Omar Usman – 3 Lessons from Steal Like An Artist Austin Kelon
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Hey guys, Umer Osman here. Today I'm sharing
3 things I learned from steal like an
artist by Austin Kleon. The title is self
explanatory
and he opens the book with a quote
that says art is theft by Pablo Picasso.
The first thing I learned was that nothing
is original.
Everyone builds on what's come before. There's no
such, you know, we all there's almost no
such thing as a a new idea that
we invent out of thin air, but we
take things that we are processing and consuming
and looking at and we build on it.
There's a quote in the book that says,
everything that needs to be said has already
been said. It's just that no one was
listening and so we have to find new
ways of saying it. It has to be
said again. And that's really the essence of
creativity,
is we're taking what's there, but we build
on it and we put our own creative
spin on it. And one thing that's really
important is that we have to then make
sure that we're in the habit of collecting
good ideas. So the things that we read,
the stuff that we look at online, the
people that we follow, the things that we
watch on TV, the things that we listen
to on the radio or podcast, whatever form
of consumption that we have, we need to
make sure that we're collecting good things. Garbage
in, garbage out. So the more good ideas
that you collect, the more they influence you,
the more that you're able to build on
them. The second thing I learned was take
it easy.
And in the book, he says that it's
good to be bored. It's good to just
give yourself time to let things process and
marinate. One thing that's really challenging in our
times is that with our phones and devices
and all of these things, every free moment
that we have, we're consuming more and more
stuff. And so we never let our we
never let thoughts just
kind of sit and reflect and ponder. And
that's why things like, you know, quote unquote
shower thoughts are so powerful
is because it's 10, 15 minutes that our
mind is able to just wander and not
be constrained by anything else. So be bored.
Give yourself time to think. Another thing would
take it easy is
take it easy with your hobbies and side
interests. It's good to have them. One thing
that he says is that, you know, a
lot of times we're focused in on eliminating
and making sure that everything adds up, everything's
going down a certain path.
I might not know how being a die
hard Houston Rockets fan, you know, somehow mixes
with project management. I don't know how those
dots connect, but that's kind of the point.
Steve Jobs said that no one knows how
the dots connect looking forward.
It's only once you get to a certain
stage and you look back that you're able
to piece together
how all those things work together and fit
together and made molded you into who you
are. So be a fan of
that process, the creative process. Don't, you know,
just take it easy. Don't worry too much
about how things are going. The third lesson
that I learned was be boring. Now that
might be counterintuitive
to something about creativity,
but it's a really important point and it's
an underrated point.
He says Austin Kleon says creativity is energy.
And in order to be at your creative
best, to be your energetic best, you have
to take care of yourself. That means making
sure that you're eating right, sleeping right, your
family situation, your he says don't quit your
day job. Keep your day job. The less
worry and stress that you have, the more
creative you're able to be. A boring daily
routine
is vital
because a boring daily routine, it takes care
of all those major things and it allows
you to dedicate your energy and mental focus
into being creative. If you're always worried about
other stuff, you can't be creative, but make
sure your energy is going into creativity. That's
3 things I learned from steal like an
artist. A link to the book is down
below in the description. Please make sure you
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