“The amateur tweets, the pro works.” — Steven Pressfield
If you’ve not read Steven Pressfield’s two excellent books on creating, The War of Art and Turning Pro, I highly suggest you do so. Pressfield captures perfectly what it means to go pro. Whenever I feel like I need a little ‘pick up’ I know he’ll deliver the goods to get me going again. Why? Because he and I think the same way; we know we’re always susceptible to giving way to resistance. And when that happens, we stop making art.
For me, going pro is not just about building a career or succeeding in reaching our dreams. It’s about so much more than that — what’s at stake is not merely a job. All too often the word professional means being associated with distinctive groups or high incomes but that’s a very limited interpretation. Going Pro effects our entire lives and how we live; our happiness, health and social interactions all depend on it. When we turn pro we’re no longer the same person we were before our ascension from amateurism and mediocrity.
So today — as it relates to being visual artists — I want to share four simple fundamentals that guide me daily. These four principles are pasted on the wall directly in front of me where I work. This is also how I coach my own students/clients to becoming pros. (I’ll try to refrain from regurgitating what Steven Pressfield has already stated so succinctly in his books).
VISION:
Going Pro means being aligned with something greater than us and our egos. We know the ability to capture a vision is both a privilege and a duty that we must fulfill otherwise we’ll never be happy; life always turns out wrong when we’re not straight with ourselves, when we don’t honour our truth. And the vision — key derivation being it’s a visual — is what we work off from. The only path that’s joyful and meaningful comes from working towards its physical realization. So we never dive into a project unless we know why it matters AND what it might look like. Until then, we don’t risk going all in. A clear vision sets the way for a clear path and more fruitful journey; no energy is spent until a direction is well-defined. Pros know that it’s also a waste of time being preoccupied with whining, complaining or blaming. They’ve got sh*t to do.
PREPARATION:
Going Pro means being prepared. We don’t skip the research. We do thumbnail sketches and layout tests. We explore all avenues. We also have our tools working and ready. We practice hard and regularly to the point of knowing our craft so well, we don’t freeze during the performance. Hence, our preparation is both physical and psychological. And we know we’re ready when we have a solid road map and we’re dying to jump into the water. Pros don’t embarrass themselves; they never go into the pool without their swim trunks.
ORDER:
Going Pro means being organized. Besides the lack of preparation, disorder is probably the single most dominant trait of the amateur. I’ve witnessed this for decades. Amateurs work chaotically, jumping from one thing to another, and change their minds constantly. They love to noodle. Pros, on the other hand, don’t screw around. They have a well-designed and orderly workflow. They stay the course. They also live and approach things the same way — simply and effectively — yet they always respect the uniqueness of the situation. They show up everyday but don’t depend on formulas. And because Pros are ready, they can adapt on the fly and come out looking like geniuses. Working procedurally and with discipline and deep attentiveness throughout the process prevents them from being sidelined by distractions or their own ego.
FINISH:
Finally, Pros finish what they start. This doesn’t mean perfection or necessarily achieving outside recognition but Pros finish things and do so with care. All things end and so, too, must creative endeavors. Amateurs leave many things and most things unfinished. We all know this and we’ve all been there, after all, we’re all amateurs at most things. And there’s nothing wrong with being an amateur, whose root word comes from the same word meaning love. Now, sometimes when we find ourselves not finishing what we’ve started because this ‘thing’ might not be our calling and what is true for us might be still waiting for us to take recognize and take hold of. Other times, it could just mean that we’ve failed on this one particular occasion and that’s okay, too. We end it and move on to the next challenge. Some projects serve only to become lessons — and this is impossible to know beforehand — so don’t let it become a sunk cost that takes up any more of our time and energy.
SUMMARY
It’s clear that it’s neither natural nor easy to become a pro. It takes commitment and a complete changing of our mindset. We can learn it and earn it by simply taking it one step at a time.
“In proportion as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty, nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” — Henry David Thoreau, Philosopher