Show Your Work - Austin Kleon

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In an expert's mind there are few". This chapter focuses on being an amateur or a student because they are the most creative and curious groups of people. When you're learning something new, you're excited and nervous and have an empty slate to work with. Kleon asks us all to embrace that newness of the beginning. In fact, once you have mastered something, become a student again for a different skill because "That is all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else".

Another thing to keep in mind is commitment – the commitment to being a student and embracing all the hard work that you have to put in. Learning something new takes a lot of courage, work, and patience. This is why you should commit in front of others. Not only would it force you to "show up" every day, it would help you build connections through your work.

Additionally, the biggest take away from this chapter was the importance of finding my voice. "The only way to find your voice is to use it". Our work is not going to speak for itself and neither are our accomplishments. We have to have the courage to put it out there because in today's digital age, "if you work isn't online, it doesn't exist".

"Process is Messy". As a society we have all collectively always celebrated great inventions and final products. I don't know why but all of us are obsessed with idea of "effortless success" which to be really honest is bullsh*it. Why would I want to hide my blood, sweat and tears. Why do any of us want to hide our work? I think it's because we want to seem like we are geniuses and that we only come up with ideas meant for success. The fact of the matter is, you have to fail in order to succeed. It is our egos that we don't want to hurt. We don't want others to see our vulnerable side. We ultimately want to feel superior than our peers because that's the only type of success society seems to be celebrating.

But, Einstein, Bill Gates, Galileo, Walt Disney, J.K. Rowling, Steve Jobs (and every other success story) did not achieve success on their first try, neither did they put zero effort in order to build their product. "By letting go of our egos and sharing our process, we allow for the possibility of people having an ongoing connection with us and our work". That's what success (in my opinion) truly is – connection with others, not competition. Each one of us has a lot to share: Research, references, drawings, plans, sketches, interviews, audio recordings, photographs, videos, pinboards, journals, drafts, prototypes, demos, diagrams, notes, inspirations, scrapbooks, stories, collections, and the list keeps going. 

Ultimately, we have to let go of our egos and our fear of failure because only then would we be able to love our own process and build our own product. And what better way to do it than to make friends along the way that will see you grow and become part of that process.

It's all about incremental progress and having faith in the process of compounding. Every thing compounds over time and so will your work. We are constantly looking for validation that we base off of finished products. I think that's half of the reason why I have failed so many times in the past. I start something, get little to no validation from the process, lose motivation, and end up abandoning that project. But, you have to stick throughout the process. I think that's the reason I was so intrigued by the book because by sharing your process in small increments over time gives you the validation that you're looking for. It gives you something to look back at and be proud of. It reminds you of the motivation you had in the beginning and inspires you to keep moving forward.

Another aspect to this is that we don't need to share everything we come across. "90% of everything is crap" and this is not your diary. You have to pick and choose and fit the needs of your audience as well. You have to showcase the small bits of your work that best represent your process. Everything you post should pass the "So what?" test. Ask yourself if your work is interesting or useful: Yes? Share it. No? Toss it. You don't know? Save it for later. Kleon mentions that you need to post as if every person reading it has the power to fire you. That's just it. That's the best check of what you should share. Don't become a "Human Spam".

Additionally, we need to also think about organizing everything that we put out. Kleon suggests us to "turn our flow into stock". Flow is a messy collection of small parts of what you're working on. Stock is an organized collection of everything you have worked on, accumulated over time. To my understanding of this concept, I would call this blog a stock and all my posts as my flow. Every blog post that I am writing is being accumulated and organized in my blog while I am making sure that my flow is uninterrupted. "Maintain your flow while working on your stock in the background".

You don't want to be a gate-keeper or a "hoarder". You need to be curious and you need to keep learning from people who are doing something similar as you. The more you expose yourself to all sorts of new activities, the more you'll understand your likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. I think there are two parts to this point:

First is your perspective of your work. You have to cut yourself some slack and allow yourself to produce garbage. This realization was the reason I was able to start this blog. Initially, I was constantly worried of being judged for writing on certain topics or writing a certain way or my content not being interesting enough. Trust me, those fears are still there. But, at the end of the day, I have to bet on myself. I have to "have the courage to keep loving my garbage", because no one else truly will. That's just how it be. But remember, you are not doing it for anyone else. You are doing it because you are curious about a topic or because you want to explore something you never have before. 

