Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Career & experience

  • Remember the time you were told you don't have the experience. I'll never say that to anyone.


  • Give the job to a young artist. Give them the chance to surprise you, & themselves.

    People suffer not because they aren't experienced enough. They suffer because they aren't trusted enough.

  • I work with the assumption that you are here because you're good at something.

  • Do you want to convey other peoples content or your own?

    Your creative career choice boils down to this: Do you want to create for others or create for yourself?

  • You don't have to be employed as a creative to be creative.

    No one likes the career wilderness. It's only the knowledge & ideas you collect that make it worthwhile.

    So many find themselves in the wilderness (professionally). As long as you're not wondering aimlessly.

  • Don't need to wait for a job you've already done. Chase the creative career you want.

    Obvious enthusiasm is more valuable than career experience.

    You're not the sum of you work experience. Aim for your career expectations.

  • Don't be distracted by what you can do. Focus on what you want to create.
  • Stagnation, indecisive, procrastination, unmotivated & frustrated: all symptoms of no clear vision for your future career.

  • I hated Circumstances until I learnt to create my own.

    Circumstances come to you. Opportunities you go to.

  • Some innovate for an income. Some innovate for an outcome.

  • A career becomes 'abusive' when it says, "You're lucky to have me. No one else will want you".

    Money is no compensation for a career where time, talent & temperament feels wasted.

    The artist is a generous soul; He shares unique creations with strangers.

  • Success: Communicate often!

  • They say "There's no money in art", but there are now more opportunities than in any time in history!

    They say "A job's a job", but we need to find a way to do what we love.

    They say talent is common, but what is knowledge & skill without it?

    They say ideas are worthless, but they seeds of a prolific creative career.

    They say dreams don't pay the bills, but our world was built on the dreams of others.

  • You don't need permission to be the real you.

    Are we looking for creative freedom, or permission?

  • In the race for a better life, time is the greatest luxury.

  • The secret to a successful creative career is....YOU.

    Creative progress: Passionate > Proficient > Planned > Profitable

  • Success as a creative: Passion > Talent > Economic model > Transition plan > Realisation.

  • The creative economy: It’s not all about business. Its still your journey.

  • SUCCESS: It’s not what you do well now, it's what you want to do great.

  • Success & Happiness: It’s not what you know, it's knowing what you love.

  • Plan the work. Work the plan.

  • Can't be competitive in the future without being more creative.

  • Can't be prepared for an undefined future without the flexibility of creativity.

  • Create an end goal & work backwards.

  • Go to where the people are. Then create places where people can interact.

  • Creative success: Engage the culture, or have a vision to create one.

  • No matter what you do, you are in the idea business.

  • It's not about who you know but about which network you're in.

  • Creative purpose: Find a big unsolved problem you're passionate about.

  • Design your year & create a great future.

  • To innovate: See things as they can be. Not as they are.

  • To innovate: See things as they can be. Not as they are.

  • You want a big future? . . . Follow that big idea.

  • The beginning of innovation: Value your own observations.

  • The beginning of creativity: Value your own thoughts.

  • Innovation is the ability to improve everything.

  • So many ideas, so little time.

  • Love ideas for their own sake. Some may lead to profit. And some will illuminate you.

  • I get the feeling a lot of people now value any idea only because it could make them money.

  • A treasured idea is no substitute for research, practice and persistence.

  • Ideas can be powerful, but no single idea can be a silver bullet.

  • Change & globalization are everywhere. Creativity is the only way to prepare for the 21st century.

  • A commodity = Competition. Craftmenship = Unique value

  • People don't want to pay much for just a cabinet. But a lot are prepared to pay a premium for craftmenship.

  • It you give people what they need; that's a commodity. It you give people what they want; that's art.

  • An artist needs Task Management, not time management.

  • There are more possibilities for artist now than any time in history. Even more than 5 years ago.

  • The opportunities haven't disappeared for artist. They have just moved online.

  • I've seen artists work in cob-webs instead of on the Web.

  • Even a fine-artist needs their works digitally photographed or scanned, & put online so the world can see you.

  • Every artist needs to be part-digital artist.

  • At some point all art must got digital, if it is to reach your audience.

  • Your most inspiring ideas will be about how to make the world a better place for others.

  • There are some that learn their field, & some that change their field, & a few that create a new field.

  • There are the trendy, and there are the trend-setters.

  • A creative career: Your first customer is yourself. If you love it, others will too.

  • Some are born to be self-employed. Others have self- employment thrust apon them.

  • A photographer uses a camera to see more clearly. A film maker uses his medium to understand the world better.

  • Many artists have talked about their work like it's a relationship. And how it influences his relationship with the world.

  • Creating opportunities: Ask, work, look, connect, read, act fast, be prepared, find a need, be unique, communicate, persist, write ideas.

  • Create a connection between two of your unrelated interests, and that may be the beginning of a unique creative career.

  • Creativity isn't just for the new Creative Economy. It's also to prepare you for the future economy.

  • Can't predict the future, but you can create it. What you can't create, you can quickly adapt to.

  • Why do people assume that doing work you love will pay less?

