Author: Josten Dooley

Dealing with Dark times as a creative person

There are many times as a creative person we deal with many dark thoughts are or many different things. But you know that is normal for anyone to deal with. Not everyone on this earth is an angel or thinks positive 24/7.

The times that everything seems to be going wrong for you stop and reflect on the times that were good. Remember what you were doing before hand and get back to doing that. I recently had realized that there were many things that I had started being lazy with. Then I started to get frustrated and depressed a bit.

But I know that before when I was doing certain things such as promoting my calligraphy work, recording multiple videos for my youtube channel and uploading them how much fun I was having. So I decided you know what there is no excuse and that I needed to stop wasting so much time on things. A good example is apps and how you can get so lost in them. You could spend hours doing nothing on them.

Then after you close the app you would say to yourself what did I accomplish from all of the time I spent in it. I said that to myself time and time again. I am NOT saying apps are bad you just should not be spending all day in them if you know you have things you should be doing.

Do not be scared of the dark times when they come. Because they will come no matter how hard you try to avoid them. The main thing to remember it is how you deal with them. You can either let the darkness of times beat you into an oblivion and make you quit or you can fight back.

Do not let the numbers blind you

By that I mean all the numbers on your social media accounts do not matter as much as you think they do. What would you do if tomorrow the platform you used disappeared? A huge amount of people would be in very very bad shape.

For example you may have a lot followers on your accounts. But you know it is so easy for someone fake being popular. Especially when they think having a lot of followers matters. I for one have learned that connecting with people is what matters. You should be replying to comments and etc.

Never feeling as if you are above people who take the time to view your content and etc. Because they took the time out of their day to interact with you. I tend to take the time to value those who do such a thing.

If you have not been valuing the people who follow you and or share your work its time to do so. Also whatever industry you are in and no one knows you its because you have not fully intertwined yourself with those people.

So stop pretending to be popular with whatever numbers you have and no interaction whatsoever with your content. If you have 1000’s of followers but no more than 10 likes its obviously you either bought them and or just did follow trains. You thought taking a shortcut would have helped but it did not help at all.

Taking shortcuts do not last when it comes to building a brand. How long as a company do you think a company that was just starting out would last if they pretended as if they had customers and made it seem like they were selling 1000’s of products when they really were not. People value honesty and even more now. So remember this you can only fake it for so long and eventually you’ll be found out.

How to deal with not everyone liking you and your design work

You may be saying why would not everyone like me? I am a good person and I treat people nicely. Well let me break it down for you. There are people who think the same way as you.
Then you have those who just want to hate everything you do with no reason. Also you have those people who secretly want to see you fail. So you have to accept this and not be afraid of it. Because when someone learns this its hard to swallow.

For me when I was younger I did not think anyone would have a reason to dislike me. No matter how good I am and positive I am I will never be perfect in certain peoples eyes. But you know what I don’t care what they think. Honestly the only people’s opinions that matter first to me are my family members. Then after its friends opinions and how they see me.

When I first experienced a grueling critique of my design work in college I was devastated. But you know during the time of it I did not let it effect me. I was strong through the whole critique and dug deep mentally that I was not going to let it destroy my dreams. You may have experienced a time when someone was so brutal and almost made you want to give up.

Use those experiences to make people eat their words with how they made you feel. Like Frank Sinatra said the greatest type of revenge is massive success. I know that professors are only doing it to make you better. But lets be honest not everyone will see it that way. Some will either get offended and or make up an excuse to why they did so many things a certain way and others will just not care.

Use everyone experience as a learning curve to get better. Every thing someone says, that they do to you use it as energy to get through the tough times. There have been many times I had absolutely no drive to do certain things. But you know I always remember what I was told in design school about my typography and I most likely will never forget it.

Its the little things that will push you and drive you forward. So stop worrying and getting discouraged. Believe in yourself and most of all be honest with yourself.

When the Going gets tough

When ever the times get tough it will either make you or break you. Well not just the times a lot of heartbreak and failure. For example if you are applying to jobs and never get a call back. Experiencing things like that can make you want to give up. I for one experienced it many times.

