In this week’s episode we chat about sticking with your creative endeavors. Consistency is so important to improving as a designer, but often life and our own mind set can get in our way. Today we dig into the best ways to ensure that you keep going and practice your skills on a consistent basis.
[smart_podcast_player]
Other Ways to Listen: Soundcloud | iTunes | Stitcher
Meet Your Hosts
The Honest Designers Show started when our founder Tom found he was regularly chatting and sharing tips with top designers; Ian Barnard, Lisa Glanz and Dustin Lee. We soon organised a weekly call where we would help each other with areas we were struggling with and try to give each other actionable feedback. Soon we realised that the collective experience of the group was proving so valuable for each of us, that we thought ‘why not share these conversations with the world?’.
And so, The Honest Designers Show was born! This podcast is an insight into how to succeed in the creative industry, as well as giving you a totally transparent, under the hood look at some of the tougher, less glamorous hurdles to overcome! We also tend to get a little goofy along the way, so this is a chance to get to know each of us a little better :). We’ve loved recording this show for you, and we hope that you find value and enjoyment in listening to it.
SHOW NOTES
Please find full show notes for this episode below:
[1:00] In today’s episode we are looking at sticking with it and persevering with your creative skill
[1:30] Ian has not been able to be part of this week’s podcast
[2:15] Dustin has created the Instagram profile for his illustrations and you can see his work over @heydustinlee
[3:00] This is just personal project that Dustin is doing for fun and he plans to share one illustration every day
[4:00] Creating something for fun means less pressure and no restrictions in terms of design
[5:00] When Dustin made his profile at first, he was hesitant about making it public and only left a select few people see his work
[6:00] The hosts appreciate that Dustin is taking this challenge and like hearing about his experience
[7:00] Please go and check @heydustinlee, give Dustin a follow and leave your comments on his work
[7:50] Dustin’s family is wondering what Dustin is up to
[8:40] Most important for sticking with your work is to have fun and enjoy it
[9:00] Ask yourself why do you want to do it
[9:30] If you’re working on a new skill, you might have down days when you’re not enjoying the work or having fun
[10:20] If you’re only doing something for fun, do it when you feel inspired and don’t impose on yourself to do something every day
[11:00] Tom used to put a lot of pressure on himself as he had unrealistic expectations
[11:30] He posts business tips on his Instagram profile @tomrossmedia and noticed engagement has dropped since he’s not posting as much
[12:00] The more you put in, the more you’ll get out
[13:00] Dustin want to post something interesting that draw people back, not just pretty illustrations
[14:00] Dustin gives the example of The Oatmeal and creating the Exploding Kitten Cards game
[14:45] Being authentic will stand out and people will navigate towards your work
[15:20] Try and think what will stop you from sticking with your work and mitigate those aspects
[15:40] Lisa struggles with creating a plan for the week and/or sticking with it
[16:20] She always sees the bigger picture and finds it difficult to break her work load into small tasks
[17:00] Dustin agrees and says he finds it hard learning from his own experiences
[17:10] Tom suggests the fix for this problem is readjusting your expectations
[18:10] Dustin set himself a single expectation: to just do it, for his work as well as his personal training
[19:00] The only way you won’t succeed is if you stop
[19:30] Tom gives the example of the How to Learn Anything Quickly YouTube Channel
[20:50] Set a goal like ‘I am going to be a great illustrator’ is too vague – it’s best to set small goals everyday
[21:40] Tom used to have vague business goals such as ‘grow the business more’ and Dustin had goals like ‘make more money’
[22:20] Setting a more concrete goal will make it easier to stick with it and will also mean you can celebrate what you’ve achieved with every milestone
[23:00] Celebrate the small wins at the beginning of your creative journey
[23:40] Dustin shares Scott Adams philosophy on things: it’s better working in process not goals
[24:45] You might have ups and downs, but if you continue to do it, later you will have a general positive view of your work
[25:15] Dustin’s goal is to illustrate every day for a year and Tom suggest putting a number to track his posts
[26:00] He wonders if a year will be too long and would be better to do it for 100 days only
[27:30] Dustin looked back at Lisa’s early work and found that she did struggle to find her style in the beginning
[28:00] He asks both Tom and Lisa how were they able to stick with the work and why didn’t they give up
[28:40] Lisa enjoyed the ‘honeymoon’ phase of starting something new and she also really wanted to change her job
[29:30] Lisa believed in herself and knew she will make it work no matter what happened
[30:30] You will start by doing one thing and then new paths will open, and you will choose the one that feels natural and you’ll enjoy the most
[31:50] Tom started out as a designer too, took a while to find his style but fell in love with design
[32:50] Push for consistency if you know it will lead you to results
[33:20] How do you know when it’s the right time to stop sticking with it?
