The Difference Between An Achiever And A Craftsman
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Full Transcript
We're winding down the year, but some of us are still hustling away, trying to either complete the goals and projects they set for this year (and this quarter) or get a head start on 2022!
Today I'm going to share an eye-opening look into the difference between the creative paths of a Craftsman and an Amateur, and how it can dramatically change your trajectory in the coming year.
The Achiever's Trajectory
Imagine a graph that on the Y-axis is Success from 0-100 and on the X-axis is Time over the next 12 months.
Actually, no need to imagine it:
The red line charts the year of growth and success for the amateur who's just starting out.
Early on they don't see a ton of success, but they keep going because they are determined to succeed.
Up a little in February, down a bit for the next three months. Then they catch their stride and things grow for a few more months! But then it's back down, and by the end of December, they cut their losses and give up on the idea, thinking that it's time has come and gone.
Now let's look at the Craftsman's chart:
The Craftsman's Trajectory
A similar trajectory, though the ups and downs are a little more compressed.
They start up, then have a few down months, then a few up months, and a few down months, but rather than losing hope at the end of the year (it is the holidays after all, people aren't spending as much, their budgets have all been used up, etc etc) they keep going and see a nice uptick to end the year.
Overall, they both finished the year up from where they started, and made some good progress along the way.
So, what's the difference?
The Achiever questions the success and gets stuck in the dips.
The Craftsman looks for the opportunity as things change and accepts the dips for what they are - lessons.
The Achiever thinks that success is determined by the amount of hustle, that the more pressure they put on themselves to succeed the more they will achieve, and stresses when the results aren't correlated with their effort.
The Craftsman says, "this is what success looks like. This is the path."
You see, the difference isn't the amount of talent or skill or effort. It's all in the mindset.
You can have an amazing year by any metric and still feel defeated and let down at the end.
You can have a year where things don't change much but you are grateful that you have a business that gives you the ability to create, serve an audience of people, and make a living doing what you love.
As we head into 2022, the main gift I want to give you is an understanding of how important Mindset is to your success and your happiness.
It's so important that the entire first section of my book is about mindset. Without it, you'll struggle to find the success you want in your creative life and business.
The outcome isn't determined by external forces. The success in your life can be created by you.
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Daren Smith
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