I'm So Great

Someone once said "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard".  Many people expect talent alone to carry the day when in reality success is never given; it must be earned. In the Bible God gives his followers "if, then" propositions. If Moses faced Ramses, then he would free the Hebrews. David had to fight Goliath. Daniel had to refuse to kneel. Peter had to step out of the boat. Action precedes results.

 Reward comes from effort. Champion body builders pump iron for hours in the gym everyday for their physique. The winner of a marathon runs hundreds of miles prior to a race. A Super Bowl MVP has been playing football since he was a child attending every practice. 

Talent alone is insufficient and the world is full of lazy geniuses. Many are called but few get up.

Nothing Out of the Ordinary

Great men aren't always great; they're only great when they have to be. For even the giants of history, everyday was pretty mundane which is true for most of us as 99% of the time; we have normal days when we do normal tasks. Sometimes we have things to do that are out of the ordinary and on rare occasions we go above and beyond. Great things are accomplished by ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Carpe the hell out of this diem!

Late Boomer Bloomer

In today's youth obsessed society baby boomers are often looked upon as yesterdays news and past their prime with little left to contribute, but nothing could be further from the truth. In his book Late Bloomers, Rich Karlgaard explains how the over 50 generation has qualities, knowledge and experiences tempered by time that cannot be ignored and has provided great contributions in modern culture. Many late bloomers find it a time when they truly find their stride in life and begin to really excel.

 Here I come, a man in my fifties, beginning in earnest to make a splash in an industry consumed by youth, however people of my demographic need a voice as well. Stay tuned for more about  and for my beloved generation.

No Medals for Trying

A ship that sails last longer than one that sits in port. An unoccupied house falls into disrepair faster than one that is lived in. A person who avoids stress and discomfort will grow unhealthy years before his time. Many times the pressures of decisions and everyday life can leave us wishing we didn't have to go through such stress but whats the alternative?

Is This Twinkie bigger or Is it me?

It's unfortunate that it takes a pandemic to compel me to pivot my business in a direction I've always intended it to go from the outset. One arena of my business has been in dire need of remodeling but out of complacency and a lack of urgency I've neglected to do so. I've been content to play the business as usual game. Now that circumstances are changed as well as I, I'm discovering that business as usual would be fatal to my livelihood.

I'm discovering the groups of associates and business acquaintances with whom I've become involved over the years have a less influential position in the course I and my life's work are headed. In the past I've had a bond with this tribe of  colleagues as our target customers were comparable therefore preserving a connection justified reasonable business sense even if the impact was minimal. 

For years I've whittled my list of social media acquaintances (I'm hesitant to use the term "friends") to smaller and smaller proportions for the purpose of uncluttering  my view of those with whom I held little in common. I don't feel a real obligation or desire to remain abreast of the trivial affairs of  people in whom I have little involvement with and in turn they feel the same about me. Our common target customers have changed. My needs have changed. Our synergistic affiliation is no longer necessary if it ever really was. I've even come to discover that some of my relationships are actually harmful and continuing to pursue them, feigning interest, is a waste of my time and energy not unlike consuming harmful comfort food that although its nice is either useless or inimical.

Time to cut out the comfort food and find healthier solutions and I'm actually excited about it. Being somewhat of a minimalist I travel further and faster when not diverted by extras. I can focus more precisely on obtaining my objectives while serving those with whom I hold symbiotic exchanges.

Irresponsibility

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who developed the Hierarchy of Needs and simply put, it stated that a person must have his/her basic needs met (food, clothing, shelter, love) before he/she can proceed to find their self-actualization. Self-actualization is basically finding one's purpose in life and fulfilling it. He therefore asserts that if a person is aware of his/her ability or a purpose then it is their obligation to fulfill that purpose.

So little to do, so much time to do it

Just as with any career or business enterprise there are many things involved in trying to succeed as a professional commercial artist. It involves a lifestyle change especially when my normal job, which has nothing to do with cartooning, is pretty much dead in the water because of covid-19. It forces me to get busy pivoting and finding new avenues of approach to earning an income. It involves new habits, lifestyle changes, new business model, new hours, new goals, new acquaintances. With all this newness it leads to one cold hard fact: new habits are sequential not simultaneous.

If that's the case then it's realistic not to expect any real gains for many months or even years  especially if it take 66 days to create a habit as prescribed in The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan but who wants to wait that long?

Fortunately most of the new habits it takes to obtain success are mental and the tasks associated with it don't have to be done repeatedly but it does take time. There is a lot of that going around lately.