My strategy so far has been a combination of a few different things, mainly:
- The determination to go the extra mile
- The self-awareness to realize when you've gotten there
- The humility to understand that you can always go further
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| LISTEN WELL, YE FAITHFUL |
These are the principles I live and work by, and I have the deepest respect for anyone else who shares them, or whose decision-making shows proof of their presence. I don't instantly despise anyone who doesn't, of course. But I do have a tendency to get peeved.
Not fulfilling #1 basically means you're a lackluster person, and I'm that way myself if it's something I don't care about. I might get pissed off if you're supposed to help me on equal footing with something I'm enthusiastic about but you don't; however, in some cases I can work hard enough for two and pull the whole load. So this one's usually chill.
As for #2, what happens when this one is neglected is usually that somebody who's really good at say, writing or drawing or whatever, continually insists that they're terrible at it. In other words, throwing a whiny bitch fit which is easily ignored. Just don't feed the animals.
But fail to fulfill #3 and you can guarantee yourself (or at least a part of yourself) a spot on my black list. WATCH IT.
What this entails is that the person in question reached rung 2 and knows that they have talent and the ability to succeed. However, they've failed to realize that just because they're good at something, that does not make them the Einstein or Michelangelo of their field, god fucking dammit!!!
I tend to notice this sense of over-accomplishment in fields that I know I'm good at, namely, a) the English language, and b) writing fiction. Let me elaborate. And then rage a little.
- It seems you're not a native speaker of English. And yet, you're really awesome at it! