Steal Like an Artist

7/19/2013

Front Cover:

Steal Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon, is currently on The New York Times Best Seller list and is a quick, inspiring push in the right direction. Working in a creative field can either leave you stuck - or leave you with so many ideas that you are flustered and can't accomplish anything. Either way, you sometimes need a kick in the pants and a new perspective. Artists get bad reps for being disorganized, poor, and a bit crazy. Now, stereotypes are made for a reason and I certainly have dealt with my fair share of modern day Van Goghs - but there are just as many crazy, disorganized, broke Computer Analysts out there as there are Artists in this world - And just as many successful ones.

I got this book as a gift and I couldn't put it down. It was a fun, quick read with many insightful.....insights and tactics to utilize. I'd like to highlight some really great and simple things to organize your life, change your perspective and accomplish your dreams. Kleon's techniques are simple and organized.....Makes you wonder why you aren't doing these things already.

All inspiration comes from somewhere and many creatives deal with the internal fear of being a fraud. Even Motzart struggled with taking credit for his music.

As Kleon says, "Copying is reverse engineering." When we study something we copy it, when we create something we merely transform it.

I can't believe how simple and powerful this one simple technique is: Make a calendar. Like Kleon says above, "Amassing a body of work or building a career is the slow accumulation of little bits of effort over time." Above, he gives you a sample of his notebook and credits that this concept was inspired by Jerry Seinfeld's system for writing jokes. You take a page in your notebook, box out 365 squares is a row and apply it to what you need to get done creatively. For example, write a page of your novel each day - 1page - and X out the box. Essentially, at the end of a year you have a novel. Link the chain of your boxes for that year and keep them linked and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. I've been using this system and it is incredibly annoying when you can't fill a box in.

Self explanatory. Just go. Get out of here!

I had an art professor in college who summed up my collection of work over the semester as "shit." I swallowed the frog in my throat and tried to leave the room with a little dignity, but I truly didn't believe that my work was shit. I went home a little defeated and wanted to crawl in a hole and never see the light of day again - but for some reason I decided to submit that body of work to the college to apply for a scholarship. The professor who called my work "shit" was on the board deciding who got the scholarship......... I got it. It was such sweet victory. The moral is, sometimes you don't know or understand someone's personal agenda or why he or she put you down, but you don't have to....so keep on truckin'.
(And sometimes your work is shit. So throw it away and start again.)

Tony Robbins, my ipod buddy, states that you are only as good as your peers. You will reach as high and have the same limits as most of the people around you. If you surround yourself with people who live a step up from you - monetarily, ideologically, etc. - you will raise your own standards because they won't hang out with you if you don't do what they think a person should do. Think about your own set of rules. What is the type of person you would not want to be around and what is the type of person you want to be like? Go find them.

I obviously cant read the whole book to you so go buy it.....now!

This is something I personally struggle with. I have always felt that spending all this time at "work" was taking time away from pursuing your dreams. I know plenty of Artists who network and act on many opportunities to create a balanced income. The bigger your dreams the further you will climb. Have a goal and don't limit yourself if you feel you have more to pursue. But I am certainly not bashing the idea. Kleon mentions that getting a day job keeps you connected to people out in the world, keeps you interacting and developing your social skills, funds your creative endeavors and also gives you another community of support. Just try to find a job closely related to what you are interested in. If it isn't feeding your soul, it isn't worth your time. The main message is money management. Get a job out of college, meet people, make friends, and then get an organized idea of money and how much you need to survive - then find out how much you need to THRIVE.

If you have a grand idea and master plan, outsource as much as you can. Start an Indiegogo, launch a kickstarter or find a loving family investor. When all else fails then a loan is key to your dream's survival. Anything you make in your head you can make in this world but a business plan is the foundation. You must have an organized plan and have some type of personal skills to present it. Two other favorite books of mine include Tony Robbins "Awaken the Giant Within" and Leil Lowndes's "How to Talk to Anyone."