Today I will tell you secret of my success as an artist. Yeah right. But seriously, I get this question so many times I thought I'd write a post as a general answer to all who care to read.
DISCLAIMER FOR COPY PASTE COMMENTS TWO SECONDS AFTER I POSTED THIS WHO DON'T EVER READ SHIT: I TOOK TIME AND CARE TO WRITE THIS BLOG SO UNLESS YOU REALLY READ IT DO NOT LEAVE YOUR WORTHLESS "NICE PICS/THANK YOU FOR SHARING" COMMENTS. I AM NOT YOUR REGULAR STEEMIT JOE TRYING TO PLEASE! AND I WILL CALL YOU ON YOUR SHIT. THANK YOU!
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Wow, that felt good. I guess I can proceed now since the idiots have been warned (not that I have much hope in the effect of my warning...:)
Whatever I will share with you today is my story. That does not mean that my story will apply to your life. It might ignite a spark of hope or interest or motivation in you, but it is only me sharing my journey. Your journey will be your journey and YOU WILL WALK IT ALONE whether you like it or not. Universe loves brave souls, so you better suck it up.
To begin with let me tell you this: there is no secret.
Do you hear me??? There is NO SECRET!
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Never was, never will. Once you open yourself enough to the wonder of creation, you will realize that everything in existence is interconnected and so everything can be accessed at any time. You want to hear a bold statement? Then eat this: EVERYTHING HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. There is no end and no beginning and time is a 3D construct that does not exist beyond that. All you got to do is melt. I know, this might be too much so lets get back to my story of success.
Whatever I will tell you (and anyone else for that matter) about how I made my art career successful, is not a secret that you need to read in some special book or hear from a successful person. It is right in your brain if you care to look for it. You've been programmed for success, full stop. You just haven't cared enough to look for it hard enough. You have not sit alone in the most uncomfortable spot inside of yourself without trying to run away or distract yourself with coffee or sex. You have not tried and failed enough times.
And mind you- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAILURE IF YOU DO WHAT YOU LOVE.
Always for love!
Which brings me to the first and foremost rule of how I made it:
1. Do Everything For Love. And LOVE ONLY
<3
We keep on seeing success as the amount of $ we make. Not in my world. Money is awesome and I love it. I do love making money while doing what I love. It's a totally intoxicating feeling when someone comes to my studio and leaves me a 5 figures cheque for my painting. BUT MONEY IS A SIDE EFFECT OF YOUR LOVE AND PASSION NOT THE PRIMARY GOAL. If your primary goal is to make money, you already failed. You might make money, but you will not be happy. You will be just one more miserable loser with a hole in his heart chasing the exit road out of your misery by doing the opposite of what would actually get you out of there. Sure, it's prolly better to be a rich loser than poor loser, but in the end they both play for the same team pretending something that they don't have: inner feeling of happiness and fulfillment. If you are not absolutely and madly in love with what you chose as your life mission ("career" is a totally irrelevant word), then you have simply not found it yet.
Keep looking. Invoke it. Pray for finding it. Sacrifice your comfort for finding it. Do every fuckin possible thing to find your life's purpose because without it you are a zombie, and there is billions of zombies already on this planet, we don't need more of them!
THIS SHOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT QUEST IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE! WHY AM I HERE?
Hint: if it is only about you, you are not even close to the answer. True mission always helps the whole. It always uplifts, somehow benefits, somehow inspires the others, and in turn the whole planet.
2. Don't listen to anyone. The answer is within you.
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I know it sounds like a cliche. But it is 100% true.
I read a funny book from Hugh MacLeod while ago. This one:
I agreed with most of what he said. Also, his doodles are funny as fuck, so I can highly recommend it. But I realized one thing while reading it: this book had nothing to teach me.
yup
:)
To me, most of the content was as obvious as not buying GMO corn. Once you tap into your life's purpose, you don't need anyone/anything to tell you how to do things. Because you don't do things for the sake of the result or for the sake of approval/validation from others. You do your thing for the joy of creation, because that is what keeps you alive. Everything else is just a waste of time.
