Success isn’t determined by achieving some goal. You’re an artist for the long term make sure that you measure your success on your terms. Look at the impact of your art as well as achievements.
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Hi. It’s John Paul Fischbach, the CEO and Chief Alchemist here at the Auspicious Arts Incubator with this week’s Hot Tip. We’ve titled this week’s Hot Tip Success on Your Terms because it’s about what you measure as your success. For some of us as artists we have some external thing that we measure as our success. I know I’ll be successful when I’ll have an exhibition at fill in the blank. I know I’ll be successful when I’ll perform at, I know that I’ll be successful when I earn. There’s some external measure that we have but you know what? We’re in this for the long haul. This is our career. This is what we’ve chosen to do for our life. We’re in it for the long haul so we need to measure success by something that is not quite as transitory as that one little small metric that you set for yourself. Let’s think about the impact of yourself, the impact that you have in the world, the impact that your art has and I want you to start measuring your success by the impact that you have on someone else’s life, on other people’s lives when you stretch a mind, when you open a heart, when you change a life. That is the measure of success.
I remember that there was a theater company that I worked with back in Edmonton and they had six people that showed up for a performance one night. They decided that was not successful but the impact changed that family’s life. When they remembered that story and they now repeat that story and they realized that show was hugely successful because of the level of impact that that had.
I often say here at the Incubator that effectiveness is the measure of success. I would like you to look at your career because you’re in it for the long haul. How effective is your art? What is the impact? We’ve talked about the Delta Effect? How does it manifest change in other people’s lives and ultimately you’re a gift. You’re a gift to the world. Your art is a gift. Has that gift been used? If the gift is being used and if the gift is being shared that is a long haul measure of success. It’s success on your terms not some little external thing because there will always be things to achieve and those are great. Let’s think of those as goals not as determining whether you’re a success or not.
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Thank you – so timely for me 🙂
‘Your art is a gift. Has that gift been used’
Love it
I love it when one of the hot tips “hits home” Here’s to more opportunities to use your gift.