30 Days Of Genius Blog: Caterina Fake

If you are looking for motivation for following your dreams, or finding your path, Caterina Fake may be the last place you will ever need to look. What did following her path accomplish? Oh, I don’t know, how does founding Flickr, running Etsy, and being named one of Time Magazines 100 most influential people on the planet sound? Exactly. Wow is right.

I have taken her interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one there are on.

Please enjoy.

How Can I Step Out And Be Bold?

It takes conviction of what you are, who you are, what you care about, and what you are going to pursue.

It’s about being ignored for months or years and still pushing.

It’s about knowing who you are, what you want, and not caring about external rewards.

If you can handle all of those things, then you are ready to go for it. These are the markers of passion. 

If you have passion, then you will be willing to work hard, teach yourself, learn on your own, and adjust. Why? Because passion is a powerful force to have behind what you do.

When I was first starting out, I offered to work for free just for information. 3 days a week for 2 months. What was my pay? I was able to attend all meetings and spend one hour a week asking questions of my boss. That’s it, and it was totally worth it. If I was not passionate about what I was doing, there is no way I would put in that kind of work.

Would you be willing to do that for your passion?

If yes, then go for it.

If no, then it is probably not your passion.

Is Your Passion Obvious?

If you are able to listen to your inner voice. If you can reflect over your life, remember your childhood and what you wanted to be when you were older, then yes it is. People are the same throughout their lives. Just because you stopped believing in your dreams doesn’t mean they disappeared, it just means you buried them under the responsibilities you took on as you got older.

Reconnect with your inner voice, your childhood.

Give it room.

It not only deserves it, it needs it.

What If I Don’t Have Time?

There are things you need to do, responsibilities you have to take care of, but then there are other things that you can eliminate in order to make time for your passion. Maybe it’s an hour a week at first, maybe its 30 minutes a day, but you have to start somewhere. Once it has space it will grow. How do I know? Because it’s your passion. It is a seed you have been carrying around that just needs a little water to start growing.

Create small, easily managed goals. Write one page a day. Paint 30 minutes a day. Squeeze it in. It doesn’t have to be a huge commitment, but it needs to be committed to. You need to put yourself and your day in a position to be creative. That could look like many different things depending on what your life is like. Some advice that I have received in the past was to move away from big cities. That may be counter-intuitive, but the less expensive it is to live, the more time you can afford to your creativity.

Clean up your time. Don’t check email all day. Productivity is easier without distractions, so you have to remove them. Have specific times during the day that you allocate to emails and phone surfing, and then have specific time for your creativity. Don’t mix the two. Give them their respective times.

Everyone has their own path. It is about finding what works well for you. There is no formula. People tend to focus on what they like, what they are drawn to, and their inner voice. Be sensitive to each of those things. Take advantage of what you are feeling, and always be moving forward.

Don’t Get Lost

The paths to success are clear. Starting as young as elementary school, the rewards are given to those that follow the rules. Conformity is the name of the game. The drive for success kills people. Just because there are paths laid out for you doesn’t mean that they can’t lead you astray.

Stop chasing prizes.

Chase what makes you happy.

And don’t worry, no matter where you are in life, you can always turn around.

Start where you are, with what you’ve got, and the time that you have.

Quotes

No matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road turn back.

Stop chasing prizes

Start where you are, with what you’ve got, and the time that you have.

Caterina Fake Links

Website

The Creative Hours (blog)

Findery

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

YouTube

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Elle Luna

Living your own life, following a path you’re not sure where it leads, and making your dreams a reality (literally). This is Elle Luna. No matter where you are in life, she has exactly what you need to hear.

I have taken her interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one there are on.

Please enjoy.

I Don’t Know What To Do

Then you are at a crossroads, and that is a beautiful place to be. You have the chance to possibly make the biggest decision of your life, so you must choose wisely. I know that sounds like a lot of pressure, and it is, but I have a way of navigating through all of the uncertainty. You need to take all of your options, all of your choices, and put them in to one of two categories, either should or must.

