josten dooley

Focused Practice vs Regular Practice

The art of Practicing is something that we all do in one way or another. The difference is in what type of practicing we do. There are people who devote hours to practicing their craft. When the main thing is to have focused practice.

I learned before that were times when I was practicing and not truly making much progress. From that I learned that I was not truly getting better. I was not seeing the amount of progress I’d like to have made. Because I was lost in the mind-frame of putting in the hours.

Then I learned the best thing is to practice when you are focused. Instead of devoting hours of distracted practice, there should be a set amount of time you dedicate each day. When I learned to do that has helped me tremendously.

By allowing it to become habitual and thinking of it as a routine that you enjoy. More of than a routine a habit that is beneficial to you. The daily grind of putting in the time to improve your craft takes patience. Because if you are not the type of person who is patient practicing daily may or may not be difficult.

What I am saying is that practicing is good. As long as you are 100% focused when you are working on your projects. If you are distracted when you are in the zone you will not be as productive.

Once you cut out all of the distractions you’d be able to accomplish more than you could before. I learned this makes a big difference whenever I am working on a project and or practicing I do not let myself get absorbed into social media. The mentality of thinking you will miss out on something. When you honestly will not miss out it will still be there.

Cut out your distractions when you are practicing and remain focused.

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Staying Determined

Whatever you decide to do you have to stay determined. Determined that it will all work out in your favor. Determined that you will not give up and give it your all. Consistently failing and not having things work out in my favor helps me stay determined. From applying to jobs and not getting any calls back and going to interviews not moving on.

But I do not let the little setbacks hold me back. Neither should you let them hold you back and discourage you. I love the journey of getting to a place where you are achieving your set goals. The people who do not let you learn from your failures are not helping you.

The reason I say that the more you fail the more determined you become. Well for me that is how I have been able to develop the mental fortitude to withstand many things. Skateboarding provided me with the process of falling down and getting back up to accomplish my goal of landing the trick.

Being determined is good and can cause you to forget about yourself. By forgetting about yourself and taking care of yourself can do more harm than good. The harm of eating like crap (which is something I fall victim to) can show us how out of control we can get.

Staying determined while at the same time having discipline to take care of yourself. Getting lost in the process is so easy to do and having your focus become tunnel vision. I learned how scary tunnel vision is when we moved from NC to down here to South Florida. Because when I was driving I go tunnel vision and was slowly drifting off the road.

Lets get back on topic do your best to stay determined that what you are wanting to do you will keep going. You will keep at it until it works and also realize when the time to just stop makes sense. There comes a time when you will get bored with something and lose motivation. But you have to be honest with yourself and say “Am I wasting time and do I still have motivation to do it or not?”.

I love you

I love you and thank you for the support. Feel free to send this to someone who you want to remind that you love them.

How I learned to Flourishes with Calligraphy

Learning how to write calligraphy and apply flourishes was one of the hardest things to master. I will say I am still mastering it. Because flourishes are decorative elements to jazz up a piece. By Jazz up I making the piece look luxurious and elegant.

The way that I really improved my flourishing was by studying other work I came across. The act of studying and seeing what others have done helps a lot. Because learning from others you begin to develop a better eye for what works and what does not.

The video above goes into how I went about learning how to flourish and what I have done to improve and continuously improve.

What ruined Nickelodeon?

Nickelodeon was a part of my childhood and I always get a bit excited whenever I see a clip from a show I used to watch as a child. Because it brings back the memories of me wanting to be on the show and etc.

Taking Actions On Ideas

Taking Actions on our ideas at first is a very scary thing to do. Because we can either be scared of the success that will come from achieving our goals. As well as not knowing how to deal with the success that comes from the hard work we have put in. You may think what are you talking about being afraid of success and what comes from it.

I am only speaking from what I used to deal with mentally awhile ago. So I’d say if you know deep down in your heart that you want to be successful prepare yourself for it. There are going to be a lot of things that can seem to come all at once. Which will lead you to be overwhelmed.

I am very thankful for my parents and family for raising me the way that they did. Even though at times I was a very rebellious type and wanted to do the things I wanted. But you know they never ever forced me to not think big. Nor did they ever tell me to not go after what it is that I wanted.

So this leads me to the mindset that many graphic designers/creative individuals fall into, which is creating just to create. As well as not sharing my work with everyone. There are certain projects that seriously should not be shared. As well as not feeling accomplished enough to put out products for people to have and enjoy.

When I started selling products on my Etsy shop and seeing them in the wild I was even more fulfilled. Because instead of them sitting in my bedroom office collecting dust they are being enjoyed. Learning to think bigger has been fun.

As well seeing the value in my work, whether it be graphic design, Calligraphy and Products I create. But I do not want you to think I was not afraid to start selling my own products. The main thing I had to do was make a decision. Making the decision of I am not going to create products just for me.

Then having the mentality that I am going to make sure that I will create items that I would hang up in my home and use. This mentality is what helps me continuously create work that I am proud of.

If you are just starting out creating products and being a designer be honest with yourself. First by knowing whether you work is something you are proud of. Also whether it is something that you would like to have your name attached to. The reason I mention that is because you want to have the types of clients/Customers who appreciate the quality of work that you do.

Think of the possibilities that your work can turn into.