Second part is about giving credit to others. As mentioned above, collaboration is key. No one produces things out of thin air. It is all a built up of information that us humans have collected over time that we pick and choose from on a daily basis. The content of this blog post comes entirely from the book Show You Work! You are never truly responsible for the entirety of your work. You might have gotten inspiration from an artist or got some quotes from a book that you read or got an organizational tip from your favorite YouTuber. Whatever it is, the credit is always due. Just don't be egocentric and be willing to promote other people's works by giving them the credit that they deserve.

Your work doesn't speak for itself. And, although our process is usually messy, that's not what you should present. Authentically posting about your work doesn't mean that you post it in the messy, disorganized manner that you found it in. You need to be able to structure what you post in a way that captivates your audience. "A good story is tidy, sturdy, and logical. Unfortunately, most of life is messy, uncertain, and illogical". 

A good story is also how you make connections will your audience. Keeping them engaged is key. However, don't think that success depends on the number of new connections you have made through your work. The truth is "sometimes the idea fails, sometimes the idea succeeds, and more often than not, it doesn't do anything at all". And that's okay. You need to start by expecting blank stares from people. Be patient and empathetic towards your audience and try to answer whatever questions they might have. This is also helpful in treating awkwardness. "Don't treat [these situations] as interrogations. Treat them as opportunities to connect with somebody by honestly and humbly explaining what it is that you do". Remember, you are not your work!

“Teaching doesn’t mean instant competition”. This was a hard pill to swallow. I am so used to looking at my peers as competitions that this point took me aback. But thinking about it now, it makes so much sense. Every single one of us are playing a completely different game on a completely different field. Each one of us has different hobbies, tastes, strengths, and weaknesses. The competition, in my opinion, is a very capitalistic way of living which may be beneficial in some scenarios, but, emotionally, it makes us treat our friends and supporters as competitions.

From a very young age, we are put into institutions of education systems that promote ranking systems and "merit" based awards. But, the so-called "merit" is so subjective and narrow that it almost never accounts for a student's true talent, ambition, or situation. However, living in a society that prioritizes these ranks forces us to look at every person as our next competition. This societal mindset, thus, leaves no room for a teaching environment to generate.

Teaching is a very generous and team-building activity, in my opinion. Teaching doesn't mean authority nor does it mean that the student is instantly going to start competing with you. When we want to gate-keep the information or the skill we have, no one truly is being benefitted off of it. And you can't gate-keep your expertise for too long. Somewhere along the way someone else is going to pick up that skill and start teaching and building connections through that act. On the other side, you would be left alone, with your skill that you barely are able to practice because you don't want to share that skill with another person.

That's a very selfish yet self-destructive act in my opinion that all of us should refrain from. Let's help each other out. Let's teach each other what we know and learn from it at the same time. Remember, it's all about collaborations and connections!

This is definitely self-explanatory and something that we talked about in Chapter III. You don't wanna post absolute garbage that won't be needed or helpful to others. Your content should pass the "So What?" test. One of the biggest problems with being a human spam is not that you post a lot. It is that you slowly become so obsessed with your work that you can't seem to appreciate or even notice other people's works. "[Human Spams] cant find the time to be interested in anything other than themselves", which I believe is true. Think about it this way. If you continuously post whatever first comes to your mind without any filter, it is usually because you think your work is presentable. If you constantly think that your work is worthy of being shown-off, you'll slowly stop looking to improve and turning to other people for solutions, tips, and tricks. This would slowly lead to creative isolation and you would be stuck producing the same quality of content over and over again.

Another big takeaway for me was – "Stop worrying about how many people follow you online, and start worrying about the quality of people who follow you". Often when we start getting famous or popular, we stop evaluating the quality of people because the quantity of people usually seems more impressive. But, you should "want hearts not eyeballs". You want people to support you, connect with you, critique you, and grow with you. You simply won't be able to connect with people if you don't take interest in their work first. "If you want fans, you have to be a fan first", because experience of art is a two-way street. A measure of the quality of people you keep in your life or allow to follow you is the Vampire Test – "if after hanging out with someone you feel worn out and depleted, that person is a vampire". This test works with people, activities, things, and anything in life. "Whatever excites you, go for it. Whatever drains you, stop doing it". Kleon coins the term KnuckleBallers for people that you do want to keep in your life. "These are your real peers–the people who share your obsessions, the people who share a similar mission to your own, the people with whom you share a mutual respect".

