While on a short 11-hour flight from Maryland to Hawaii, I had time to relax without the internet and unwind. I always bring my Kindle with me when I fly and keep a few books on my radar to read. I've heard good things about a book from Austin Kleon called Show Your Work! and I committed to reading it this trip. I've started to enjoy posting more of my fitness journey on social media from this book title before I even read the first page. For months I've wondered what would happen if I just started, knowing it was going to be bad and cringy. But the thought of not trying and forever wondering what could have been was far worse.
A few key points stood out to me and I had to write them down in my notebook so I didn't leave the thought at 35,000 feet. The chapter names themselves are pretty good tips, and each went into depth about ten key takeaways. Here are a few of my favorites:
"Share what you love, and the people who love the same things will find you."
This comes from Chapter 1, titled "You don't have to be a genius". This gave me the confidence to openly share what I enjoy without the fear of judgment, knowing that there's someone somewhere out there who also shares the same passion as I do. Although it seemed quite intimidating at first, I reminded myself to express myself unapologetically, and sure enough, friends showed up. Just this year I began to pick up running as training for my Spartan Race. Except I didn't have anyone to share my experiences with because all my weightlifting friends exclusively lifted (as the stereotype of skipping cardio day grows). I began to post my runs a few times, and sure enough a few new friends, who love the same things I do, reached out and started running together.
"Become a documentarian of what you do. Start a work journal: Write your thoughts down in a notebook, or speak them into an audio recorder. Keep a scrapbook. Take a lot of photographs of your work at different stages in your process. Shot a video of you working. This isn't about making art, it's about simply keeping track of what's going on around you. Take advantage of all the cheap, easy tools at your disposal- these days, most of us carry a fully functional multimedia studio around in our smartphones"
Chapter 2, "Think process, not product", was certainly a core value of the book. It drove home the importance of simply documenting what you do. It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter how insignificant it may seem, just document it. Once I began to follow this and start documenting random things in my day, the more I became aware of the important and sharable things in my day. Journaling allowed me to reflect on my day, and videoing random things gave me a whole gallery of media to pick and choose what I could share. I used to think everything that I recorded had to be shared. But after a while, it gave some significance to the content that I did choose to share.
"Human beings want to know where things came from, how they're made, and who made them."
"If you want to be more effective when sharing yourself and your work, you need to become a better storyteller. You need to know what a good story is and how to tell one."
I like the first quote from Chapter 5 "Tell Good Stories", because it sparked my curiosity, just because I'm a naturally curious person. I enjoy deeper learning of the things that interest me. In sports, an athlete's background is rarely duplicated between two different athletes. Many are similar, but never replicas. Kobe Bryant's mentality, Shaquille O'Neal's life story, and Kevin Durant's upbringing are a few that come to mind. Can you tell I like basketball? All three wouldn't have gotten to where they are today without a world-class work ethic. David Goggins is another that comes to mind. After a delinquent and rough childhood and being almost 300 lbs at one point, then turns into a Navy SEAL and an ultra-athlete. That's what I want to learn- where they came from and how these elite personalities were made.
Now, his second line kinda called me out a little bit. Anyone who knows me well is well aware that I am undoubtedly the worst storyteller there is. I laugh through my punchlines, I skip around in the story, and it's just all messy. But I'm working on it. And it's true, sharing myself and the things that I do has improved along the way and I only see it getting better.
Overall it was pretty straightforward, a great read, and I was hooked the whole time. In the end, I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads because I was involved, and enjoyed the whole thing. After hearing many social media personalities talk about and praise this book, I knew I had to get my eyes on it.
I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in creative work or is looking for somewhere to begin. Even if you're decently experienced, there are certainly principles and details that are well-defined that I hadn't thought about in that way before.
One of my New Year's resolutions was to read 10 books this year, and this was my 5th book of the year. Maybe I'll share my thoughts on those remaining 5 or some others that I'm currently reading. Any book suggestions? Leave a recommendation or your thoughts in the comments!
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