No excuses

An instructor at school had written on the whiteboard:

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours.
-Richard Bach

I'm finding this to be true. Though it has been extremely helpful to get around artists who are further along than I, and begin to develop an informed perspective on what my strengths and weaknesses are, I'm noticing a tendency to take their constructive criticism and turn it into excuses.

"Have you ever thought about doing storyboards?"
"Yeah, I could, but I need to work on my film knowledge more."

"So are you trying to pursue any major clients?"
"No, I don't think I'm good enough yet, I need to stick with small stuff for now."

"Hey you should submit your portfolio to that gallery [that you love and visit every month], your work would totally fit in."
"Yeah, one day I want to, but I need to make new stuff first."

While each of these statements may have some wisdom and truth to them, the attitude that spawns them is more one of inferiority and risk-aversion. To some extent, I need to just take risks. Maybe I won't get into the gallery with my current work, but I can always try again when some new stuff is ready. Maybe I haven't done storyboards much, but I can start with a small job and learn on the go.

The ironic thing I've realized is that in my perceived unreadiness for the opportunities I aspire to, I've been leaning more on graphic design jobs that come by. Yet on the grand scale of expertise, I'm just as inexperienced as a graphic designer, and everything I've learned in that discipline has been in the midst of working, leading to steady progress and more jobs. Maybe because my goal isn't to become a graphic designer, I'm not as afraid of falling short. But the point is that we grow as we tackle challenges we haven't mastered yet, and I suppose if I've made it this far, it must be possible to survive even when you make mistakes.

But anyway, enough with excuses. Take some risks where you'd really like to succeed.

Planning a course

A very successful friend of mine once gave me the advice not to try to "manage my career," i.e., he studied one thing in college, then found himself at early jobs in something else, then went back for a masters degree, and now in his thirties finds himself as CEO of a successful startup, doing something he never would have imagined at the start. It wasn't by setting an overarching goal but by maneuvering wisely through the situations he found himself in. Still, I imagine that at each point in the journey he must have had some sort direction, which enabled him to say yes to some opportunities and no to others, even if the eventual destinations weren't what he had envisioned.

Scripture says "in his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." (Prov 16:9) God certainly leads us along paths we can't predict towards destinations we hadn't imagined, I've seen that abundant times already. But it says "a man plans his course," like he has some idea of where he was headed, and then in the process of going, he finds God opening and closing doors along the way that may affect the path or the destination or both. It doesn't say where the man ends up, whether God's steps led him to his destination, or somewhere else. The outcome is something we just need to trust God with in the end, and with an open hand each step of the way. But here in the beginning, we find ourselves with the privilege (and responsibility) to plan for ourselves a course.

So where do we want to go?