Summary of this rule and this book is along the same lines: nobody is gonna teach you how to be happy or successful. Motivational courses and self-growth programs are SCAM for sheep who constantly seek outside for guidance forgetting to look in the one place where all the answers are: WITHIN.
You don't need Tony Robbins. You don't need Landmark course. And you certainly don't need me. You NEED YOU, your REAL YOU who you ignored whole life and mistaken it for the ceaseless chatter in your head!
3. Have a clear vision and give it ALL YOU HAVE
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Tell me one thing: how the f..k can Universe give you what you want if you don't know what you want? Answer: it can't. That is why I said at the beginning that the FINDING OF YOUR PURPOSE should be the most important quest of your life.
Once you find it, and you will if you really give it all you have, then all will make sense. You life will be divided in two sections so clearly different, like a day or night: THE LIFE BEFORE AND AFTER YOU FOUND YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE.
But one thing will separate you from the mental world of realization and physical word of tangible everyday reality of your new life: action. That action has to be fueled by a very clear vision of who you are. You have to feel and see yourself as the purveyor of your newly found purpose in its finest form. If it's an artist, then see yourself as an artist. And not just "some artist". A FRIKIN AMAZING KICK ASS WORLD-CLASS ARTIST whose art inspires the f..k out of people!
And that action has to be consistent, persistent and relentless. You have to give your life's purpose all you have, not just few hours a day. That doesn't mean that you can't go on holidays, but even on holidays you look at the world through the eyes of an artist, you see beauty everywhere, and if you don't sketch it on paper, you sketch it in your imagination.
And that is what I did not agree with in the previously mentioned book of Hugh MacLeod, namely about what he said about playing it safe: keeping a part time job while cultivating your passion in a stress free conditions (bills are paid by the part time job). Works for most, works for him and probably works for you, but not for me. I only do things fully. I don't think that you can reach the peak of your potential if you did not show to Gods that you're willing to go hungry and dirty for it. If you're not willing to lose your job or lover or social status for it, you DO NOT DESERVE YOUR DREAM.
If you just knew that you have the power to lift the mountains...because you do!
Your best is not what you think it is. It is not what you do 99% of your time. It hurts and it feels shitty. It is not glamorous and it is not in the spotlight of social acclaim. It is does not receive public accolades. It is a lonely, sweaty and long-ass grind. Are you ready?
Go public and show your creations and make your name your brand (don't hide behind nicknames!), but don't look for validation or likes. Do it because you are not scared. Don't do it with pride, because you have to be your greatest critique, do it with joy and nonchalance of a child. What others think of your art is not your business!
Speaking of books, one that I truly loved above all on this subject, was The War of Art from Steven Pressfield.
This will tell you what RESISTANCE is and what it takes to become the samurai who will slaughter it. I have to admit, despite all I said about not needing anything but the voice of your heart, this book helped me tons to accelerate the process of manifesting of what I knew, but was struggling to act upon.
How my story relates to this rule? I lost my manager position in finance in 2011. I was looking for job for a while and got few offers. But one fine day I sit down and asked myself an honest question: do I want another office job? Fuck no! What do I want? Paint full time like a crazy mothafaka! And so I did. I calculated I had enough $ for a year if I lived super frugal life and just painted. And that's what I did. And I did burned all my money eventually, even before I started to sell paintings. But only and I repeat this: ONLY AFTER I WAS TOTALLY BROKE BUT STILL KEPT ON GOING, FOR LOVE, NOT MONEY, MONEY CAME.
You have to open your hand first and let go (namely of your feeling of "security") so that a new, better thing, can land in the palm of your hand. Life often has to break you down first, and wash away all your ideas of success and money and fame, before the seed of real success can grow in the fertile ground of your "cleaned" self.
Of course, there is much much MUUUUCH more I could write on this subject. But I already gave this blog 3 times of my assigned time and skipped many happy painting moments.
But I did it for love.
Hope it helps
Love & Light,
Jan
P.S.: Remember: you are programmed for success. Just stop running around looking for it in places where it doesn't grow.