I remember this tune like it was yesterday.
I can’t get no satisfaction
I can’t get no satisfaction
‘Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can’t get no, I can’t get noWhen I’m watching my TV
And a man comes on and tells me
How white my shirts can be
Well, he can’t be a man ‘cause he doesn’t smoke
The same cigarettes as me
I can’t get no, oh no, no, no
Hey, hey, hey, that’s what I say
I ended up being the man behind the man on the radio when I was the owner and creative director of OCEAN IMG, my advertising agency that traversed the nineties. We were invested in telling people what they needed to have to be the person they needed to be, baby… BUY OUR CLIENT’S STUFF!!!
Buy the car and become incredibly successful.
Buy the clothes and become more desirable.
Buy the camera and become a better photographer.
Buy the course and become more confident.
It’s a powerful sales strategy because it doesn’t sell you a real product. It sells you a new identity and subtly suggests that the person you are right now is somehow insufficient.
But these ideas escaped the fragile cage of advertising a long time ago.
Now we’re told we’re one workshop away from success. One degree away from a remarkable career. One relationship away from happiness. One breakthrough away from confidence. One perfect morning routine away from finally getting our lives under control.
It’s always one more thing and always just a little out of reach.
But happily, somebody is standing on the sidelines ready to sell it to us.
There is an entire economy built around keeping us almost ready.
Almost qualified.
Almost confident.
Almost equipped.
Almost healed.
Almost the person we believe we could become.
The purchase transaction promises to close the gap.
And sometimes it helps, and of course education matters. Good tools matter. Relationships matter. Medication can save lives. The problem has never been the thing itself.
The lie is that the thing we buy will do the actual becoming for us.
It won’t. It can’t. It’s not even possible.
I taught workshops for 15 years
A workshop can teach you possibilities, but it’s still up to you to follow through. (Pro tip… after teaching for a long, long time, it is my experience that far too many don’t. At first that made me sad, but I eventually understood the factors at play, and realized that was just the way it was gonna go.)
A degree may open that special door and even teach you the secret handshake, but it can’t make you successful once you’ve gotten inside.
Relationships could add joy to your life, but they won’t make you the person you want to be on their own, that takes some work. Always.
Maybe a pill will keep you somewhat more centered, but it can’t live your life for you, and in many ways it could prohibit your growth in many ways you won’t instantly see.
These are all things that exist outside of us, and not the inner forces that can bring us what we seek.
They are tools.
And tools can help.
But they can’t transform you without your active participation.
Artists may be the easiest people in the world to seduce with “the next thing.”
The next camera (Leica?) will allow us to finally reveal our vision.
The next lens will give our work the distinctive look we crave.
The next software will make us more productive than we can imagine.
The next workshop will eliminate our uncertainty, and finally reveal the missing ingredient.
The next notebook, studio, website, mentor, marketing system, or AI tool will finally turn us into the serious creative we keep imagining that we are.
It’s preparation, we tell ourselves.
And we love preparation because it feels like progress without exposing us to measurement or judgment.
Buying the tool is safe and easy.
Using it well requires more work.
Taking the workshop is exciting.
Practicing what it taught us for six months is a whole lot less glamorous.
Planning the project gives us a pleasant little rush.
Finishing it means discovering whether the idea was actually any good after investing considerable time and money.
That is where the fantasy usually collides with the work.
They may think they do, but most artists don’t need more information.
They need more application.
They don’t need another tool.
They need to use the tools already sitting on their desks, in their bags, or in the studio. Pull ‘em out, get ‘em dirty, make stuff.
They don’t need to discover their ‘voice’ before beginning.
They need to make enough work for a voice to actually emerge and be seen or heard.
That may be the most uncomfortable truth of all:
in most cases, we already have enough to begin.
Not enough to be brilliant.
Not enough to know every step.
Not enough to guarantee success.
Just enough to begin.
But beginning is the part that no one can sell us, bestow upon us, or force us to do after the workshop.
We can buy assistance for sure.
We can buy access; oh yeah, we can.
We can buy better equipment, valuable knowledge, and expert guidance.
In fact, some industries are built on delivering that stuff wholesale, retail, and through subscriptions…
But we can’t buy the repetitions, the decisions, or the courage needed to put something unfinished into the world and invite the world to respond.
And we cannot siimply buy the person we want to become.
We have to build that person ourselves.
Step by excruciating step.
I don’t want you to stop buying things, or taking workshops, earning degrees, finding love, seeking help, or using helpful (and legal… heh) medication.
That would be silly (and more of a Medium post… heh, but I digress.)
Buy the camera if it expands what you can make. Then make it.
Take the workshop if you intend to apply what you learn. Then apply it.
Use the software if it removes real friction. Then create with it.
Find the mentor if you are prepared to do more than nod enthusiastically during the call. Then do the work.
For the people who still believe great work matters.
Creativity isn’t getting easier.
The tools we use are. They definitely are.
And that changes the equation.
So every week, I write about better thinking, stronger creative skills, AI without the hype, and building a creative life that can survive whatever comes next.
No fluff. No hustle porn. No BS.
Just practical ideas for independent creatives who refuse to become average.
My Personal Website
Me on Medium.
My premium members have full access to over 26 productivity and creativity tools, my books, and weekly updates to help them build a better creative business.
NEW PHOTOSHOP TOOLS THIS WEEK!
These are all you need to unleash that momentum that has escaped you for so long. Be the person you were meant to be and convert that JPEG into a DNG today! All of your friends are doing it, and they are much better than you, and you know it. In fact, you suck if you are not feathering your masks and allowing your pent-up brilliance to blow through all of your competitors’ dreams.
Or something.
Create a powerful Landing Page, a personal app, and learn how to get the best out of the top three AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. This is a one-day workshop, and we will use the tools to BUILD.
NOTE: It will not transform your life, but it will give you some damned good information you can expand on to make cool stuff with AI.
$125
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.