Austin Kleon Quotes

Be boring (it’s the only way to get work done)

Nadie nace con estilo ni con voz. No sales de la matriz sabiendo quién eres. Al principio de nuestra vida, aprendemos imitando a nuestros héroes. Aprendemos copiando.

Primero debes saber a quién copiar. Segundo, qué copiar.

When you teach someone how to do your work, you are, in effect, generating more interest in your work.

Every day is a potential seed that we can grow into something beautiful.

Instead, chew on one thinker — writer, artist, activist, role model — you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker. Then find three people that thinker loved, and find out everything about them. Repeat this as many times as you can. Climb up the tree as far as you can go. Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch.

Don’t ask a question before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a better question.

If you wait for someone to give you a job title before you do the work, you might never get to do the work at all.

And Conan O’Brien tried to be David Letterman but ended up Conan O’Brien. In O’Brien’s words, “It is our failure to become “I have stolen all of these moves from all these great players. I just try to do them proud, the guys who came before, because I learned so much from them. It’s all in the name of the game. It’s a lot bigger than me.” — Kobe Bryant our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.” Thank goodness.

Once a day, after you’ve done your day’s work, go back to your documentation and find one little piece of your process that you can share. Where you are in your process will determine what that piece is. If you’re in the very early stages, share your influences and what’s inspiring you. If you’re in the middle of executing a project, write about your methods or share works in progress. If you’ve just completed a project, show the final product, share scraps from the cutting-room floor, or write about what you learned. If you have lots of projects out into the world, you can report on how they’re doing — you can tell stories about how people are interacting with your work.

You get a great idea, you go through the hard work of executing the idea, and then you release the idea out into the world, coming to a win, lose, or draw.

El truco es encontrar un trabajo que pague y no te haga vomitar sólo de pensar en él, que te deje la suficiente energía para hacer cosas en tu tiempo libre. Los trabajos ideales no son fáciles de encontrar pero están ahí afuera.

In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen — really seen.” — Brené Brown

Carry a notebook and a pen with you wherever you go. Get used to pulling it out and jotting down your thoughts and observations. Copy your favorite passages out of books. Record overheard conversations. Doodle when you’re on the phone.

When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad” — there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing.