Tis the season. Almost every creative business owner I talk to is either incredibly busy or is about to be. Spring has sprung. You are in it, projects are in full swing and you are struggling to keep up with it all. As much as you would like to think about strategy, what you next step is, you cannot. It is all you can do to make it through the day. I wrote about not staying lost too long a few years ago and the post is still totally relevant and applicable. What I said then and stand by today is that now is the time for dancing, doing, not thinking. But tomorrow will be a time to think again and you must commit to coming back lest you think that dancing and doing is actually thinking.
Today, I would like to raise a few additional thoughts about being in the soup. The first: no project is THE project. The second: too busy to be still even for a moment is hiding. And the third: worrying about whether there will be enough tomorrow in the middle of today is useless and destructive.
No Project Is The Project – It is easy to get lost in a project; to be all consumed by every little detail given the enormity of what is about to happen – finish the design on your dream house, do your first shoot for Conde Nast, launch the site, put up the event, etc. Except the whole point of the project(s) at hand is to get the next one(s). Simultaneously, you and your creative business have to be a thousand percent focused on getting the job done AND know you are auditioning for your next client. How do you do it? Perspective. Every creative business has four stages: reputation, potential and kinetic energy, execution and halo. Reputation — third-party (referrals, press, etc.) or self-generated (website, social media, etc.) — gets your clients to your door. Potential and kinetic energy is everything that gets the client to sign up and allows you to get ready to produce art for them. Execution is show time. Halo is what gets done or said after show time. The closer you get to show time, the more you forget about the other three stages. But if you do, so will your client, which is why you just cannot. “You really pulled it off”, “I love it!”, “So amazing/beautiful/wonderful” are nice platitudes from your clients, but they are not compliments to your creative business. Unless your process is validated – “I loved every moment with you and your creative business, from beginning to end” – your future is uncertain. In a very fluid, non-salesy way, you have to draw attention to the entirety of the relationship. The final product is simply the culmination of the relationship and not the end all be all. And you have to do it in the moment when it is all about getting done. Why? Process is iconic and sustainable, great art is fleeting.
Too Busy To Be Still – You will never get everything done. Not possible. You can prioritize your time based on getting the most done or by trying to honor that no project is the project and doing what you can to draw attention to the totality of your creative business. Your choice. If you cannot give yourself an hour or two a week to take a walk, a drive, exercise, go to a museum, you will never ever see the proverbial forest for the trees. You will just get sh-t done and then kick yourself for why you did not shoot that great set up. Video the prep of the fashion show. Take notes of how you felt when you saw the finished design. No, you do not have to plot the next step for you, your art and your creative business now. You do, however, have to step away from the cacophony around you to hear the notes. The notes are the lessons you are meant to take away from the chaos. So so much more than we just cannot/will not/are not going to do this or that again. You step away to see opportunity, not run from it.
Worrying About Tomorrow – If you hope to get to a better tomorrow, the surest way to do it is to be grateful for today. Honor the work in front of you. Show your clients the totality of what you, your art and your creative business are all about. Be invested in being present, committed and hyper-focused on your relationship not just with your client, but with everyone’s (employees, colleagues, vendors AND clients) relationship to you, your art and your creative business. Believe that you are each in this endeavor to serve each other with all humility and confidence. On the other hand, the surest way to ensure tomorrow is darker than today is to be ungrateful. If you think that your book for the Fall is not what it is supposed to be, how can you help but send the message that the work right in front of you is not enough. You can say the two are not the same and I would say you are a better actor than Brad Pitt. Tomorrow takes care of itself only if you are the best you can be today. Worrying about tomorrow today makes doing your best awfully hard. Faith is knowing talent and vision with an iconic business process to match will always be enough. The work right in front of you should be the validation of the notion, not its undoing
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Your new column notifications come in and it never ceases to amaze me that you’re saying exactly what I need to hear at that time. Thanks for this blog, I love following it.
Absolutely loved every word. Thank you 🙂
This is so spot-on, Sean. This year has been our year to focus and balance. We’ve simplified and honed in our energy on what we truly care about and what brings us joy in our business. We’ve also found happiness in balancing our projects in a way in which we can still breathe and enjoy life.
Breaking down tasks for each projects and spreading energy evenly {and not on just THE project} is key in creating cohesive successful tasks and branding your end result as fluid.
Thanks for the great read – we needed it!