Resources
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
Fear is the primary color of the amateur's world: fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking foolish, fear of under-achieving, etc.
Turning pro is a choice we recommit to every day. It’s a decision to ruthlessly create something authentic and stick to it over the long haul.
Professionals have stepped back from themselves and their egos. They've grown so bored and sick of their own bullshit.
What changes when we turn pro is that we stop fleeing. We turn around and face our fears and create something authentic and meaningful.
The Practice by Seth Godin
Art is an approach that we pursue on for its own sake and not because we want anything guaranteed in return
Practicing art is not the means to the output. The practice is the output because it is all we can control.
We separate the outcome from the practice. Not because we don't care about the outcome. But because we do.
Insights
1/ Art
Art is seen as this hobby/pastime reserved for people with time. For wanderers. It’s seen as doodling and painting, but it’s about creation.
But for many young people who value meaningful work, it’s exactly what we’re seeking.
Art is anything done for it’s own sake. Whether this is building a business or serving coffee at Starbucks, art is something we do because we enjoy it.
What art is cannot be determined externally. Whether something is classified as art is an internal attribution we make ourselves.
2/ Representation
Art represents authenticity. The fact that we enjoy it and chose it out of all the things we could’ve done is meaningful.
Art is intentional. It represents a choice we continue to make every day.
Art is work that feels like play. Making art is a sign that we’re living life on our own terms.
3/ Artists, everywhere
Raise your hand. Speak up or do for something you truly believe in. It’ll take a bit of time to know what this is, but it’ll be worth it. Art is authentic to us.
Think about your current track if it’s relevant to what you stand for personally. Modernity has a way of shifting our priorities so that we do what’s socially acceptable instead.
Separate the outcome from the process. Not because we don’t care about the outcome, but because we do.
Go. Make art.