Keep Going
by Austin Kleon

Personal Development
Ashto = 6/10
Jonesy = 4/10

Keep Going – by Austin Kleon

Before writing Keep Going Austin Kleon wrote Steal Like An Artist (about injecting more creativity into your work), then Show Your Work (about sharing that creativity with the world and getting discovered), now Keep Going (about continuing to be creative, even when it feels like it’s a never ending battle).
In this book, we learn about how to wake up every day and be creative, how to stay buoyant and move on to the next project regardless of success or failure, and how to find new creative ideas even while procrastinating.

Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Keep-Going-Austin-Kleon/9781523506644/?a_aid=adamsbooks

Keep Going (dot point) Summary

Every day is groundhog day
the ‘creative journey’ or the ‘artists journey’ or the ‘hero’s journey’… all sounds really lame and wanky and overused – leads to eye rolling
Creating art doesn’t feel like Odysseus, returning from a conquest
More like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up to the top of the hill every single day and it rolling back down
doesn;t feel like Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, feels like Phil Connors from Groundhog Day
Weatherman who gets stuck in a loop every day and wakes up on February the 2nd
Whatever he does, can’t get to Feb 3
Wake up, every day is the same, every day you start over again
“What would you do if you were stuck in one place, and every day was the exact same, and nothing you did mattered?”
the answer to this question is the plot of the movie Groundhog Day
Austin says that the way we answer this question is also our ‘art’
the creative life is NOT linear
it doesn;t move from Point A to Point B,
it’s more of a loop – you keep coming back to a new starting point after you finish every project
No matter how successful you get, no matter what level of achievement you reach, you will never really “arrive”
other than death, there is no ‘finish line’ for a creative person
Ian Svenonius: “even after you have achieved greatness, the infentisimally small cadre who even noticed will ask ‘What Next?'”
Truly prolific artists
they have figured out a DAILY PRACTICE
‘a small repeatable way of working that insulated them from success, failure, and the chaos of the outside world’
they have all identified what they want to spend their time on, and they work at it every day, no matter what.
whether their latest thing is universally rejected, ignore, or acclaimed, they know they’ll still get up tomorrow and do their work
the creative journey is not one in which you’re crowned the triumphant hero and live happily ever after
the real creative journey is one in which you wake up every day, like Phil, with more work to do
A little imprisonment can set you free
if it;s of your own making
Prison (particularly with the view from Alcatraz) is a great set up for making art
Consists of waking up at the same time
Drinking coffee, reading, making calls , writing, having dinner, doing pushups, listening to the raidio and sleeping
rather than resticting your freedom, a daily routine GIVES you freedom
routine protects you from the ups and downs of life
helps you take advantage of your limited time, energy & talent
routine establishes good habits that lead to your best work
What your routine consists of is not important
what’s important is that the routine exists
cobble together your own routine, stick to it most days, break free from it once in a while for fun, and modify it if necessary
LESSON: establish a daily routine
it’s interesting to read/listen to the different daily routines of creative people, but after a while it becomes clear: there is no perfect, universal routine for creative work
Mason Currey: “one’s daily routine is a highly idiosyncratic collection of compromises, neuroses, and superstitions built up through trial and error and subject to a cariety of external conditions”
you can’t just borrow your favourite artist’s routine and expect it to work for you
everyone’s day is full of different obligations (jobs, families, social obligations) – and every creative person has a different temprement
To craft yours:
spend some time observing your days and your moods
where are there free spaces in your daily schedule?
what could you cut out of your day to make time?
are you an early riser or a night owl?
are there silly rituals or supersititions that get you in a creative mood?
