Success

Repeating Levels

Garth Beyer

They say life is a game, so why not continue with the analogy?

Life is a game that many people just repeat levels. They do the same work (their best) at different locations. Becoming a professional has been entwined with producing the same amount of value across the board.

Ruckus makers, the artists, those who make the most out of life, though, don’t repeat levels. They just so happen to complete each level in a different way. No, maybe it’s not their “best” work. No, maybe they took too big of a risk. And, yes, maybe – just maybe – they failed.

Beauty of it though, is you just pick yourself up and try a different way.

There’s no “replay” button, but there is always a “restart.”

 

Stay Positive & Most Artists, Though, Never Have The Need To Press It

Garth E. Beyer

No One There To Tell You

Garth Beyer

That’s the biggest problem for the members of the creative class – there is no one there to tell you what to write on, what to create, who to connect with, how to develop a tribe or when to launch a product.

Sure, you can read suggestions on a blog, watch a tutorial on YouTube, or follow Wiki’s how-to list, but that is the opposite of what defines you as part of the creative class. The toughest part is meant to be self-assigning work – creative work that matters, I might add.

Creativity, by my definition, is interaction with ambiguous results. There is no one there to tell you exactly how to interact or specifically what the results will be – it’s up to you to set the goals, to trailblaze your way to success, and discover what works best for you.

No one tells me to write every day or to interact with 10 people a week on Twitter or to repeat the process of consuming > producing > sharing, I simply do it because not doing it doesn’t lead me to become the creative person I want to be.

When you stop looking at your creative actions as optional, it’s as if you don’t even need anyone there to tell you.

 

Stay Positive & Be Your Own Boss

Garth E. Beyer (sure, you will think your boss is an asshole at times, but at least he delivers.)

 

 

 

Unlocked Potential Series

Garth Beyer

In a world of give-and-take, two-way streets, and a general goal of balance, I have come across some remarkable people who dance on both ends of the stick.

The middle of last year, I began writing an Unlocking Potential series. While the process was to mention people who were… well, worth mentioning, the goal was to unlock more of their potential through sharing their story, their personalities, and their creations.

It was an instant success with some interviews hitting over 1,000 views in one day.

Seeing Vanilla Ice

Walking down State Street, I saw Vanilla Ice starting a fight with – what appeared to be – an innocent bystander. Ice pushed the gentleman’s face and kept shouting at him. (I call the bystander a gentleman because he did not fight back, he was passive, true to the title of bystander.) Ignoring the forceful push-to-the-face and spit of vulgarity, he started to dial 911.Vanilla Ice then started walking away with his posse.

Of course this wasn’t really Vanilla Ice, but it sure did look like him. (Blame Google for not coming out with Google Glass sooner. Vanilla Ice was an early idol of mine, you’ll have to take my word that it looked like him.)

The world is filled with opposites, and the reason I mention this experience is to provide contrast to the next experience.

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Tyler (spiderman) and Adam AG (rapper)

While there are those who need a little nudge to unlock their potential, other’s are already an open treasure chest. Tyler Babb (T-Babb Films) and Adam (Adam AG) are two of these people. And in light of that, this is more of an unlocked potential series than anything else.

In one scene, I see Vanilla Ice throwing his credibility and respect away. The next I am face-to-face with Tyler and Adam – two people who see the bigger picture.

And that’s no filming pun.

Unlocked Potential

There was no need for me to do any convincing when sitting down with Tyler and Adam, if anything, they were convincing me that I’m not the only one with this mental attitude of positivity, work ethic, and attainable success. Some repeated comments were:

  • Take steps
  • Work hard on what you love
  • Skip the general bullfeces
  • Take things seriously
  • Connect all you can

Most significantly, we’re in a revolution; for the first time, a revolution we know we are in.

In the past – regardless of the economical or political situation – there were credible idols in every niche saying, “There has never been a better time than now.” And they were right.

The difference between then and now isn’t that we no longer hear this uplifting phrase, rather, as opposed to the past, we actually believe it.

The past who preached that “the best time is now” had to convince their audience. Now, speaking for the current generation:

We’re not ignorant. We know that we have everything on the shelf, all the resources, tools, and assistance that we could need. We know that all that we need to do is pick and choose out of what is available, to create. We don’t need convincing that now is the perfect time to do something. What we need is someone to teach us how to be creative enough with all the potential at our fingertips to make and do things that one day we will look back on in awe and jaw-dropping amazement.

The reason I write about Tyler and Adam is that they are the teachers – not waiting for someone to help them fulfil their dreams and bringing as many as possible up with them.

 

Stay Positive & Self-taught And Ready To Inspire

Garth E. Beyer

What Really Pays

Garth Beyer

–  Cash isn’t important to a successful career, connections are.The only money that matters is money that is invested. Whether you invest it in someone to give them a chance to show and grow their skills or when they invest it in you.

–  Time is only valuable when it’s either used to create honest art (not multi tasking, not clicking interesting link after interesting link, not taking halfass notes) and it’s only valuable when you interact with someone in real time (meeting for coffee, talking on the phone, skyping).

–   Having thousands of friends, followers, and visitors doesn’t mean you will instantly profit off of advertising. When it’s between making .002 cents off a stranger or $20.00 from a friend. I hope that it’s obvious what you should be making: friends or strangers.

–   When it comes to advertising, before anything, work on advertising yourself. That’s where the money is. (Or isn’t? Then you need to work on doing more creative work.)

–   Hard work pays off? Determination, motivation, perseverance, commitment… sounds like something you have to convince yourself to do that you just don’t want to.

What about connections, challenging fear, making yourself uncomfortable, revealing yourself, sparking emotional interactions, and taking risks?

Now tell me: What do you think really pays?

 

Stay Positive & Turn Strangers Into Friends

Garth E. Beyer

Too Much Intake Pt. 1

Garth Beyer

There was a time that I was information-crunching. I was spending every moment of the day taking in information, knowledge, lessons, and Ted talks. I was underlining, highlighting, and dog-earing pages. I was recording, bookmarking, and clipping. This went on for about a week and a half. Constant intake.

Then I felt I reached my limit and it was time for output. However, by then half of what I read, I forgot. All the soundbites I collected, well, it was hard to build on a perfect statement. Some of the passages I highlighted, I had no clue why I highlighted them. And of course, the scribbles in the spines, I couldn’t even read them.

There was once a time that you took in all you could, perhaps before you started writing a paper for one of your classes. Once you read up on everything, only then did you have the OK to go.

No more.

Intake and output is a daily balance, no longer is it weekly, monthly, or yearly. Becoming successful in any part of your industry is about balancing the amount of intake and output each day.

 

Stay Positive & It’s A Daily Thing (Learn → Apply)

Garth E. Beyer

There Is Always Evidence

Garth Beyer

A lot of us wait to see evidence that our actions are making the impact that we want, that our decisions were right ones, that we’re on the best path.

Self-acknowledgment is motivating, but it’s also self-defeating. We take an action and then wait, we stand still, we let fate take it from there until we see results.

While were waiting, the world keeps spinning – spinning other things than just the results were hoping for.

There are other opportunities out there. Don’t miss one because you’re waiting for the outcome of one you took earlier.

And you can always take solace in the fact that there is always evidence that what you want just might happen. I mean, after all, isn’t taking the lead of an opportunity evidence enough that you’ll get what you want.

People die standing still.

 

Stay Positive & Success Isn’t Judged By Results, It’s Measured By Movement

Garth E. Beyer