Show Your Work
Austin Kleon
Summary
Short read on sharing your creativity and getting discovered from the author of 'Steal like an Artist', a favourite of mine
Rating: 4/5
Notes
Crafting something is a long uncertain process. A maker should show her work
Creativity is always in some sense a collaboration - the result of a mind connected to other minds
Stop asking what others can do for you and start asking what you can do for others
Contributing something is better than contributing nothing
Forget about being an expert or professional and wear your amateurism on your sleeve
If your work isn’t online, it doesn’t exist
Process is messy
Become a documentarian of what you do
Work while the world is sleeping and share while the world is at work
‘Post as though everyone who can read it has the power to fire you’
Register a domain name
Be concerned with doing good work and if you build a good name, eventually that name will be its own currency
Share your influences
Credit is always due. Don’t share it if you can’t credit it.
When shown something, people’s assessment of it is deeply affected by what you tell them about it
‘Autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful’ - Orwell
Make people better at something they want to be better at
If you want fans, you have to be a fan first
Don’t worry about how many people follow you online but the quality of people who do
Enact the vampire test with people - if after hanging out with someone you feel worn out and depleted, that person is a vampire. Vampires can’t be cured so don’t spend time with them
Learn to take a punch. The more criticism you take, the more you realize it can’t hurt you
If you have a troll problem, block them and delete nasty comments
Always keep a mailing ‘list’
Be as generous as you can but selfish enough to get your work done
A successful or failed project is no guarantee of another success or failure
Don’t die, simply disappear for a while
***
Free E-book download here
Make Something Wonderful
Steve Jobs
Summary
The life of Steve Jobs in his own words
Rating: 5/5
Notes
Make something wonderful and put it out there
‘You appear, have a chance to blaze in the sky, then you disappear’
When you’re a stranger in a place, you notice thing you don’t otherwise (Jobs after India trip)
Whenever you start with nothing, always shoot for the moon. You have nothing to lose.
You never achieve what you want without falling on your face a few times
Never be afraid to fail. You never achieve what you want without falling flat on your face a few times
We are never taught to listen to our intuitions, to develop and nurture them. But if you do pay attention to these subtle insights, you can make them come true
Creativity equals connecting previously unrelated experiences and insights others don’t see
Believe that some of what you follow with your heart will come back and make your life richer. And it will. And you will gain even firmer trust on your instincts and intuitions
Make your avocation your vocation. Make what you love your work.
The journey is the reward. The reward isn’t in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s in crossing the rainbow
To find A+ talent, if experienced, look at their track record and results
The world we know is a human creation and we can push it forward
The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do (read whole ad ‘here’s to the crazy ones)
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit - Aristotle
Hire people better than you are
You can’t plan to meet the people who will change your life
It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forward, but they make sense looking backwards so you have to trust the dots will somehow connect in your future
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people no smarter than you
***
Buy the book here
Free E-book download here