  • Everything of value has a counterfeit.

  • Spot the difference: No choice -I need to work for someone. No choice -I need to work for myself.

  • Your ultimate value isn't preset by others.

  • A job will compliment you or insult you.

  • Don't let the work you're doing, distract you from the work you prefer to be doing.

  • Don't let what you've done, distract you from what you dream of doing.

  • A job becomes toxic when it erodes your self image.

  • Don't accept any work. Don't be so quick to abandon what you can be.

  • If you don't know what work you want to do, you'll end up doing what no one wants to do.

  • Artists should give more than expected but shouldn't ask for less than it's worth.

  • I heard of an artist who gave art works away. A week after he died, his art was at the auctions.

  • Artists are often generous people. But don't give it all away.

  • Don't wait to be discovered. Discover yourself & show the world.

  • I get my inheritance, not when someone dies, but when I start to live.

  • Choice is so wonderful. Choosing is,...not so good.

  • Choice in 19thcentury: Family trade? Start family? Die young?
  • Choice in 21 century: Do anything? Be anyone? Live anywhere?

  • Young people are so indecisive. You give them 20,000 job titles & they only have to pick one.

  • Job security is a myth. Don't put off your business idea.

  • Expecting pay without guaranteed results, doesn't guarantee you anything.

  • It's all or nothing; You go for a high profile or keep a low profile.

  • Boss' say, "Don't assume". Assuming of course that he hasn't assumed that I have all the info to do my job.

  • Job fact: Your managers position has more value than your commercial value.

  • We get paid to listen to the boss. But don't forget what your heart is saying.

  • If it's not all about need, it's about greed.

  • Not sure about this thing called, 'Mid-life Crisis'. It's probably, Mid-career Stagnation'!

  • People ask, "Is there money in it", long before they ask themselves, "Is my heart in it".

  • I believe in an alternate reality. Most of us already work in it.

  • We don't know what the future holds. Just the hope we can keep & attain which we hold dear.

  • Fortunately the important things don't change. But how we work is changing fast.

  • You can only make it big, by starting small.

  • Success: Not doing everything & surviving everything.

  • Comedians, Designers, Writers; They all live to address the things that bother them the most.

  • Don't envy the success of others & don't be bothered when others envy you.


  • Creative people need to create their own unique definition of success.

  • The pressure to 'look' successful is hard for an artist because of materialism & social positioning.

  • Material success is only one of seven ways to be successful.

  • Society has a limited definition of success.

  • Our chosen work is limited by it's materials, but creativity finds ways to push beyond those limits.

  • People don't look outside the box because they don't see problems as windows of opportunity.

  • We live in a time where ideas can flourish in days, which once took a lifetime to achieve.

  • What most people call success is just a more comfortable version of average.

  • Most of the world isn't successful. Don't let them define what it should look like for you.

  • Not everyone is going to find your work interesting. If you like your work, you'll find others that will too.

  • People won't say, "I love your work but I can't afford it now".

  • Sometimes people will let you assume that your work isn't good enough, to hide their own limitations.

  • People can have personal reasons why they can't buy your work, which has nothing to do with the work it's self.

  • Never criticize your work. Past or present.

  • You can't believe you didn't get that job, but don't stop believing in your ability.

  • People loose their confidence when they don't get a "Dream Job". It's not all about your work experience.

  • People won't tell you why you didn't get that job. Don't assume your experience was a major factor.

  • A critic is someone who has trouble bending their mental pictures & stories to understand your pictures & stories.

  • Often, loosing a job has more to do with economics than your ability. Don't assume you're not good enough.

  • A young Creative has no position to protect. He's free to follow his own path.

  • There is no reward without being rehearsed. No applause without the practice.

  • Create to learn. Learn to create.

  • Creative people know what can be changed, even if most think it's impossible.

  • It's crazy to try & change things you have no control over.

  • Yes you can, but what's your plan?

  • If a mistake isn't public, it's often fixable.

  • Ambition doesn't care how it gets it. Aspiration knows why it's worth it.

  • Aspirations lift people up. Ambition lowers them.

  • A creative leader isn't someone who climbed to the top. But someone who led from the front.

  • Value the passion that provides value.

  • I want my heart to be my boss. Let it tell me what to do.

  • Just had a guy say to me, "Some people were ment to succeed & others aren't...I'll never be successful".

  • Every time I talk to people about better careers, they 'heard of someone' who tried but failed.

  • A non-traditional job isn't really a 'job'. It's tailor made to fit the personality, interests, talents, skills, dreams to a niche market.

  • A traditional job is like any tradition; resistant to new ideas, decreasing in relevance & not focused on peoples needs.

  • A job can be like an unhappy relationship. More so, when the company is dysfunctional.

  • The wrong job is like an arranged marriage, or a marriage of convenience.

  • I've been in some jobs that didn't suit my personality at all. It's like being in an incompatible relationship.

  • Know your value, add value, provide value, receive value.

  • The type of career you design for yourself should match your personality type.

  • A creative life is the process of reducing the gap between what we imagine & what we make.

