Discover my 4 p's to success!
As designers, we often struggle with overwhelming competition, ever changing technology and skills that demand constant updates. How are we able to manage all of that and meet our goals for success? Fortunately, there is an awesome recipe for success that I use everyday that greatly impacts our chances at meeting our goals, whatever they may be. Let's dive in.
Passion: Why aren’t we doing what we really want to do?
Awww passion. That pesky little shoulder angel that constantly reminds us we love what we do and will do anything to keep doing it. Passion is the number one driving force behind any success. It keeps us motivated when things are high and especially when things are low. As creatives, we are fortunate to work in fields that are driven by passion. How do you know you're headed down a successful path ripe with passion? You'll know when you can spend hours and hours working away and it feels awesome, your lowest moments encourage you to keep going and you can't see yourself doing anything else. If you aren't doing what you really want to do, ask yourself why. Then plan what steps you can take now to make that happen in a timeline that works for your situation. Maybe you can't do what you love right now, but that doesn't mean it can't ever happen.
Persistence: Paralyze resistance with persistence.
You need passion to engage persistence and persistence to keep passion. There will be many times you question your path, skills and abilities, but you have to push through all of that resistance and keep going. Dive into a lesson to strengthen those skills, ask for feedback on your designs from someone you admire and pick your self up when you fail. Those that keep going are on the path to success. Those that just stop at the first sign of resistance will struggle to reach that milestone.
Practice: Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.
I once asked an intern what he wanted to learn and he confidently responded, "I'm done learning, I just want to design." I remember saying, "Sit, we must talk!" We are NEVER fully done learning, ever. It doesn't matter what you do or how old you are, knowledge is the path and practice is the vehicle to success. We must continue to practice what we do, challenge our designs and learn from the best. It's how we grow and improve. Remember, we all started at zero and we never max out.
Patience: Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.
Our desires to achieve overnight success with little effort makes patience extra difficult. We live in a society of instant gratification. So how do we slow down and work our passion through persistence and practice? Think of it this way. What is something you do every day that was once new and challenging? Our lives are filled with monumental achievements from learning to tie our shoes to riding a bike to speaking our first languages. Something so easy now, was once the most difficult thing.
What gets us to achieve our dreams, conquer our biggest challenges and reach our goals? Our passion to do it gives us the persistence to learn. Then the hours of practice with the patience to keep going finally delivers the accomplishment where we ultimately succeed.
Thanks for joining me on this journey in becoming the best designers we can be! Let me know what you think about the 4 p's to success on Twitter or Facebook and get the latest design tips and tutorials on Youtube.
Until next time, keep designing!