Should. These are all of the expectations that others put on us. Your friends, parents, community, and possibly even the culture as a whole. When you choose a “should” it feels awful. It’s heavy, it’s constricting, and it haunts us. Yet we choose it anyways. We are choosing our lives for someone or something else.

Must. These decisions are who we are, what we believe, and what we know is true. They are our convictions, knowings, longings, and dreams. By choosing a must, we are honoring who we are and why we are here.

It sounds easy, but it isn’t. Even if you choose must, you have to deal with should. You have to understand the difference between the two, where they come from, and why they are pulling you in. If you don’t deal with should, it will stick around. By bringing awareness to it you are catapulting in to must. If you know where all of the conscious and subconscious “shoulds” come from, you can gain an understanding of them and avoid them. Just like any problem, if it is not dealt with it will linger.

If you have not heard of it, The Alexander Technique is basically: when we stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing does itself. The more you stop doing “should,” “must” has no other option but to happen.

Don’t be afraid of where you are right now. Discontent is a wonderful catalyst for change. You are most guaranteed to get light when you are most in the darkness. I learned to lean in to my problems. If you are falling, dive. Find out how to take your situation and flip it on its head. You have to step in to your shame, anger and fear, because the other side is freedom. There is no way around it, only through it. The sooner you accept that the sooner you will get past it and on to something bigger and better.

Can You Really Make Your Dreams A Reality?

Absolutely.

I did. Literally.

I had a recurring dream of a space, and I found it, ironically on Craigslist. How crazy is that?

That never would have happened if I didn’t listen, and pay attention to myself.

We are living in a time where we are addicted to being busy. With all of the running around, when do we listen? When do we hear what our mind and body are saying to us?

I was listening, but it actually took a friend asking me, “Have you ever thought about looking for this dream in real life?” for me to act on it. That one question changed everything.

From that point I went out and literally made my dream a reality. I found the space I was looking for, then I freaked out. Now that I had everything I was dreaming of, I had to create. It wasn’t the end of my dream, it was just the beginning. It sounds a little strange, but it is difficult when you are in the midst of everything you have asked for, and you are just sitting there.

It was time to work.

In the same way you need to know yourself, to distinguish between should and must, to know your dreams, you have to know how you work. What is going to allow you to continue living your dreams?

I focus on structure, accountability, and intuition.

I love the saying, when we have more fun we get more done. Part of having fun for me is feeling good. That means eating well, meditating, moving my body, going to sleep early, and having accountability. It feels good to HAVE to do something because someone I care about is depending on me to get it done. That is the beautiful part about doing what you love, you will be busier than you have ever been in your life and you won’t feel it. It isn’t really work. You want to do it better and better so you fine tune how you work constantly. I have myself on timers, I study signs of boredom, and I know how to center myself to stay in this positive and creative space. When I feel far away, when I am not having vivid dreams, I know I need solitude, to be able to come back to myself. The empty space invites everything in. That time and space allows me to come back to love, joy and happiness.

“The more we treat ourselves like a precious object, the stronger we become.” — Julia Cameron

“Follow your bliss, and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t even know they were going to be.” — Joseph Campbell

Quotes

Discontent is the most amazing catalyst for something new.

When you are falling, dive.

You are most guaranteed to get light when you are most in the darkness.

“The more we treat ourselves like a precious object, the stronger we become.” — Julia Cameron

“The cracks let the light in.” — Leonard Cohen

“You can have jobs, you can have careers, and you can have callings.” — Stefan Sagmeister

Elle Luna Links

Website

The Crossroads Of Should And Must

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

iTunes

YouTube

Customer Service First

No shit, Sherlock.

But so many businesses out there don’t realize that you are a customer service company that also provides goods/services.

If you don’t view yourself like that, you will not be in business very long.

The customer is the most important aspect to your business. With no customers, you don’t have a business.

Make sense?

First Hand

At MediaMedia (www.mediamedia.biz) we handle everything: web site building, content, blogs, vlogs, photos, videos, etc. We do it all, except speak to our clients customers. Don’t get me wrong, we interact with them in the voice of the business on The Socials. “Cute pic!” “Love that!” “Can’t wait to see you!” Stuff like that? Of course, that drives customers to the business. But when YOUR customer is seeking out direct feedback, or has a personal question, we feel that is up to the business owner to handle. What we do drives the person to interact with the business, but the actual interaction needs to be done by the expert involved (the business owner).

