff.” (1:01:03)

• On Consistency:
  “Everything we’re talking about here is actually a daily battle… Every single day I am trying to protect time. Every single day I am trying to batch.” (1:04:11)

• On Habits:
  “Only work on one new habit at a time and don’t move on to the second new habit until the first one has been done for at least a month.” (1:11:55)

• On Practice:
  “Every day you don’t do it, you are practicing and getting better at not doing it.” (1:08:22)

Memorable/Actionable Takeaways

• “Batching is the productivity superpower everyone underestimates.”
• “Volume comes before optimization.”
• “Ruthlessly protect and block your time. Treat focus as a skill to be strengthened.”
• “If you want to build a new habit, focus on just one. Give it a month before adding another.”
• “Each day is a fresh battle—you’ll never graduate from the basics.”
• “Capacity and productivity grow with repetition, just like endurance in fitness.”
• “You are always practicing something—so practice what you want to master.”

This episode is a masterclass in the mindset and methods behind creative resilience and output—a must-listen for writers, entrepreneurs, and creators aiming for sustainable success.