Make Lists
lists bring order to the chaotic universe
like GTD – an ancillary brain – gets things out of your head and onto a trusted piece of paper
gets ideas out of your head and clear the mental space so you’re actually able to do something about them
IDEA: if you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed, like there’s so much on your plate you can barely function
make a list of everything that you need to do
pickk something on the list, do it, cross it off
pick something else on the list that feels big or important, and get started on it
IDEA: someday/Maybe list (David Allen) or ‘Spark File’ (Steve Johnson, where good ideas come from)
IDEA: NOT TO DO list, a list of things you DON’T want to do
Finish each day and be done with it
not every day is going to turn out the way you want it to go
all routines and to-do lists are aspirational
Jerry Garcia: “you go diving for pearls, but something you end up with clams”
when the sun goes down and you look back on the day, go easy on yourself
a little self-forgiveness goes a long way
before you go to bed, make a list of things you DID accomplish that day, then write a list of things you hope to get done tomorrow
then forget about it – hit the pillow with a clear mind and let your subconsious get to work while you sleep
STORY OF PETER CHAN [PG32-33] – (maybe too epic)
Every day is like a blank page
when you;re finished filling it, you can save it in a file, crumple it or rip it up, or slide it into the recycling bin and let it be
Only time will tell what it was worth
Forget the noun, do the verb
‘you have to have done something before you can be said to have done something. The title of artist or architect or musician needs to somehow be earned’ – David Hickey
Lots of people want the NOUN without doing the VERB
people want to be a singer but never really sing, or an actor but never really act, or a writer but they never actually write
Let go of the thin you;re trying to BE (the noun) and focus on the actually work you need to be DOING (the verb)
doing the verb will take you someplace futher and far more interesting than imagining or pretending to be the noun
if and when you finally get to be the noun, you still can;t stop doing the verb
they want the title without ever doing the work
if you wait for someone to pick you and give you a job title before you do the work, you might never get to do the work at all
you can’t wait around for someone to call you an artist before you start to make are – it doesn;t work that way.
Job titles aren;t really for you, they;re for others. Let others worry about them.
Your Real Work is Play
All children learn about the world through play
When children are playing they are deeply invested in their work
Their best play is acted out with a kind if lightness and detachment from the results
need to maintain a level of ‘play’ and fun in your art and your work
not playing like playing a game to win – playing with a sense of EASE and DETACHMENT
When we get too focus on the rules or the results or the outcomes, the work suffers
IDEA: detach from the outcome, practice for practice’s sake: make something then destory it
writers – write a page then delete it, drawers – draw a sketch then burn it photograhpers – take a photo then erase it,
IDEA: If you feel stuck, like you canm;t take action, challenge yourself to make the WORST thing you possibly can
draw the ugliest drawing, write the shittest poem, write a song that doesn;t even make sense and sounds awful
making intentionally bad art can acytually be fun and freeing
Don’t get bogged down – stay light & playful
Make gifts
Protect Your Valuables
a contemporary cultural phenomenon that drives Kleon crazy
a friend knits beautiful scarves. knitting is what he does to pass the time and clear his mind during his train commute
another friend loves to bake cakes. baking is what she does on night and weekends to unwind after working at her stressful corporate job
you attend a birthday party with your two friends – one bakes the cake and one gives a scarf as a present.
the reaction? “you should sell these on Etsy” and “you could open a bakery”
We’re now trained to heap praise on people by using market terminology
the minute anybody shows any talent for something, we suggest that they try to turn it into their full-time profession
this is apparent the biggest compliment today: telling somebody they’re so good at what they love to do that they could make money out of it
we used to have ‘hobbies’, now we have ‘side hustles’
as the world and the work place gets less stable, there is more pressure for usd to explore other potential income streams beyond a traditional job
, so we’re no longer doing the things we love just because we love to do them (they used to soothe us, relax us, take our minds off work – now they’ve become work)
Trying to make it make money
“one of the easiest ways to hate something you love it to turn it into your job”
you must be mindful of what potential impact monetising your passions could have on your life – you might find that you’re better off with a day job
if you start making money from your ‘art’, resist the urge to monetise EVERY element of the creative process (keep a few things that are just for teh enjoyment of it)
Live BELOW your means
the best way to live a fulfilling life as a creative person is to not only live within your means but to even live below your means
“do what you love” + low overhead = good life
“do what you love” + “I deserve nice things” = a ticking time bomb
David Rees: “its always good to have a hobby where there’s no way to monetise it… So follow your dreams, right up to the point where they become your job, then run in the other direction”
Ignore the Numbers
money is not the only measurement that can corrupt your creative practice
sharing things onlione means you’re also beholding to the digital world of stats
likes, shares, retweets, favourites, comments, website hits, downloads, views, rankings, etc etc
there’s often little correlation between what you enjoy making and the number of likes/comments/shares it gets
what do clicks means in the grand scheme of things? it largely means you dumbed your work down to a mass audience and put a clickbait title that was optimised for short attention spans to get the quick hit…
sometimes you’ll pour your heart into something and share it…. and get crickets.
