40 things I have learned being a creative entrepreneur

Celebrating turning 40 with 40 lessons

I’m turning 40 today!

To celebrate, here’s 40 things I have learned being a creative entrepreneur.

1. Do what you think is fun.

Work can be difficult. Work can be hard. But it should always have an element of fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re not heading in the right direction.

2. You become what you work on.

The world has a tendency to feed you more of what you put into it, so make sure it’s something you like.

3. Creative work doesn’t follow a straight line from not-good to good.

For the majority of the process, the work looks like shit until it suddenly doesn’t. Don’t get discouraged by results that aren’t shaping up. It just hasn’t found its form yet.

4. Be opinionated about your work.

Try not to please everyone with the things you make. It’s your work. Make it reflect your taste.

5. Nothing is perfect.

Stop chasing perfect. Go for good and iterate on that.

6. Find inspiration in things you love.

Hobbies and passions are an incredibly powerful source of inspiration. It’s how we turn interests into side projects and side projects into businesses that are fun to work in.

7. Love things fiercely.

Being totally into something is admirable and a fantastic source of creative energy. Seek to expand the pool of things you love. It’ll broaden your horizon, fuel your curiosity and make connections that you can’t predict.

8. Impress your inner child (or your actual children).

Making things that the child version of you would find cool has been a surprisingly good guide for creative decisions in my life. Adults are just kids who forgot how to play.

9. Shrink the first step.

There is no perfect time to begin. If you can’t get started it’s because the first step has grown too big or too undefined for you to take. Shrink the first step into a smaller actionable task.

10. Productivity is a lifestyle, not a race.

Showing up everyday and moving the ball, even just a little, almost always wins out over bursts of burning the midnight oil. People overestimate what they can do with little time and underestimate what they can do with a long time.

11. You’re only as good as your tools allow you to be.

Human imagination is limitless but our tools aren’t. Design, development and productivity tools set constraints for what we can create. Choose your tools carefully.

12. Practise daily completable todo-lists

Todo-lists that never end is the source of burnout. Set yourself realistic goals that match the time you have available and allow yourself to ‘complete’ the day.

13. Not every day is a game day.

Creative juice and initiative ebbs and flows. Treating each day the same and expecting similar output is a recipe for disappointment. Work when you’re inspired. Take time away when you need it.

14. Exercise and good sleep will make you a better maker.

Taking care of yourself is one of the best investments you can make. Find your sources of energy and wield them as tools.

15. Own your time.

The world is ready to waste your time if you let it. Being the master of your schedule, the conductor of your distractions, is self-care.

16. In the beginning, quantity almost always wins over quality.

If you’re trying to grow a following or find clients you’re often best served with doing a lot of work and sharing as much as possible.

17. Make a lot of things.

To figure out what you love to do (and what you don’t), you have to try a lot of things. Instead of one big project, try making 10 smaller ones. You’ll learn more.

18. Sharing work is how you get more work.

In the creative business, the influx of new work comes from sharing your current work.

19. If you don’t have work to share, make up work.

If you don’t have work to share, then invent personal projects and share those.

20. Build a portfolio.

Be careful to rely too much on one social platform or network. Build a portfolio where you control the content and the experience.

21. Being busy is not the same as being productive.

Audit your busywork and relentlessly weed out tasks that aren’t getting you closer to your goals.

22. Say no to projects that don’t excite you.

Projects that you don’t love end up taking more away than they give. You’re exchanging time, attention and more exciting opportunities for something that your heart is not in.

23. Set clear expectations with clients.

It is your shop, not theirs. Let them know exactly what to expect. Prices, process, deadlines, terms. Be ready to say no when you’re not aligned. Good clients are ones you agree with.

24. If you have too much work, charge more.

Pricing is hard. Don’t shy away from experimenting with different rates and business models.

25. Freedom, not money, should be the goal.

Freedom of time. Freedom of creativity. The ability to work flexibly on something you love while living a fulfilling life is the goal. Money can be a tool in that process, but never the destination.

26. Plan for failure.

Most products don’t work out. Most games never make a profit. Hype with your heart but plan with your wallet.

27. Remember to be grateful

It’s easy to rush from one deadline or project to another. Always working towards the next thing on the horizon. Don’t forget to look back at how far you’ve come.

28. Anything worthwhile takes a lot of work.

You can work a lot on things that aren’t worthwhile, but nothing worthwhile comes without a lot of work.

29. The best way to get a job is to invent it.

If you want to work on something, chances are that there’s steps you can take right now to move closer to that work. Don’t wait for permission. Find the first step.

30. You don’t have to do everything yourself.

Surround yourself with people that augment your skillset. Collaborate. Delegate.

31. Find your community

It’s difficult to create good work in a vacuum. Seek out spaces to share, get feedback and learn.

32. Everyone struggles.

Making things is hard and everyone sails through their own personal sea of challenges and self-doubt. Don’t get dissuaded by seeing people share success. Most have shipwrecked many times.

33. People care way less than you think.

It’s easy to inflate our own sense of importance and the impact of our work. People are busy dealing with their own stuff and that fact should set you free.

34. Your sense of continuity and narrative online is overrated.

People have short memories and there’s no natural beginning and end to the stories we share online.

35. Avoid negativity

Nothing good ever comes from arguing with strangers on the internet. Learn how to gracefully disagree. Block and mute generously.

36. Making things is hard, being a critic is easy.

Hundreds of choices go into making things. Celebrate people who make. Ignore people who criticise.

37. Dare to dream big.

Modest dreams lead to modest results. Whatever the dream, the outcome can usually be improved by enlarging it.

38. Be ready to change your mind.

Firm opinions, loosely held is good advice. Creative work takes hundreds of little decisions and there’s no way you’re going to get all of them right.

39. Get comfortable with experimentation.

Long creative careers run the risk of getting stuck in certain types of projects or styles. Make it a point to break out of your comfort zone. Use new processes or tools to make your work, or try making something radically different.

40. This too shall pass.

Whatever you’re experiencing right now, success or failure, confidence or self-doubt. It’ll pass. It gets replaced with something else on this rollercoaster. Move on from the bad and cherish the good.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a great day.

Sincerely,
Michael