It Ain’t All About You

Whenever us creative types get together, or–come to think of it–even when we’re alone, it’s usually all about “me”, “my”, or “we” or “I”. What is MY next gig, what am I doing to improve MY portfolio, MY solo exhibition, MY client list, MY ad campaign, MY blog, MY bank account, gear locker, self-promo mailer, vision… You get the point. Don’t deny it.

As a result, we can be overly paranoid, competitive, frustrated, cocky, going for broke, indulgent, critical, self-absorbed, self-loathing, self aggrandizing and overly analytical. We spend a lot of time living in our own heads.

But the truth is, we’re way better creatives when we’re better people. Better to ourselves, better to others, better to the world.

I just bumped into a close friend on the way back from my morning coffee. He shook my tree a little bit and told me a quick story in realizing this about himself. The story ended with his re-framing his self-focus into a simple plan to motivate a change. At the wrap up of each day he’s asking himself “what are 3 things I did to make somebody else’s life better today?”

I like that. Perhaps you should too.