Austin Kleon’s tips on “keep going” in good times and bad.

Published on:

4-December-2024

Written by:

Mohana Prabhakar

Reading time

2 minutes

“You can't wait around for someone to call you an artist before you make art. You'll never make it.”

Austin Kleon's previous works, "Steal Like an Artist" and "Show Your Work," gave readers the power to unlock their creativity and how to show their works to the world.

In "Keep Going," he provides practical wisdom and guidance on nurturing one's creative spirit despite challenging moments in life.

Summary:

Identify what you'd like to spend your time on and work on it daily, no matter what. Become indifferent towards success, failure, or chaos. What matters is the process, not the end result.
Creative life isn't linear.
Make a schedule and stick to it.
Make a list of ideas, tasks, and not-to-do with their purpose and prioritise what can be accomplished each day.
Take one day at a time.
When the sun goes down, you reflect on the day and go easy on yourself.
Creativity is a balancing act of connection and disconnection. Disconnect from the world to connect with yourself. Retreat to think, practice, and create.
Say “bye” to the news and “hi” to creativity at the start of the day to remain sane.
Switch off your devices from time to time.
Learn to say NO. JOMO >>>> FOMO.
Creativity is a verb, not a noun.
Seek new ways to practice art. Make the worst art ever possible and create something new out of it. Spend time with kids to get into the "play" mode.
Hobbies are hobbies. It doesn't have to be a side hustle.
Ignore the metrics when you post your art online. Qualitative feedback >> quantitative metrics.
Success becomes suckcess when you let someone else define it for you.
Making gifts for others puts us in touch with our artistic gifts.
Giving extra attention to the ordinary makes it extraordinary.
Drawing helps us slow down and concentrate on what's really in front of us.
What you focus on shapes your mind, perspective, and life.
Uncertainty is vital to be an artist. Creativity thrives on that.
Change requires real thinking and thinking, which produces all sorts of ideas, good or bad. To change your mind, you need to have the space to think about bad ideas.
Thinking is a social act. Like heartedness >>>> Like-mindedness. If you've trouble finding people to think with, seek out the dead. They are good listeners.
Creativity =/= Productivity. You're often more creative when you're bored.
Sleep is essential for creativity.
Leave things better than you found them.
Walking releases the inner demons (anxiety, depression, etc.) and gives us the strength to fight outer demons (misinformation, economic problems, sustainability, etc.).
Progress isn't always visible. Sometimes, it's like the moon, not visible from one perspective during a specific phase. That doesn't mean it's not there.
Keep doing your verbs, whatever they may be, and keep going.