Success and Perspective

Perhaps the single-most-important consideration on the road to success is how you look at your career. If you want to get paid for doing the things you enjoy in life, you have to rise above the mindset of the artist. To make money, you have to understand that this is business and embrace that concept with unbridled enthusiasm.

It would be great if you could just sit in the corner and do your thing. That’s an option you may in fact choose to pursue, but it usually involves marrying someone willing to support you and let you play. While such relationships certainly exist, when the kids arrive life gets more complicated and the carefree days of the patronized artist dwindle. More importantly, if you’re just using someone to get a free ride, society has some rather unflattering words for you.

Short of finding a convenient king or half-drunk millionaire to serve as your patron and provide you a lavish and carefree existence, if you want to make a career of your art instead of slinging burgers during the day and searching for gigs on the weekends, you’re going to have to work for it. The good news is that regardless of the artistic discipline, there is a wealth of opportunity available to all who are willing to put forth the effort. And that’s a really good thing when dinnertime rolls around. A person can take only so many cheeseburgers.