I can’t tell you how many businesses we work with neglect the customer. It is disturbing.

Here are people reaching out to YOU, to YOUR business, YOUR livelihood, and YOU don’t respond? It amazes me.

We have high standards when it comes to our clients. If we see gross negligence in any aspect of their business, we address it with them. I mean, in the end, their success is our success, right? So what does that mean? We don’t exactly stay in our lane.

Does it have consequences? Absolutely.

Have we had to go through some “conscious uncoupling”? Absolutely.

But all of those “break-ups” were with the companies that treated their customers like shit, and couldn’t handle any constructive feedback. Surprise, surprise.

No hard feelings, at least on our part.

Mindset

Like anything in life, your mindset determines your outcome.

Things don’t happen to you, they happen because of you.

Good and bad, you got yourself there.

Good and bad, you can get yourself out.

Hip hip hooray!

That wasn’t supposed to be so rah rah, but it ended up there.

Moving on.

The owner that stresses out because they did not make as much money as last year on Valentine’s Day, is usually the one that didn’t listen to certain advertising strategies, that repeatedly gets messages on their Facebook page because a customer was irritated that an email wasn’t responded to.

It is always the same type complaints and type of stresses from the same type of business owners: the neglectful ones.

When you neglect your business, it will neglect you right back.

It starts at the top.

The owner/leader sets the tone, determines the expectations, and holds themselves and their employees accountable.

It seems so straightforward, but so many owners do it poorly.

Go Go Go

Get your business out there. Create something every day. Let the public see you. Let your customers see you. Create something that people will share. Hire people like us (www.mediamedia.biz) to do it for you, so you can focus on what you do best. And when you get responses, when you get “likes,” when you get interactions, you HAVE TO INTERACT.

That’s what it’s all about: you and your customers.

The customers are your business. They are your employees. They are your kids’ college fund. They are your house, your car, and your clothes. They are everything. You MUST treat them that way. Give them your best, show that you care, and it will come back to you.

Joey

MediaMedia

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Brian Solis

Ready to get your mind blown? I didn’t know who Brian Solis was before this interview, but I want to know everything about him now. Take everything you know about running a business, creating AND consuming products and throw it all away. This guy is in the business of changing everything (in a good way).

I have taken his interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one they are on.

Please enjoy.

The Market Has Never Been Busier. How Do I Differentiate?

I know what you think I am going to say, “You need to think outside the box.” Well, you are wrong. You need to re-think what is “in” and “out” of the box all together.

You need to change the rules.

Re-think everything. Re-evaluate everything. Re-build everything.

Sound a little daunting? I know. But it is the way things are in 2017, and it’s projecting out exponentially in the near and distant future. Everything is different now.

The world revolves around the consumer. Companies aren’t selling products, they are selling experiences, with the customers at the center of it all. Everything revolves around them. We are living in an Ego-system ecosystem.

How Do We Adjust To This New Consumer?

Great question.

We need to start designing the experience just as much if not more than the actual product or service itself.

First we need to articulate what an experience even is: It is an emotional reaction to a moment.

What is that moment in relationship to you? Whatever you want it to be. You create the moment(s) by tapping in to raw human emotion.

It is not good enough to be good anymore. In fact, it’s not good enough to be great. You have to understand the role you want to be in a customer’s life and then create around that. It is a whole new level of connecting.

In order to do that you need to ask yourself a few questions. What do you do very well? What do you do better than anyone else? Now, how can you turn that in to an ecosystem for the Ego-System? How will people talk about you? Before they interact with you directly? After they interact with you? How do you follow up with customers? How do you appeal to new ones? What do you want someone to feel after they are done with you?

All of your answers are opportunities to create magic.

It is all about relationships. You need to be intentional about everything you do. It all has a role, a purpose, a context, and connectability. This new outlook will change everything from design to marketing. When you really look at people and what is relevant to them, how they are experiencing things, it gives you the gift of empathy. That empathy gifts you an entirely new perspective. You must engage with people in the way that they are wired, the way they want to interact.

