Key Takeaways from Chapter 1 (‘Show Your Work’ by Austin Kleon)

Chapter 1: You don’t have to be genius.

  • You can pretty much share anything of interest because there a chance someone can be interested as well, and can find it useful.
    • You don’t have to be smart, or a genius to contribute. You can simply contribute by just sharing your work out there.
  • Be an amateur (similar to saying, have a beginners mind).
    • Amateur have more to teach us than experts, because the expert is so far ahead to the point he forgot how he got there. The expert only knows what he knows now, but not what he learned in the beginning.
    • They have nothing to lose; they don’t care of failure, and making mistakes.
    • Personal note: That is why I am documenting this whole process so I won’t forget the steps that helped me get where I want to be.
  • To find your voice, is to use it.
    • I correlated this with finding your passion. You don’t find your passion, but you create it yourself.
    • if you want people to find you is to simply, share online (because if it isn’t online, then it doesn’t exist).
  • Many mysteries in life, but one thing that isn’t a mystery is death.
    • You need to realize that you have one life, and you will die… you can do this by reading obituaries (which are stories about near-death experiences).
    • By knowing you have one life, it makes you want to live every moment you have on this earth.