But you know whenever things like that come my way I know that I will get through it. The same thing will be capable of you. But before you can get through it you have to believe you can get through it. If you do not believe you will make it through then 9 times out of 10 you will not.

First you have to be honest with yourself and what it is that you are doing. Recently I started working at FedEx office. The shift that I am working is third shift. Third shift is such a new experience for me and not something I have ever worked. But you know what I am going to do I am going to do my best while I am working there.

There have been times when I was frustrated because  did not know how to do such things. Another thing that I have to change is to realize that I have a team to help each other. The mentality of my previous day job was completing things in an instant. I know that over time I will it will be a breeze for me. Knowing that it will come easy for me is the same mentality you should say for your situation.

Because We both know that you can do it. Then you and me both will give it the most effort we possibly can. So why would you want to give otherwise. I know many people love sleeping and getting rest. I for the longest only have needed no more than 5 hours of sleep. I am not bragging about having such little sleep. I just feel bad if I wake up and have wasted my whole day in the bed.

I for one want to be all that I can possibly be. No matter how difficult the task may be. No matter how frustrating the task will be you can do it. The reason why I say you can do it instead of getting frustrated or going in your room to lay down face the rough times without fear. You have to run towards them and make them run from you.

Work like your poor

When I posted this on my instagram i got different types of responses. When I knew that such a thing would happen. I like to be an open person and share different view points to instill a discussion. Because seeing how different people think is always a plus.

I first heard this quote Work like your poor from a youtube video. With the mentality of working like you’re poor it takes upon a various different types of meanings. Some can be either positive or good. Poor to me is more so a mindset that one has developed over time.

Because being poor is something that you can overcome easily. The reason why I say easily is because you can do anything you put your mind to. I for one was skeptical of this phrase at first. But earlier this year I was working at a company and my financial situation was not healthy at all.

Over time I devoted myself that I was going to get out of the rut. I was in a situation and not happy about it at all. You know I had even thought about giving up and joining the Navy at one point.  Because I just did not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

But you know that I had to say to myself I had to stop being a little bitch about everything that was happening. I had to say to myself everyday is that you are not happy here and you are living poor. Because I know that I am capable of doing what ever I set my mind to. So there is not a reason why I should be working anywhere that I am not happy.

If you are feeling trapped at a job and feeling poor you should work like you are Poor to get out of there. By that I mean lets take someone from a less privileged country and see how they would act if they were in your position to find a better job. A lot of us who are graphic designers we tend to sell our selves short too often. By that I am referring to those of us who know that are work is not shitty or poorly designed but we just do it to get by.

I for one will not sit and pretend as if i was not the type of person who would just take whatever I could get. Because I was one of those people who did. I was scared to say no and not say my full rate. There was something that would happen in my brain that I would be scared of them saying ” oh that is too high for us to pay”.

See this whole poor lifestyle and or poor financial situation is all from a mindset that we create. Because our action tend to be the main results of everything that we have. If you are a graphic designer and you work like you’re still in college you may need a reality check.

Even if you are not poor you should continue to have the hustle and drive to maintain what you have. The reason I say this is because there is always someone who is willing to come and take what you have. Then you have to risk a lot of the things you value starting to fade away slowly. So just take the time to think if there is something that you have been neglecting and let fall to the wayside.  Do yourself a favor and start being honest with yourself.

Watch people say no to spec work

 

This video is a great example of how people in  Other professions look at spec work. If you are not familiar with Spec work spec work is when someone wants something done with the guarantee if a benefit of some sort. Well that is how I define spec work.

 

Taking a creative Break

Taking a creative break is not a bad thing to do at all. I from time to time take creative breaks. The reason is because I do not want to start hating what I do. When I am working on something and If I feel I am forcing myself to do the work I stop. Because then I feel I would not be producing my best work.

When I work on a project I am focused 110% and I will not stop till I am done. Doing project after project can wear you out and bore you. A lot of people may be thinking take a break? What is that or do you mean take a vacation? You could set a certain of the week when you are not going to do any work. The day will be your day off.

Another thing is that you could have a queue of work that is stacked up. Having a queue of work gives you freedom to take a break. The secret is being great with managing the time that you have set out.