Be True to Yourself – Stop the B.S. – Go For What You Really Want

I had one of those cliché shower moments just now. No, not one of THOSE shower moments, the other kind where you’re standing there and you suddenly get hit with an epiphany but have no way of documenting it because you’re standing in a shower. It happened just like that for me, and for a brief moment I felt really great about my new discovery, until I realized I was several moments from finishing my shower and I risked losing that great idea unless I wrote it down. What the hell do you do in those moments?

I tried repeating the key phrase in my head over and over, hoping it would stick around long enough for me to make it to a pen and paper. I got out of the shower, toweled off and almost had it down when my wife did the most unthinkable thing I could imagine right at that moment: She asked me a question about something completely unrelated. In my head, I was screaming, “why the hell is she asking me about that right now”, I thought. Couldn’t she tell by the veins in my forehead that I was having an epiphany?

Then I did the next dumbest thing I could have done right then—I stopped to answer her question, which turned into two questions, and then a conversation. Next thing I knew, I had completely forgotten about the amazing thought I had in my head, and now ready to do something much less amazing, like read blog posts and watch Breaking Bad.

Thankfully, I was reading Pat Flynn’s blog, and there was a point at the end of his post that caused a small synapse in my head to pop. The seed that went dormant started to percolate, move and take shape into a budding idea. Without pausing, I started writing this very post in the most stream of consciousness way I could imagine. I have no idea if this is all going to make sense by the time I finish it, but the goal is still the same, and that is to tell you one simple thought:

I’m not even kidding when I tell you that just now, just before I started this sentence, I laid my head back and breathed a sigh of relief because I finally got that phrase documented. But what exactly does it mean?

That phrase, ladies and gentlemen, is the new Fresh Rag mantra. You see, the tagline I have posted right now, “Building abundant, creative lives through art and design”, that is not who I am. The sentiment between these two separate statements is the same. No, I am not changing my focus yet again. The goal here is still the same; to help others make the most out of their artistic lives and hopefully help you all get more money in your pocket. However, the “abundant and creative” line, albeit accurate, is just not how I would say it if you spoke to me in person.

I consider myself a reasonably nice guy, conscientious when I remember to be, and somewhat likable. However, I am also brash, unadulterated and very rarely censored. I use the word FUCK way too often, but sometimes it is the only word that works in the scenario. Yes, I want us all to be abundant and creative, but to say it like that is much too passive for this hot-headed bruiser.

Make Art, Create Value, Get Paid!

That is as straight forward and to the point as I can get. Go make some fucking art, whatever that may be. If you’re a painter, paint your ass off. If you’re a writer, then go get your prose on. If you’re a chef; stop reading and go cook something.

Whatever you do, create value. Make sure you do your damn best, always. Life is too short to make crappy stuff. You have too many competitors to be half-stepping with anything. If you’re not bringing your top-notch work every single day, then why are you even in it?

Go make some damn money. Why do so many artists have a problem with that idea? It’s as if we’re supposed to stay broke and hungry all our lives as long as we toil over our creativity. That’s a load of crap, and if Pablo Picasso was in the room right now, he’s smack the taste out of your mouth for even thinking it in his presence. Where is the sin in making crazy money from our creative pursuits? Why can’t we be proud of making money? No more will I kowtow to the ideal that artists should struggle.

My focus is the same; to be better at what I do so that I can show you how to be better at what you do. I promise, I will always bring the heat. You may not necessarily dig my approach, and for that I apologize, but I have to be myself and not cater to delicate sensibilities. The soft and fluffy stuff just isn’t my style and I can’t, in good conscience, continue to portray that individual. Instead, you get the real me, the one that gives a shit about you and your business.

I won’t always be 100% successful. I will have my moments of regression and passivity, but I give you full permission to tell me to step it up if you see me slipping. No more excuses, no more put-offs; it’s nothing but A-Game from here on out.

Now close this browser window and let’s go do some work!

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