When you ignore quantitative measurements for a bit, you can get back to qualitative measuremetns
is it really good?
do YOU like it?
do you want to do more of it?
you can focus on the elements of the work that CAN’T be measured
Where there is no gift, there is no art
John Green: “don’t maje stuff because you want to make money – it will never make enough money. Don’t make stuff because you want to get famous – because you’ll never feel famous enough. make gifts for people – and work hard on making those gifts in the hope that those people will notice and like the gifts”
We all have our definitions of ‘Success’
But we have to be careful of SUCKcess
undeserved success, success on somebody else’s terms, when something you think sucks gets successful, or when the success you’re chasing starts to suck
Spending a life climbing up the ladder but then realising you’ve climbed the wrong wall
Jean Cocteau said that this is the “type of success that is worse than failure”
We all go through cycles of detachment then re-attachment with our work
when you feel as though you’re losing your gift, the quickest way to recover is to step outside the marketplace and MAKE GIFTS
AA Milne made up Winnie the Pooh for his son
JRR Tolkien turned the stories he told his children into the Hobit
Pippie Longstockings was for Astrid Lindgren’s bedridden daughter
TRY IT: if you;re bummed out and hating your work, pick somebody special in your life and make something for them
if you have a big audienc,e make something special and give it away
or volunteer your time and teach someone else how to do what you do
Making gifts puts us in touch with our gifts
Build a bliss station
disconnect from the world to connect with yourself
creativity is about connection (you must be connected to others in order to be inspired and share your own work)
but its also about DISconnection (you must retreat from the world long enough to think, practice, and make something)
you must play a little hide-and-seek in order to produce something worth being found
silence and solitude are vital – in a world of constant connect, 24/7 interactions, push notifications, ever quickening news cycle – constant contact makes the world almost inhospitable unless artists retreat in order to focus deeply on their work
create a ‘bliss station’
a place where you go retreat and focus for a little each day
might be a specific place (a room in your house, a specific chair) or might be a specific time (straight after you put the kids to bed, during your morning coffee break)
Big one = put the phone away Lynda Barry: “the phone gives us a lot but it takes away three key elements of discovery: loneliness, uncertainty and boredom. Those have always been where creative ideas come from”
You can be woke without waking to the news
“a friend said he didn’t know how long he could wake up to such horrible news every day
Perhaps he shouldn’t wake up to the news at all
AJ AA rant on problems with news
Destroys bliss
Bad way of scattering your brain when you catch up on it
Attention is too valuable….
Instead wake up to breakfast, stretch, meditate, shower, read a book , play with kids
It’s not sticking your head in the sand, it’s retaining balance and sanity so you can be strong in your work
Airplane mode can be a way of life
Learn how to say no
Saying no to the world can be really hard… but sometimes it’s the only way to say yes to your art and sanity
The antidote to FOMO is JOMO
There should be joy in knowing that other people are out their cleberating but you are skipping
The ordinary + Extra attention = The Extraordinary
You have everything you need
Slow down and draw things out
It’s impossible to pay proper attnetion to your life if you are hurtling along at lightning speed
When your job is to see things others don’t, you need to slow down long enough to actually have a look
In an age obsessed with speed, slowing down requires special training
Pay attention to what you pay attention to
Your attention is one of the most valuable things you possess, which is why everyone wants to steal it from you
First you must protect it, then point it in the right direction
Set up some time to pay attention to what you pay attention to
Reread your diary
Flip through your sketch book etc
When you pay attention to your life, it not only provides you material for your art, but helps you fall in love with life
narrate out unless AJ amazing juice (a few good sections, but better to skip entirely than a few scattergun mentions)
Slay the art monsters
Art is supposed to make our lives better
Mike Birbiglia: “Don’t rule out quitting. there is going to be an insane amount of work ahead, and your time might be spent better elsewhere”
CAN GO HARD ON THIS IDEA OF PIOCKING THE RIGHT DIP
don’t let your art be a net misery to the world. find something that makes you and the people around you feel more ALIVE
Austin Kleon: “The world doesn’t necessarily need more great artists. It needs more decent human beings”
Art is for life, not the other way around
You are allowed to change your mind
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
We are afraid of changing our minds because we’re afraid of the consequences – what will others think?
If a politician changes her mind publically, it’s a sign of weakness / defeat
You don’t want to change it too much, because then you’re wishy washy
Social media has turned us into politicians and brands… everyone is supposed to be a brand now
It is not only overrated, but a road block to discovery
People with big online brands would find it difficult ot go backwards
E.g – Gary Vaynerchick would find it difficult to find Cal Newports ideas compelling if he were to read his books
E.g Peter Schiff – can’t go away from his contrarian view points and being so sure about the markets
To change your mind is to do some real thinking
It requires an environment in which you can try out all sorts of ideas and not be judged for them
The internet is no longer a safe place for any kind of experimental thinking
When in doubt, tidy up
Keep your tools tidy and your materials messy
Marie Kondo + Gretchen Rubin (life chaning magic of tidying up + outer order, inner calm)
we don;t have to keep our spaces perfectly clean, we just have to keep the, ready for when we want to work
tidying is exploring
productive procrastination
loosen up your mind
sort through old stuff, flicking through pages or searching for a new spark in and old forgotten piece of paper
“to tidy is not really to clean, but to come into contact with something you’ve forgotten about that you can now use
Jordan Peterson – Clean Your Room
sleep tidies the brain
make sure you get enough sleep, cleanses the brain
having naps during the day can fuel creativity (don;t let you self fall fully asleep though, just nap for enough to refresh yourself, 15-30min)
Salvador Dali / Leonardo da Vinci – slept while holding a spoon, when spoon dropped they were awoken in the perfect phase
Dr Karl coffee nap
Plant your garden
Creativity has Seasons
If you sit and observe the Maple Tree across seasons, it can represent the artist’s journey
The beauty it produced in Spring was only because of it went through in winter, sometimes the harshest winters yielded the most glorious springs
In October is might be full leaf, then lose all it’s leaves for the rest of the fall, in winter it’s covered in snow
In the spring little flowers came out and the tree didn’t look like a maple tree at all
Finally the leaves become regonizable and the tree is itself again
Whether it will be recognizable by anyone else, you don’t know
But inside you might feel great new things are happening inside of you
And you know these things have a way, like the maple tree of finally bursting in some form
Part of the work is to know which season you’re in and act accordingly
You have to pay attention ot the rhythms and cycles of your creative output and learn to be patient in the off seasons
Live each season as it passes, and resign yourself to the influences of each
Our lives too, have different seasons
Some of us blossom at a young age, some of us at an old age
Our culture mostly celebrates early successes, the people who bloom fast
Austin Kleon – doesnt care fo the ’30under30′ lists, rather wants to see the ‘8over80’ lists
“I don’t want to know how a 30yo became rich and famous, I want to hear about how an 80yo spent her life in obscurity, kept makign art, and lived a happy life”
this is the big question of ‘Keep Going’ – if art is a vital part of a good life, how do you keep doing it even when you feel like stopping?
These are the people who provide inspiration
The ones who find what makes them feel alive, and kept themselves alive by doing it
The people who planted their seeds, tended to themselves and grew into something lasting
Every day is a potential seed that can grow into something beautiful
There is no time for despair
This too shall pass?
No matter what the season will pass
planting a garden gives you a unique perspective on time?
Keep working, keep playing, keep drawing, keep looking, keep listening, keep thinking, keep dreaming, keep singiong, keep dancing, keep acting, keep sculpting, keep cooking, keep designing, keep composing, keep searching, keep walking, keep exploring, keep giving, keep living, keep paying attention
Keep doing your verbs, whatever they may be
Keep going.