Once you understand the nuances of the customer, and their experience, you understand how you can be better, and what is possible. It is a human-based design because you are designing for humans, not a group.

I Am Not Tech Savvy, How Do I Innovate?

It’s not about tech. In fact, innovation rarely starts with the technology. The experience you want to create develops the technology. Everything is open for something different. Everything. People don’t stop to ask why enough. Why is this that way? Why do we do it like this? How else could this be done? We just take things at face value, or how “it’s always been done.”

It’s time to reinvent based on the people we are trying to serve. Instead of just tacking on to the old technology, the old way of doing things, we need to start looking at a consumer’s experience with us holistically. Think of every single possible experience a customer can have and build to that. We haven’t done that in the past, so you will automatically be thinking innovatively.

Stop looking within your market for innovative ideas. Truly innovative ideas come from elsewhere and are brought back, merged with what you already have, and creates something new. That is true innovation.

Don’t take anything for granted. Legacy thinking doesn’t work. Outside the box thinking doesn’t work. All you are doing is putting yourself in to a different box because you haven’t changed the rules. Innovation starts outside the norms. You have to start with the customer experience before you work on the technology. The horses pull the cart, not the other way around. That way, your innovation will always have intent.

No matter what you are building or creating, you will never achieve greatness without completely exposing yourself.

Quotes

What is an experience?

People will forget what you did, they will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you 

made them feel.” Maya Angelou

We need to ask more why, and what if.

Innovation starts outside the norms.

Brian Solis Links

BrianSolis.com

Books

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

iTunes

YouTube

30 Days Of Genius Blog: James Altucher

Perspective is one of the most important things in life. It changes everything. One of the most unique perspectives on life has to belong to James Altucher. He is constantly questioning, learning, reinventing, and taking everything he has experienced to help others (through brutal honesty and insight) with their own experiences. I am a huge fan of his, and was thrilled to be able to write this.

I have taken his interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one they are on.

Please enjoy.

I Am Too Scared To Quit My Job And Follow My Passion. What Do I Do?

That works out great, because you shouldn’t quit your job yet anyways. Honestly, you may not quit your job ever!

The important thing is actually doing the thing you love. Just because you don’t leave your job to pursue your passion doesn’t mean you should use that as an excuse to not pursue it at all.

Get what I am saying?

This is the greatest time ever to be anything you want. Not only are there less gatekeepers because of the internet, efficiency through technology is consuming more jobs every day. You might as well do something you love, because your job will most likely be taken by either a new program, or a robot.

Cheers!

Don’t look at it as a bad thing, because it really isn’t. What do you do with this slightly gloomy outlook on your job security? My suggestion is to write down 10 ideas a day that have to do with your “passion,” whatever that is. I do this in the morning, you can do it when it works for you, but do it. What you will find is the more ideas you have, the more you flex this idea muscle, the better the ideas get, and more frequently. Don’t worry, most of your ideas will be bad, but some will be great. This will speed up the process of getting all the bad ideas out of your head to make room for the good ones.

As you come up with actionable (hopefully good) ideas, you start implementing and experimenting. If you think of anything great that was ever invented, it is really just a series of mini experiments. It’s actually the best way to learn. Experiment, fail, learn, think, experiment, fail, learn, etc.

This is why you don’t quit your job. You need to mitigate the risk of this new endeavor. Having money come in is part of that mitigation. What you need to do is focus on your down time (nights and weekends), or the time when it looks like you are at your desk working (not that any of you do that), and create your passion project then.

The best job to do this? Night security. Why? Because no one is doing anything at night, you are the only one there, and no one is watching you because you are the one watching them. See? Perfect!

The keys are action and repetition. The more you create, the more creative you become. It’s just how it is. Bruce Lee said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Why? Because that guy is REALLY good at that one kick. You just need to figure out your kick.

What If I Don’t Have The Equipment To Create The Way You Want To?

That’s just an excuse.

Seriously.

