If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.
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Austin Kleon
Austin Kleon (born 1983) is a New York Times bestselling author of three books: Steal Like an Artist; Show Your Work!; and Newspaper Blackout. Kleon's works focus on creativity in today's world. He has spoken at organizations such as Pixar, Google, and TEDx, and at conferences such as The Economist's Human Potential Summit. 2Biography Kleon was born in Circleville, Ohio, United States. Kleon has worked as a librarian, a web designer, and a copywriter, previous to being a published author. Kleon's work has been translated into over a dozen languages and featured on major media. Kleon lives in Austin, Texas with his famil
I mean, sure, do what you love, but do it on the nights-and-weekends plan.
But look, a lot of the people who ask me for advice, they're not just asking about how to be a writer. Because everyone knows that: How to be a writer is: you write all the time, and you read all the time, and eventually maybe you'll write something worth reading. The question people are really…
When I do those books, I know it's a product. I know it's going to be shelved in a certain part of the bookstore. So what I try to do is inject it with as much artfulness and as much of myself and as much honesty as I can. But it never leaves me, the fact that I'm making something that's going to…
But what I quickly realized is, I'm not quitting my day job. I'm swapping one day job for another.
People hear 'NYT bestseller' and they think, 'Oh, he's a millionaire or something', which is just ridiculous as anyone who's been on that list can tell you.
It’s one of my theories that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.
Read deeply. Stay open. Continue to wonder.
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.