Slow & Steady Grind
After college, I went through 3 years aimlessly drifting. During that span, I almost quit on art and thought fitness would be my profession. Throughout that year and a half experiment of personal training, I saw a world that mimics the creative world you and I operate in.
Many of my clients or gym attendees were looking for a quick fix. Most wanted something that could manifest immediate results with little effort.
They were searching for that magic fat burning pill that'll melt away that stubborn extra flab from eating too many plates at Thanksgiving. It was hard to hear the truth that "70% of any fitness goal is what you put into your body with the other 30% being exercise and resistance training."
The same principle applies to your creative career. There is no magic pill that is going to make your Youtube video or Instagram drawing go viral.
There may be best practices, but there's no quick fix or guarantee.
Like any fitness goal, building a successful creative career takes time.
It may be tough to hear but these three things are meant to encourage you to enjoy the slow and steady grind you're about to endure as a creative.

Shit Doesn't Happen Overnight

Your creative empire isn't a microwaveable tv dinner you can create in about a minute.
While it may seem that some people blow up overnight, I can guarantee you the majority of these cases are far from the fact.
That 22-year-old Youtube star is probably the same person who was cutting up film and making shitty videos as a kid.
That person with over 100K followers on Instagram is most likely the same person who was drawing on every scrap piece of paper they could find since they were five.
Comparison and the culture we live in convince us we need to accomplish everything yesterday.
What's the rush?
If you reached the top overnight, where is the fun of the challenge along the way?
Give it some time and have a little patience.

If It Was Easy Everyone Would Do It

I talked about how Focusing on the Next Play in episode 51 was one of the motto's our coaches in college drilled in our heads.
The one they stressed even more than that was "If it was easy everyone would do it."
To attain something you've never had, you have to be willing to do something you've never done. This typically involves putting in some work and getting your hands dirty.
Growing an audience isn't easy. Putting out a daily or weekly drawing, blog post or podcast episode isn't easy.
Showing up when it's not convenient isn't easy, but it's all necessary to get to that future version of yourself you dream of.
If you've been showing up for a few months and no one is noticing, don't beat yourself up and get discouraged.
Finding something you enjoy the shit out of doing and that you're good at should be one of your top priorities.
As Jason Craig stated in episode 43, passion is what you're willing to suffer for.
To build your creative empire, it's going to take a lot of passion and suffering.
I promise you it's worth it when things start to click.

Be Consistent

The granddaddy of them all is consistency. It's one of the biggest reason I've had any type of success over the last 3-4 years.
Consistency is key when it comes to reaching any type of goal. Getting that perfect body you have in mind is only achievable by consistently showing up in the gym and at home in the kitchen.
There's no room for bitching if you show up once a week and rely on that magic pill you saw on an infomercial.
Unlocking that creative status you want is possible through consistent creating, sharing your work, building relationships, sacrifice and persistency. There's a lot more that goes into too but you get the point.
It's hard to get noticed when you put something out every once in awhile.
It's damn near impossible to get to your best quality work without consistently kicking out a heaping pile of shitty work over the course of yearsssssss...but many don't want to hear that.
To be honest, no one paid attention to my dr