One of the greatest movies of all times, Star Wars, was filmed on a camera worse than the one on my phone, or your phone, or pretty much anyone else with a phone. Try and wrap your head around that. 

Star Wars.

Just create.

Tech is better than it was 20 years ago. There are less gatekeepers than there were 20 years ago. There is more information out there than ever. Just create. Tell your story through the medium of your choice. Storytelling is the oldest art form in the world. For the rest of your life, and the rest of everyone’s life, you will always find media for storytelling. It’s been around for 70,000 years. It may look different. It may be on cave walls, then newspapers, then TV, now on your phones, but it’s still storytelling.

Keep your expectations low, achieve them, and then set your expectations a little higher. The goal should be creation, ideas, experimenting, and reinventing. That’s how you develop something great, something you can quit your job over.

Where Should I Start?

Advice is autobiography.

I will tell you what I do, and hopefully you can use some of it for yourself.

I believe that everything compounds. The more you do it, the better (or worse) it gets. I have 4 daily practices that I do, well, daily. They help me immensely in my personal as well as business life.

Here they are:

1. I do something for my health. This could be a walk, a run, as long as it is physical and you get your body moving.

2. I do something creative. For me, it is most likely writing, but it could be painting, singing, whatever you want. Just create.

3. I practice gratitude. Not easy gratitude, like your kids or health. Nope, difficult gratitude. Take the thing that sucked the most yesterday or today and find the goodness in it. It is not always easy, but it can do amazing things for you mentally and emotionally.

4. I do something for my relationships. This can be kids, parents, friends, anything. Do something that builds or reinforces the relationships in your life.

Figure out what you are doing when you are doing well and keep doing that. Then figure out what you are doing when you are doing bad, and figure out how you get back to the “good” faster.

Easier said than done, but remember that we all have ups and downs, the key is to figure them out and stay up as much as possible. It’s better for you and everyone around you.

Quotes

My motto is, “I’m an idiot.”

Almost by definition, you have to have a side gig.

You can constantly find media for storytelling.

You only learn through experiences. I would tell my former self, “go f** yourself.” You need to learn on your own.

James Altucher Links

Website

Choose Yourself

Reinvent Yourself

His phone number (seriously): 1.203.512.2161

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

iTunes

YouTube

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Tina Roth Eisenberg

Looking for the epitome of a creative entrepreneur? Look no further than Tina Roth Eisenberg. She is an artist herself, she brings artists together, and she creates businesses and apps to help other artists. She is an inspirational woman, surrounding herself with inspirational people, and she shares some of her brilliant insights here.

I have taken her interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one there are on.

Please enjoy.

How Do I Become A Professional Creative?

Be self-sufficient. I think that is very important for a professional creative. If you are waiting around for someone to tell you what to do or how to do it, you will be waiting around a lot. For myself, and the people I work with, you need to be self-sufficient. That self-sufficiency comes from a hunger to create, explore, and try new things. Without that, I feel like you will only have a creative hobby.

I work with people with drive, because in the end, that is what is going to allow you to sustain a career. The desire to do good work, that can work well with others, are the people that will make it.

Don’t know if you are a self-starter? A self-motivator? What are your side projects? Self-starters have many interests and side projects. It shows initiative and hustle, two vital things in the creative world. Combine that with humility, and excitement around your craft, and you have a great formula.

Is There A Right Way To Develop A Side Project?

Yes! Don’t look at it as something that needs to develop. Remember, this is your passion. If you look at it as a business right away you will be less willing to experiment, have a greater fear of failure, and will make decisions based on money instead of love. Your decisions should be based around what you want to do, what you want to fix, and what you want to solve. When it comes from an authentic place, it provides a different energy to those that come in contact with it.

That being said, if your side project involves other people, set up a general foundation. For example, if your project involves four people, decide on how to split potential profits. ¼ for each? 20% in to the pot and divide the remaining 80%? Things like that will save headaches down the road, and potentially even relationships.

How Do I Know If It’s The Right Thing To Work On? That I Truly Love It?

That’s easy, you never have to ask yourself that question. If you love something you never have to question if you truly love it.

