The Inner Dialogue Of An Artist (ME)

I am finding out that there is more to being a successful artist than to simply create art.

"Build it they will come" or the "starving artist?" Which is truer?

There is only so much macaroni and beans we artists can feed our family, and only so many deals we can make with the electric company before they shut down our electricity; so I want to get it right.

Thomas Edison said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." It just doesn't resonate with me. I have known many hard workers, who gave their blood, sweat, and tears. They got by, but that was about all.

So what's the deal with that? Were they putting their energies in the wrong places? After all, it stands to reason that working hard doesn't produce wealth if you are working on the wrong things.

On the other hand, simply having a talent and the inspiration isn't all that is needed for an artist or anyone to be successful.

So I started thinking about the Pareto principle (the 80/20 Rule) which says that 80% of outcome can be attributed to 20% of the causes for a given event.

• The majority of profit comes from a minority of sales.
• The majority of work is performed by a minority of employees.
• The majority of consumer complaints come from a minority of the total customer base.

How can I  apply the 80/20 Rule to make the most of our time, money and effort? 

Maybe I should read The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferris; he seems to have the answers.  But I can't help wondering, what does Tim Ferris consider work?  It seems his work is his pleasure. If you were to ask me if I work long hours I would tell you no. Drawing and painting don't work for me, just fun and meditative.

This leads me to the conclusion that we must do what we love before the money will follow. Of course, this is hard for many of us to accept, even if we know it is true. Society has taught us that hard work and perseverance is the only way to success. That's why we have a chain of restaurants called Thank God It's Friday (TGIF) and why Wednesday is considered hump day, just two more days until the weekend.

The bottom line may be that we need to get over our fears, and go for it, do what we love 80 percent of the time. Market ourselves 20 percent of the time.

What we need is to focus on the tasks that will only contribute to the majority of our benefit and success. Get the real result-producing tasks done first. 

Okay, I get all that, but here's the burning question: How do we define and execute the perfect 80/20 plan? What are the time wasters, and what are the time consumers to avoid?

What exactly needs to be done to define our dream and reach the goal of being successful, by our standards?

This is the stuff I'm thinking about and the answers I am looking for.

Anyone have some?

I am in pursuit of this subject and will be reading The 4-Hour Workweek to see if Tim really has the answers. 

In the meantime, I am anxious to hear what you have to say and if anyone can shed some light on this subject.

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