Fix your thinking

Fix my thinking you may be saying what does that have to do with anything. Well for example if you are working on a project and you feel not capable of doing it, it will most likely turn out bad. The reverse is the same. If you are confident and believe you can do it then you can.

But with this type of thinking you do not want to fake yourself out. For example you don’t want to pretend like you know how to program ruby on rails and or python script. Because therefore that is what will result in a bad combination of you just taking on a project for money.

The problems that you have don’t matter. The way to fix the problem is to fix your thinking about the problem. If you are wanting to improve from your current situation fix your thinking. The same thing is for if you are designer wanting to improve your skill. Taking action and believing that you are going to improve will do wonders for you. Belief may sound cliche but it works whether you believe it or not.

So remember this that the way you think about a situation determines how the situation will turn out.

Don’t Get too Comfortable

I really enjoyed this ted talk. Because he talked about not getting comfortable. In the sense of him sleeping on the floor beside his bed. Because if you always do the same thing you will continue to get the same results. In other words you will feel Ok my current situation is good so therefore I do not need to strive for more.

If you are currently a web designer or a graphic designer and you’ve gotten comfortable try new things for your career. Maybe you could take up illustration to combine with your current skills. Never stop striving for more and to become more. But the main thing to ask yourself is if you want to become more and have more.

Don’t die wondering

If you are hesitant about doing anything in your life I recommend you to ask yourself what am I going to do if I don’t attempt such a thing. I learned that life really is short and we are not put here to stay. So therefore why settle for just doing what society expects us to or family.

This year has been moving pretty swiftly. I mean we are almost through January and what are you doing to make this year better then the next and or the previous year?

If you have a vision follow it

Whenever we have a vision I know that it can be hard for some people to take action. Then a month or so later they still have not made any change. The same thing can be said for someone wanting to be a freelancer and never contacting clients. When honestly its easy and also easy not to do.

You may sit at work or in class and have ideas for products to create. The question I’m wondering is why have you not made them? Now this day in age its so easy to start a business or learn something you do not know quickly. There is also no problem that you are having that someone else has not had. Stop being a consumer and start being a producer.

There may be at times people that want you to do the normal thing. Which is getting a Job and then live a normal life. Not saying doing so is bad but you have to be honest with yourself. This is not for everyone to do because honestly not everyone could deal with what comes of this.

So from now on if you have a vision of something that you want to create stop wishful thinking and take action. Taking action simply starts with setting goals that will push you in the direction you want to go. You can do it if you believe.

Why wishful thinking is not working for you

Being a graphic design graduate can be frustrating especially when you do not get any responses from the jobs you’ve applied to. While you are applying to those Jobs what are you doing to set yourself apart from the rest of the other designers. Many people who claim to be a designer next year they will probably not be one or trying to be one.

I have learned recently that while whatever you are pursuing make sure you are busy working. Meaning “Do not sit and watch TV or do anything that will not help move you forward”. If you are for example a fashion designer and you want to become a better fashion designer then learning a new skill will help. One of the most important things I learned from a 50 cent words of wisdom video is when he said ” When I started making music it was full time everyday”.

Just think about how much your life would improve if you took action instead of just thinking about it. You may be a person who says they are waiting for the right time. I’ll admit I used to think there was a time for certain things. But in actuality whenever your time comes are you going to be prepared? Learning new skills will help you in the long haul. Just think of people who found a job thought they would not need to learn other skills, then got laid off and struggled to find work.

There really is not any reason why everyone nowadays does not have more then one skill. You have access to millions probably billions of free articles, videos, tutorials on whatever you want to learn. Remember whatever you are going through someone else has to learn from them. Stop just thinking about something you want to do and go do it.

Make it a priority to take action and if you fail at least you tried and then keep trying until you succeed. The only thing that comes to someone who wishes is a dream without any results.

Benefits of taking criticism constructively

In whatever profession you have chosen for your life you will have people who want to tell you how to do certain things. Then you will also have people critiquing your performance. If you are a designer like me you will have set through a critique about your work and have gotten some great feedback and other times not so much.

There are some designers who take critique’s personally if someone does not love everything they have done. A couple of the many valuable things I learned while presenting is to always be prepared for the response if a client or professor does not like your work. While they are saying what they do not like telling them what you did and why you did it will not really do much in changing their point of view.

I’m not saying that is not possible for them to change after you explain why you did such and such, just say thank you for the help. The more you defend yourself it is as if it will only make you appear weaker then you actually are. Also it could be that they just did not understand what you came up with.

If you get off of your high horse thinking you are better then you actually are and take criticism constructively, and use it to improve your work it will benefit you tremendously. Because those who have less of an ego will last longer then someone who does.