You need to know what works for you and recognize what you are good at. Once you focus on what you are good at, and love, you will start to develop super-powers around it, and people will react to it differently. There is something about passion and love that changes the way art looks and feels.

An important thing to remember is your passion and love need protection and nourishment. If you are inspired, if you are curious, surround yourself with curious and inspired people. Work with people that are passionate and excited about what they do. You will feed off each other and the product or art will reap the benefits. Enthusiasm is infectious.

Quotes

Enthusiasm is infectious. Confidence is impressive.

Curious people are inspired people.

I want to make something I love for people that love it.

Tina Roth Eisenberg Links

Swiss Miss

Teux Deux

Creative Mornings

Studiomates

Tattly

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

30 Days Of Genius Blog: Neil Strauss

When you meet someone at a different level in their perspective, it is best to take notice. Neil Strauss has seen a lot, lived a lot, paid attention, and learned. His wisdom on life and creativity pour out in this interview. Limiting it to an hour is a shame. Good thing he is an introspective, share the dirt kind of an author, so we can delve as deep in to his knowledge as we want through his books. A fascinating guy.

I have taken his interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one they are on.

Please enjoy.

Forget Zero To One As A Business, How Do I Go Zero To One As An Artist?

If you are struggling even getting started there is a reason. You are allowing your limiting beliefs to keep you at the starting line. I consider “one” being the day you share your art. There are artists that don’t create because they are waiting for everything to be perfect, and there are artists that create, and adjust, and wait, and change, and end up sitting on the project without ever releasing it. If you are in either of those situations, you are allowing your limiting beliefs to get the better of you.

You need to embrace your fears, accept them, and do them anyways.

I think it is extremely important to recognize exactly what your limiting beliefs are, recognize that they are not true and not your voice, accept them, and either deal with them or reprogram yourself to get passed them. That will be vital for you to get to “one.”

Let me address the two different types of “zeros.” I think there is a true zero, an artist that hasn’t really created anything, and there is a 0.9, an artist that just hasn’t shared.

For the true zeros, just create. I love projects where I only know the beginning. Where it goes from there? Who knows? That’s the art. That is creativity. Don’t question it. Whenever you do, you are dampening the actual creativity. Don’t focus on the outcome. Don’t focus on anything outside of the actual creating. Not knowing how something will turn out feels good. It gives you a chance to explore. If you knew the outcome, why would you do it? Give yourself the chance to surprise yourself. Start exploring, go with the path and see where it leads you. Don’t resist where the propulsion is leading you either. You can’t realistically plan out where your art is going to be, who it is going to please, how successful it will be, so don’t focus on it. Everything that takes away from your focus on the creativity is taking away from the creativity.

Now for the 0.9 artists I have a quote, “When you throw a pebble in to the culture you have no idea where the ripples will go.”

Just share.

Please.

When you take too long to release a project you change. When you change, your view on the art changes. It should be a moment in time. It will never be perfect. Do your best, and let it go, see what happens, and start working on the next project.

Your inner critic is a monster, telling you it’s not good enough. Are you strong enough to silence that voice and produce anyways? Don’t fear judgement and criticizing. Do your best and be comfortable with that. Placing yourself in uncertainty is a very confident place to be.

Once you silence the inner dialogue, give yourself a deadline. Nothing crazy, not tomorrow, but a reasonable deadline, and stick with it.

Having that deadline is huge for a creative. You could sit on something for years without one, and how much better would it be? I’ve had stories that I had to write in 2 weeks that were better than stories I had years to write. It pushes you, streamlines your thinking, and will build up your creativity.

Listen, notice, pay attention, and then share.

Don’t plan too much, don’t focus on this style or that style too much. Don’t limit your creativity at all. Just create. Just explore. Then share.

You can spend your whole life trying to get everything just right.

But honestly? What is just right anyways?

Let it go.

Get going.

Quotes

I’m always thinking about the next thing, not where I’ve been.

Storytelling is teaching through metaphor.

The first question in an interview sets the tone: you know something, you are connected, but not too 

connected.

Honesty equals a book.

Everything is creative.

If you could just take a helicopter to the top it wouldn’t be as special.

