MBA1118 Must Read: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

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Today's must read is Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon. I heard about this book several times before I actually picked it up and read it and recently I heard it referenced in another book that I was reading. So I was like, I gotta read this book already. In this book, Steal like an Artist, the author Austin Kleon goes into detail on how art is actually made. And when he says art he means any kind of creative pursuit that includes creating a product and building a business around it. Most of us think that all the best ideas are original ideas and ideas have to be original or they're just not going to be successful. Well, Austin Kleon debunks all of that and says, no, there are no original ideas. In fact, all the best artists and creators steal from each other. Now, in today's episode, I'm going to explain what he means by steal and how to do this without getting into legal trouble, and how you should approach your creation process. Whether you're writing a blog post or creating a slide deck for your webinar, or creating a product or business. This book really made me feel good. After reading it, I'll explain why along with all my takeaways. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Seal like an Artist by Austin Kleon starts with a bold statement, and that's there's no such thing as completely original art. Now, again, art really just means any kind of creation that includes our products or services, our blog posts. Many people assume that originality defines greatness. We think that in order for our art or creation to be great, nobody has seen it before. It's got to be original. This can push us to struggle and make us feel like nothing we do is original. Why? Because no matter how hard we try, this is impossible. You can't create original art. Austin claims that no art is original. Even Picasso and authors like Stephen King, they had influences in their life, and they borrowed and took some of the aspects of the people that they admire and incorporated it in their work. There was a sentence in this book that I had to underline, and that's all. Art is a product of the artist's influences. Now, if I look at my work and if I'm completely honest, it's the result of my influences. He mentions that the Beatles, for example, started as a cover band and they only started writing their own songs after they mastered the work of their heroes. Now, Austin Klein gives this really good analogy. He says, artistic influences are sort of like genetics. Every child is a mix of their parents gene. A person's DNA is not original. It's a mixture of two different people. And he says, our work, our art, our taste is really a mix of all the influences that we have been exposed to. So he says, expose yourself and be around great art, great work, great products, because they will influence your taste and influence what you can produce. Now, before I go any further, Austin Kleon in this book makes it very clear. Do not plagiarize people's work. Don't just copy people's work. When he says steal, he means, oh, that's a good idea. How can I implement it in my way? For example, he talks about Conan o' Brien and how he Tried to be a talk show host that resembled Johnny Carson. Now, he didn't use Johnny Carson's voice or his theme music or steal his jokes and, you know, repeat them verbatim, but he tried to use him as an example. And he actually sort of tried to mimic his comedic style. But, of course, he was Conan. And through that practice, he developed his own style and his own comedy. So the more you can learn about the people you admire, the people that you look up to, and their work, the more that knowledge will influence your work. Now, Austin also talks about something very important. It says, don't abandon your hobbies and side projects when you're focused on your art or your work or your creation or your business. When you start this path of creating things for the world, you might be tempted to abandon your hobbies, to abandon any kind of side project you've been working on or things that you like to do to kind of relax. You might you want to fully immerse yourself in your new project, your new work. Now, that may seem like a good idea, but limiting yourself in this way can actually hinder your productivity. And there's a few reasons for this. First of all, your hobbies and your other projects provide an outlet for you. When you're hitting some sort of block, creative block in your business, you need to step away from it and do something else that's immersive. Some of my best ideas or kind of breakthroughs or eureka moments I have in my business is when I'm away from it, when I'm on vacation, when I'm at the beach, when I'm playing a really intense basketball game. When it's all said and done and I'm going back to the office or going back to work, I have a new perspective and ideas flow. Sometimes we gotta let our brains kind of shut off and work on things in the subconscious. I'm sure we all heard the term, you know, sleeping on it. And what sleeping on it really means is just you're not thinking about it consciously, but subconsciously you are. And by leaving your work for a moment and focusing on something else, something that gives you pleasure, something that you can immerse yourself in, it allows your brain to really solve its own problems. A lot of people find this in simple hobbies like playing video games or card night, or they play poker with their friends or having a really hard workout at the gym. Another point he makes in the book that I really like is that he talks about sharing your work so you can become well known but enjoy the benefits of obscurity. First, we all want to be famous and well known for our work, and that's really our goal in the long run. But when you first start, obscurity can actually help your career, help you do better. You know, obscurity gives you a chance to be creative and make mistakes when not a lot of people are looking. The stakes are not so high when people start to know you and follow every aspect of your work, you're under a lot of scrutiny, and mistakes are bigger than they are in the beginning, when you're not well known. So at the start, enjoy the fact you're obscure. Enjoy the fact you're not famous. Because eventually, if you keep at it and you keep growing, you will become more and more well known and you'll be under the microscope. So enjoy that first stage of obscurity. Another very important point he makes in the book is to value praise that you receive, but don't let criticism get you down. See, when you open yourself up, when you share your work with the world, whether you're launching a new product, launching a new business, changing the way you do things in your service, you're gonna get a lot of people say, great job, this is wonderful, congratulations. But you're gonna people that don't agree with you, people that just don't like your work, don't like you. That's the world. We are human beings, and this is natural. The Internet is a great tool, It's a great connector, and it's a great way to get your message out. But of course, it has its downsides. Some of those messages will be towards you, and it won't be so positive all the time. If you ever get harassed or criticized, don't let it bring you down. And suddenly, don't let it stop you from creating. Ignore the negativity and turn your anger inward. Let it inspire you. Cleon, for example, the author of this book, sometimes reads his hate mail in the morning because it gives him energy to get up and work, gives him a reason to go out and prove them wrong. So find out what works for you. Maybe what works for you is completely ignoring it. Maybe what works for you is to read those comments when you're winning and you can say, ha, I showed them. Or maybe you're like Cleon, where you use it as fuel to fire your desire to do better. He also talks about don't forget about the praise. Read the praise and really enjoy the praise. And also practice praising others is important. You can write a blog post praising your favorite author, for example, or a piece of work or a new business idea that you thought was brilliant. The more praise you give others, the more you will receive. So make sure you praise Is it.

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To wrap up today's must read episode, Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon. This book really made me think about what original art really means, what original creation means, and how we're all influenced by other great workers of art, and how we're all influenced by our own heroes, and how important it is to be exposed to good work. This is why I think it's important to visit museums and art galleries. You may not be a painter or a sculptor or an architect, but great work is contagious when you're around great work, any kind of work, it's going to influence you in some way. And you don't have to stay all day in the museum. A nice brisk walk is going to be just enough for you to feel inspired and to cultivate great taste. Thank you so much for listening to the 100 LMBA show. If you love what you hear, drop us an iTunes rating and review. We'd love to hear what you think about the show. And don't forget to hit subscribe. It's the easiest way to get our episodes automatically right on your device so you don't miss a beat. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Whatever you steal, make sure you make it your own. Give it your own personal touch and spin. Don't make it a carbon copy. People can understand and respect influences, but when you don't make any kind of effort to give it your own take on it, your own style just looks lazy. Alright, thank you so much for listening and I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care. Of.

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