  • Dedication to a long term project isn't the virtue it used to be.

  • We live in a different world. We can now accomplish today what we imagined this morning.

  • Life is about finding yourself so you can loose yourself in your work.

  • It's not about what work you are in. It's about the work that is in you.

  • People who put a high value on knowledge, will be able to provide high value to others.

  • To decide what work will be important to you. First decide what isn't important.

  • Your first job is to find your labour of love.

  • Your customers will also be your fans, your end users, & your audience.

  • What's your passion? What's your talent? What's your economic model?

  • A creative business should be repeatable, not repetitive.

  • ideal > idea > deal

  • If you know what work you love to do, many of your questions are already answered.

  • Everyone needs to be valued, but in your desired career you need to provide value.

  • The best time to think of your future is when everything is going well.

  • If the highest you can go in your field doesn't excite you, you're in the wrong field.

  • If people love their work more than they love money, people would be a lot happier.
  • People would be a lot happier if they had work they loved, not just working for the money.

  • Ask for what you hope for. The most professional are often the most generous.

  • Many doors will open for you, but the first door is the one you knock on.

  • Your best future is in your hands (skills), in your head (knowledge) & in your heart (dreams).

  • Best career advice: Be nice.
  • -------------
  • Opportunities are the gaps between what everyone else is looking at.
  • Every change is a chance. Every shift in the world is a new opportunity to move.
  • Every time something moves in the world, an opportunity to fill the spaces appear.
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  • People who only want what they see, are blind to all the best possibilities.

  • Everyone thinks of the future because everyone needs something to look forward to.
  • Similar problems are opportunities that become a career.

  • What happens to you is called Change. What you do is called Transition.

  • Many learn a profession, Some change a profession, A few create a new profession.
  • A good guitarist learns to play, A better guitarist plays his own music, A brilliant guitarist invents a new guitar.

  • People don't get business ideas because they say, "I don't have a choice", & "It's too late for me".

  • Doing the work you love isn't limiting. There's plenty of variety in any one direction.

  • I'm thinking of becoming a Playfessional Polymathic Imperfectionist. (Now I just need an economic model that makes sense).

  • Working for others, it's probably been done before.
  • Working for yourself, it's more likely to be original.

  • I want to be the founder of a successful epiphany.

  • People who go far simply cover more ground.

  • It takes some creativity to save money. It takes more creativity to make money.

  • Work on your strengths. You'll be surprised how many people will encourage & help you.

  • Marketing is just an expression what you love. Don't be shy.

  • Creatives need to do what they love, Your love needs a business model, Business needs marketing, Marketing is telling people what you love.

  • I've known many artist who couldn't market themselves. They never went to the fans. There's been too many Gatekeepers.

  • An artist career must change. The great commissions, benefactors, patrons & funding are gone or shrinking.

  • Some creative people are left behind because they stay with traditional mediums & traditional jobs to support themselves.

  • The world is in transition but many creative people aren't.

  • The world is full of would-be fans, customers, clients, consumers or end users.

  • Most people don't realize they have marketable skills, or that there is a market for them somewhere.

  • Successful people do what they love (for people who value it).

  • What makes you unique, makes you hard to replace, which makes you valuable.

  • What is unique about you is often the solution others are looking for.

  • Be passionate about a solution that meets a need.

  • Success first asks, What would I love to do that serves people? Where could I offer a contribution?

  • Write down a 100 business ideas that you might love.
  • Doesn't matter how crazy they sound. . (Could change your future).

  • The world is my stage, my studio, my office.

  • If you don't give yourself to something, you have nothing of value to offer.

  • Creative people generally devote themselves to creating wonderful experiences for others.

  • A vocation is a work of devotion.

  • The best experts doesn't know it all, but loves it all.

  • It's not who you know or what you know, but who you love & what you love.

  • JOB FACTS: A 'basic' wage is 3/4 pay & 1/4 fear.

  • JOB FACTS: Most people believe that having work you love is a luxury few can afford.

  • JOB FACTS: There are enough myths about work & money to convince people that bad is better than worse.

  • JOB FACTS: An economy can only grow if 30% are poorly educated... to do the jobs no one really wants to do. #education

  • JOB FACTS: "We don't need no education" is the theme song of the casual laborer.

  • JOB FACTS: A job is a modern convenience. We become less & less self reliant.

  • JOB FACTS: A bad job with a good boss makes the job bearable.

  • JOB FACTS: There are too many Bean Counters working in too many Sausage factories.

  • JOB FACTS: An 'Under cover boss' shouldn't be such a stranger to his own employees.

  • JOB FACTS: The chances of having a good job greatly increase if the boss says, "Good job" ...occasionally.

  • JOB FACTS: It is estimated that 12% of Hell is reserved for bad bosses.

  • JOB FACTS: A boss needs to be more like a teacher & less like a landlord.

  • JOB FACTS: Today's unappreciated employee is tomorrows competitor.

  • JOB FACTS: The world is unkind to the unskilled. You need a trade, education, profession or expertise.

  • JOB FACTS: The best teachers said "Well done". The best bosses do the same.

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