Neil Strauss Links

Website

Books

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

iTunes

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30 Days Of Genius Blog: Austin Kleon

A self-described writer who draws, Austin Kleon is an artists’ artist. Assuming he would have to take on the Bruce Wayne/Batman approach to his life as an artist, he surprisingly found that he could do what he loved for a living. This is his advice on how you can too.

I have taken his interview on 30 Days of Genius with Chase Jarvis, extracted the information, and used it to answer common questions by readers just like you, who are looking to take their lives to the next level, or at least a different level than the one they are on.

Please enjoy.

My Parents Always Told Me That Being An Artist Is Only A Hobby

I would love to tell you how wrong they are, but I had the same outlook when I was younger. My impressions of being an artist were of the “starving” variety. Like Bruce Wayne and Batman, I assumed my life as an artist would be night and day, literally. Doing something I didn’t love during the day in order to support the thing I did love at night.

What I started to realize was it wasn’t as “night” and “day” as I thought. I wanted day jobs that would inform the art. Learn from the day job, taking jobs that would make me better at my craft, then my growth in the craft would help me land the next day job. It turned out to be a beautiful cycle. What was even more beautiful was having the income to create. If you handcuff yourself by having to use your art for money, you may head down a path that you don’t want to be on. Monetary freedom is creative freedom. Keep your day job until you can support yourself with your art. But use your day job to push the art forward.

Don’t assume that because you can’t make money yet that you will never be able to. What do you need to get better at? Start there. There are so many aspects to being an artist besides the art, especially today. Not only do you need to create the art, but you need to market it and manage it. You are your own business.

Doesn’t sound appealing? That’s fine, just find someone who loves your art more than you do, then they can do all the stuff you don’t want to. Where you going to find that person? Exactly, get to work.

My advice is to decrease the tension between creation and self-promotion by combining the two. Make sharing a part of your creating and vice-versa. Sharing should become a daily practice as much as the actual daily practice of your craft. A great thing I have found is the added perspective of an audience helps create the art you are sharing with them in the first place. You will start to build community and networking around your art. The bigger the community, the more likely you can do what you love for a living. Sharing creates an ecosystem of creativity and connecting.

What Do You Feel Is The Foundation Of Creativity?

Everything around you is your foundation.

Too big?

Try this:

Take bits and pieces from everything, and create something completely new. Extract as you go and save it for later. Look for patterns. Create, study, make, study more, create more, etc. You should study as much as you make, and share as much as you study and make.

Got it?

Being a creative is as much about the community as it is the individual artist. The best artists in their respective generations are always products of their environment. Being that person that is connected to many different things allows you to create things that no one else can. The more input, the more output. Look at what you are doing, what other people are doing, and more importantly what they are NOT doing. Once you start recognizing that, you can take it on and create your own niche.

Time is also a huge foundation of creativity. You need to spend time every day sitting in your art. Visit it, listen to it, absorb it, and practice it. Schedules and routines free you. Knowing when you have time for the thing you want to be doing every day is liberating. If this is something you really want to do, you need to make sure you are actually doing it.

Never get caught up in the FOMO (fear of missing out), because you are not missing out. You are doing your thing. Let go of what you think you should be doing, or what everyone else is doing. You are an individual with their own goals and dreams. Following what other people are doing will pull you away from them.

If you need to refocus yourself, if you feel like you are not doing the thing you should be, ask yourself: what would I do if no one was paying attention? Or if no one was looking? That will usually be the thing that seems boring, or not cool, and not what everyone else is doing. That is also the best part. The time you are putting in the effort to reach your goals is the same time that will keep everyone else from reaching theirs.

One day you won’t be here, but you get today. What are you going to do with it?

Quotes

The artist welds their theft in to something completely new.

Don’t flatter through imitation, flatter through transformation.

It’s about content.

Make sharing a part of your daily practice as much as the daily practice on your craft.

Austin Kleon Links

Website

Newspaper Blackout

Books

Chase Jarvis Links

Website

Creative Live

iTunes Podcast Page

Joey Links

Company

LinkedIn

Twitter

iTunes

YouTube