HOW TO GET YOUR WORK NOTICED
When I look back on my life this far and see where I once was, one thing becomes visible life is a process. Even though my accident, I have always been talented enough to draw from memory or draw what I see. My skills have even improved over the years of work. I can even see how I could become even better if I worked on this talent/skill. So in today’s article, I want to emphasize a point that can help you become better at whatever you do.
I have a book that I read and once reviewed on this channel to help explain my view. This book is SO GOOD THEY CAN’T IGNORE YOU by Cal Newport. In this book, Mr. Newport discusses how one’s skill is a better barometer than a passion for finding the life work one will love. This book goes into great detail to explain this idea and what you can do to achieve that. I highly recommend this book, and if you like to see my review on this book, follow the link here.
Moving along to the idea, I would like to explain from this book is where Mr. Newport speaks on this idea of “Craftsman’s mindset.” I can reference no brief passage to express this idea from the book, so I will explain it in this way. The Craftsman’s mindset is the ability to take something you know little or nothing about but is interested in. Then sticking to regularly focused repetitions of doing this task or exercise so that you will have confidently grown to master it or do it at a high level over time.
I hope you can see where I am going with this, but here is an example. Let’s say a person wants to play the guitar. At first, they may know one or two chords, yet through diligent, focused practice, that person can soon learn all the chords and turn those simple chords into melodies that structure songs. Here is an example of what The Craftsman’s mindset looks like, according to Cal Newport. I can even give you another example using myself.
At one point in my junior college days, a professor commented that I might have a writing future. I had written a few stories. One of which I read in class and received some excellent feedback. It wasn’t till after taking a few other paths did I came back to writing and gave it a strong go researching and reading books on becoming a better writer.
Soon I was writing every day, challenging myself with writing prompts I found online. I even sniffed out an opportunity to write for a magazine, periodically taking assignments as they come available. I have written numerous short stories and screenplays. This year I even entered my first screenwriting competition; wish me luck. The idea here with The Craftsman’s mindset is to do the focused work to make you better over time.
Furthermore, as you hopefully begin to see my point, there is a passage in the book where Cal Newport talks about watching an interview by Charlie Rose with Steve Martin, and the topic was how Steve Martin dealt with giving advice. Steve Martin would go on to explain that the answer everyone was hoping for would be the blueprint to the same success he had, yet Mr. Martin would tell him or her, “Be so good they can’t ignore you.”
As you can see, this advice turned out to become the title of Cal Newport’s book. More importantly, it proves to be a good starting point as Cal Newport sums it all up when talking about skill “That if you’re not focusing on becoming so good, they can’t ignore you, you’re going to be left behind.”
My point here is anyone of us can take The Craftsman’s mindset as I have lain out from Cal Newport’s book So Good They Can’t Ignore You and can systematically master any chosen field with a focused craftsman’s mindset. I know it has worked for me in my art, as well as my writing. If I had never taken that step, I don’t know if I’d be as confident as writing, post, and sharing this article with you today. So there you have it; I hope this piece may benefit you in some way. Have a blessed day, and I will see you on the flip side.