At the end of the day, the path to becoming a creator is not supposed to be lonely. But, you need to pick and choose the kind of people you want to surround your work with because they matter. They are the ones to give you feedback and they are the ones you who are going to stick around the longest. And, they are usually the ones to shape you and your work in the future as well. It is up to you to choose them wisely.

"Don't take criticism personally". At the end of the day, you need to remember that your work is not you.

As a perfectionist myself, I have spent most of my life trying to make things perfect and then get applauded for my final project. But, there are three problems with this dream. First, no matter how much I try, I am never going to be able to create something perfect. It is always going to have flaws. Which brings me to my second point. If I always aim for perfection, I will never be able to learn. One of the best things that one can be in their lifetime is a student. And as mentioned in Chapter 1, "that's all anyone of us are – amateurs". It is so important to constantly keep learning and progressing forward. Third, if I constantly keep romanticizing the idea of working behind close doors, it completely cuts me off from collaborating and learning from others who might be in the same boat as me.

Now, that we have perfectionism out of our way, I don't think there's any other reason (not that I know of) to not put yourself up to get feedback. The best way to get over the fear of failing or being criticized is to put yourself out there. “The more criticism you take, the more you realize it can’t hurt you”. It all simply feels like an opportunity to learn and grow. If you are compulsively avoiding getting embarrassed by others, I totally understand. I am someone who refused to say a word during a debate round because I was afraid of people thinking I'm dumb or criticizing me. But, the way I got over it, is by doing debate for 4 years. That means, for 4 years, I continuously put myself out there for criticisms from judges, peers, mentors, and coaches. Criticism is a form of feedback and feedback is an essential part of growth. Don't be scared of growing just because it's uncomfortable for a few moments.

Now, once you're comfortable with taking criticism, the biggest questions remains, "how do I deal with negative comments/feedback". Think about it this way; you have complete control over your work at all times. You are the ultimate decision-maker. I think the first step is to take your ego out of the equation and genuinely give the comment some consideration. Remember, the comment doesn't have anything to do with who you are and it's definitely not affecting your self-worth. Then, ask yourself whether you truly agree with it and if it's a valid claim. Yes? then take steps to learn from the comment and improve. No? then delete the comment. Kleon mentions an analogy that his wife gave him about hate comments online – "If someone took a dump in your living room, you wouldn’t let it sit there, would you? Block people, delete nasty comments".

And that's just it.

Personally, this was the most confusing of all the ten points because I don't really understand what 'selling out' really means in this context. But, when I googled the definition here's what I found: "A 'sellout' is a person who betrays something to which she is said to owe allegiance". In this context, I think Kleon is trying to point out that it is okay to sell out. In fact, he recommends it because no one owes you anything. There are going to be times that you get jealous of people who try to follow the same trajectory as you. Kleon mentions, "don’t be jealous when people like you do well–celebrate their victory as if it’s your own". It is not worth getting jealous of other people's success based on their money or how many people are following them. You are not working to make money or make fans. You are working because you love the work that you're doing. 

“A life of creativity is all about change– moving forward, taking chances, exploring new frontiers”. I think we often get too comfortable with our current situation and forget to get out of it. But we need to remember that change is the only constant. A creator's life is full of changes, but that's life. 

This is definitely a chapter that I want to look more into so, I don't have much to say. But, these were some of my key takeaways from the chapter.

"Work is never finished. Only Abandoned". Keep doing the work that you're doing, even if you have to hit pause on it once in a while. If you are scared of failing, remember that success was never the goal. In fact, "you can’t count on success; you can only leave open the possibility for it, and be ready to jump on and take the ride when itches for you". Just keep pushing through because of two things: 1) the power of compounding – every bit of your work will be saved and you will be able to track your progress, in the least. 2) Each new creation leads to another one. 3) One success or failure is no guarantee of another success or failure. 4) success is not the goal of your creation. The goal of your work is to create connections and practice your skills that you have.

Don't be desperate for success because the minute you get it, you'll stop learning, and if you don't get it, it'll devastate you. Your goal is to keep being a student and learning as much as you can, as outlined in Chapter 1. Once you have mastered a skills, "you have to push yourself to become a student again". Mastery or success is no reason to stop personal growth. All we need to do is strive for consistency and growth and keep pushing forward!