Practicing Your Art

Practicing Your Art What is your art? What is it that you do to please yourself and others? That is the work you are meant to do. We all have an art. Truly, we do or we did before it was driven out of us or we forgot about it. Seth Godins book Linchpin helps define and explore this way better than I ever could. It does not ask simple assessment questions. Linchpin uses examples and asks the really big and difficult questions we should be thinking about today, whether employed or unemployed. We are all at different phases of our life. However, no matter where we are, deep down, we all want to enjoy the work we do. Having a job is more than just a means to an end or collecting a paycheck. Yes, a paycheck is incredibly important. Health insurance benefits also weigh-in as pretty important. How do we figure out what it is we will really enjoy? Oh, this is the billion dollar question. Sometimes we find out by trial and error, sometimes it requires deep introspection, sometimes it is there all along, we just need to give ourselves permission to acknowledge it. If we take down the barriers and beliefs of what a job is supposed to be, perhaps there are endless opportunities to practice our art. Are there risks? Certainly. But no one said we would be successful 100% of the time. This is also part of Godins message. As long as you are practicing your art, producing something to please yourself and others, there is satisfaction. Eventually we hope well have a hit or a masterpiece or a winner. But the goal of producing your art isnt about the grand slam or the huge success. Satisfaction comes from producing what we have a passion to produce. In the process of practicing our art, Godin believes that we can become indispensable. Being indispensable is a form of security. Some of us crave security. So, do you practice your art?