The Everyday Designer # 15 — You're one moment away from making it

Earlier this week I saw this tweet posted by Paul Millerd, author of “The Pathless Path”:

I’m a sucker for a simple graph to help people understand a point you’re trying to make, but I was so drawn to a certain section of the graph. Of course, it was the spike near the end of the graph. Then I got inspired to tweet this out:

Imagine. You work on your career, your youtube channel, your side hustle, your family, friendships, relationships, fill in the blank, and you quit at “that moment”. You were right on the cusp of “making it”, of having that moment. Who knows how many times Paul had doubted if his podcast would take off, who knows how many times you have doubted that you’re going nowhere in your design career. We all face imposter syndrome to some degree, but the trick is…

Keep Going

Stick with it, grind with it. I’ve been doing the “design thing” for over a decade of my life, and I can easily look back and see how far I’ve come at being a designer. I know I have improved because I leave a trail behind me of experiences, memories, and work that proves what I’ve done. Just take a look here at some of the first “design work” I ever uploaded anywhere. At the time, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Now I look back and cringe, but still, I keep moving forward. Knowing that hopefully I’ll be able to say the same thing in another 10 years…

Austin Kleon, author of “Show Your Work”, wrote another book called “Keep Going” and I thought this quote was very fitting:

You do not need to have an extraordinary life to make extraordinary work. Everything you need to make extraordinary art can be found in your everyday life. — Austin Kleon, Keep Going

Every day is a chance to move one step closer, be 1% better, more skillful, more caring, more loving. And maybe even today is “that moment”, the day your life changes forever.

So don’t give up, you're one moment away from making it. ✌️❤️

🌊 Currents

I love sharing what I’ve been up to lately and this is one way for me to let you in on what’s been happening in my life.

📚 Currently reading: Thinking 101 - Woo-kyoung Ahn - I’ll just leave this right here…“This book is not just a lucid overview of the cognitive traps that wreak havoc on your reasoning―it’s also an expert's guide to rethinking how we think.”
―Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again

🎧 Currently listening: No Backup Plans - Nathaniel Drew Podcast - youtube creator, Nathaniel Drew, just started up his own podcast, and its almost just like thinking in real-time, which I appreciate so much, for someone who is willing to be humble enough to record themselves while trying to process thoughts and navigate conversation in real-time! You will not be disappointed :)

🍭 Currently inspired: GAUDISM - these AI-generated, Gaudi-inspired art paintings are just so…ethereal for a lack of better wording. So inspired by the possibility of these forms existing, some of them remind me of the inside of the Grand Canyon!

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