Make A Map And Get Lost
Hey past-me 👋
Do you remember this?
When we were 12, we had a school project where we had to talk about ourselves and this was one of the pages:
Well…it’s been 22 (whoa) years since then.
I am “Future Me” now.
So far…
a good chunk of that is true.
In this week’s letter I’m talkin about:
Making plans for your creative career and getting lost on purpose.
Here’s the goodsh*t:
Setting up your future-self to succeed
Leveling up your skills quickly
Getting to your dream projects sooner
Skipping the bullsh*t:
Wandering aimlessly for too long
Beating yourself up about ‘progress’
Learning unnecessary things first
That’s the gist, so check it out:
What’s your dream project(s)?
Write a comic book?
Run a tv show?
Direct a film?
Develop a game?
Create a gallery?
Design a clothing line?
Maybe all of the above?
I’ve worked on hundreds of designs/paintings for animated TV for over a decade.
I’ve made dozens of personal creative projects like prints, illustrations, buttons, pins, patches, stickers, flyers, posters, logos, etc, spawned from hundreds of ideas.
And the thing is, I never planned to...I kinda just fell into it. Which made it a little tough for me to keep up with the artists that did.
The good news is, all it takes is a bit of focus, practice, and feedback.
Start small and work your way up, gathering skills along the way.
That’ll give you the experience you need to pull off the bigger projects.
(Take out the minions first, big bad boss later.)
But it’s even more important that you’re actually focused on practicing the things that help fulfill the project in the first place.
Like, you wouldn’t wanna waste your time learning how to cook mac & cheese if you wanted tacos for dinner, right?
(Though both delicious, no doubt, it’s just not what you meant to do at the time.)
And the best way to avoid wasting too much time, is to start with a map.
Make a map and GET LOST.
If you’re trying to get somewhere, you’ve usually got two options.
Follow a map, or
Follow your feet
In this case, it’s important to do both. Especially when you’re just starting to figure things out.
SPOILER: You go to a for-profit art school pre-YouTube, borrow $60k in loans, and learn not even half of what you currently do for your day-to-day as an Art Director in TV Animation. You end up having to teach yourself a bunch of stuff after art school in every single job you were lucky enough to get. Now that’s kinda normal. There will always be gaps in our knowledge and it’s up to us to find those gaps, but at the time you didn’t know what you didn’t know. And knowing what I know now, there was no real reason you couldn’t have known sooner. Ya know. So I’m telling you now. In my alternate modern past…to…fulfill your alternate-universe future. Everything you need to know is available out there
Here are two mistakes people often make when they decide to make a map:
Keeping it in their heads the whole time, or
Never looking back at the map!!!
I’ve definitely been guilty of this. Most of us have.
I’d come up with a plan, get excited, get goin, but then get lost in the sauce and forget to look back at the map to see if I’m anywhere near where I planned to be.
(Hint: far far away, but that’s okay, side quests can reveal interesting new storylines.)
So, here’s what I’d do to make the most of it:
Step 1: Design a map and display it
One Piece Map of Unknown Islands
Work backward from your dream project and explore the necessary and potential paths that might lead there. Most importantly, clarify WHY this project, why it’s so important to you, and why you MUST do it.
This will give you a direction to head towards and give you the opportunity to research and break down the skills you may need to acquire along the way.
What can go wrong is if you make your map, but never look back at it.
So make sure it’s displayed somewhere physically that you can’t ignore, like the fridge, or right by your door, or on a whiteboard next to your desk. Remember: out of sight, out of mind is a very real thing.
Also, be aware that since it’s a map for something that hasn’t happened yet, it can and probably will evolve, and that’s normal.
Step 2: Get going and get lost
Goku flying on Nimbus
Now that you have your map, follow it, and get lost in it.
Sometimes people will make the mistake of making the plan but not working the plan because the making of the plan feels like progress itself, but don’t be fooled.
So start right away and work with what you got:
Design a mini version of the dream
Gather inspiration
Learn just enough to get started
Practice making the thing
Seek feedback
Try again
Discover interesting things along the way
On your path, you may get distracted by shiny things, but those shiny things may illuminate a part of the process you didn’t realize existed, and it may alter your map entirely.
That’s why it’s important to explore and iterate quickly so you can experience the micro version of your dream and whether or not it’s what you truly want to do.
Step 3: Return to your map
Bulma showing the Dragonball Radar
So now, stumbling through the path, look back at where you originally intended to go.
This is the assessment stage that people don’t often implement, but it can save you time, money, and your sanity if you do it regularly.
You want to take stock of where you’ve been, where you are now, and what you learned along the way, and see if it’s necessary to change directions or continue onward.
What I do is answer a few simple questions:
Did I achieve my objectives?
What went well?
What went wrong?
What could I do better?
This allows you to take a step back from your journey and pull yourself out of the map. Sometimes it’s hard for us to know what’s really going on when we’re walking the path through the trees.
Step 4: Continue course or blaze new trails
Dragonball Global Radar Map
Now that you’ve traveled a bit and had some experience, it’s time to decide to continue forward or head in new directions.
The mistake I’ve made at this point was to become stagnant and make no moves at all.
Procrastination is a form of resistance. You might feel unworthy of the path you set out, but don’t bother entertaining that.
Instead, believe in the past version of you that set out on the voyage, who declared a direction for themselves, and put in the effort to reach their destination.
And if you can't trust them at this point, remember your WHY. Does it still resonate? Between the choices you have are any of them a HELL YES or ABSOLUTELY NOT?
Step 5: Arrive and celebrate
Straw Hat Crew is Hyped
Eventually, if you keep going down the path you set out, you’ll arrive at your destination.
The mistake here is not to rest, to not celebrate, to not look back and see how far you’ve come.
Faith kept us moving, but recognizing the payoff is important now.
You’re one step closer to your dream projects. Maybe you found a shortcut and are already there, so it’s time for a new one.
Either way, pay homage to where you were. You made it this far.
It was just an idea before.
Now you’re here.
And that’s awesome.
Never minimize your achievements.
Here's how my career map turned out so far. Workin on those next three!
TL;DR
Design a map and display it
Get going and get lost
Look back at your map
Continue course or blaze new trails
Arrive and celebrate
#CONSUME2CREATE
Here are some cool things to munch on while you make your map:
📺️ How to Shape Your Art Career
Aim for something, anything. It doesn’t have to be a final decision, just tomorrows. At least it’ll give you a direction.
Goals will tell you where to go, systems will get you there. Tune into this one, understand what someone else’s process is like, try it yourself, then tweak it to fit your needs.
Learning how to learn is the cheat code no one ever talks about. You go to school to learn things, that’s what we’re taught. But we’re never really taught HOW to learn, at least I wasn’t.
Alright. That's it for this week.
Go make that map.