[34:20] Lisa experienced this with her jewellery business and knew it was time to stop as too many things were against her
[34:50] Lisa’s goal wasn’t to have a successful jewellery business but to move away from her job
[35:20] Passion is more important than the goal of wanting to be successful
[36:20] Lisa knew she wanted to do something that she will enjoy and it was never about money
[37:00] Noel Kagan’s example of proactive checklist and setting up only goals you can control
[38:00] The thing that Dustin can control is posting everyday
[39:00] Putting the work in the public domain will make you more accountable for it
[39:30] Tom shares Carol’s experience of doing 300 days of fitness
[40:00] Dustin mentions the 100 days challenge that most people do on Social Media
[41:00] Tom suggest an agreement between two people in which one has to pay the other if the agreement is broken
[41:30] Lisa finds this very motivating
[42:00] Dustin reiterates Lisa’s suggestion on focusing on the true core goal
[42:40] Give yourself leeway to change direction as long as you’re still true to your goal
[43:40] Tom reiterates the importance of mapping your expectation to what you put in
[44:00] Please tell us what your goal is – no matter if it’s big or small
[44:30] Thank you for listening to this week’s episode
How you can help
As this is a new show, we’d really appreciate your help spreading the word. If you enjoyed listening and found value in this episode, you can do these two things to help us:
1. Subscribe to The Honest Designers Show in iTunes
2. Leave us an honest rating/review in iTunes
Early reviews can make the world of difference for new podcasts being discovered, and it would mean the world to us if you were able to help.
Click to listen to The Honest Designers Show on iTunes
Here is a quick guide for how to leave a review on iTunes
Want Help From the Honest Designers?
We would love to help you with your creative journey! Simply use #honestdesigners on social media, and the four of us would love to check out what you’re working on, join the discussion and try to help wherever we can!
Join the discussion on Instagram
Join the discussion on Twitter
Let Us Know What You Think
We would absolutely love to know how you enjoyed this episode. We’ll be releasing a new episode each Wednesday, and look forward to hopefully answering many of your questions on the show.
Hey guys,
Thank you very much for this episode!
I actually listened to it while running — I’d started running as I began the podcast, and set myself a goal to keep going until the last 45th minute (I did struggle, but made it!).
The high energy endorphin rush to brain, combined with your stories & advice, resulted in a renewed confidence in my current work and approximative career endeavours, so thank you very much for sharing it.
I particularly appreciated the distinction between sticking with an activity in view of the end-goal, as opposed to doing something just because one refuses to abandon for fear of “failure”. It is indeed a fine line to balance, and we must take a moment to analyse our motives, always!
A year and a half ago, I left London after living there for eleven years, to come back to the sleepy French city of Strasbourg where I grew up. I knew full well that the opportunities in terms of design would be more limited here, but the end goal was to have a more stable life (a less expensive one also!).
Therefore, it’s wise to remember, in the midst of melancholy and some days where we feel that the whole world is working against us, that nothing ever came easy, and there is something to be gained in each situation — just like Lisa said, we have to trust that everything will be alright!
Thanks again for this much needed pep talk.
All the best,
Zsofia
Hey Zsofia
Thank you so much for getting in touch and for your feedback on the podcast. We’re so happy to hear that you’ve enjoyed listening to the podcast while running and this gave you the impulse to keep going.
Glad you’ve found the podcast insightful and that you can relate to the host’s experiences. That is a huge change moving back after 11 years ? . Sometimes you have to make a pro and con list and choose what’s best for you and focus on the end goal.
Best of luck with everything Zsofia ?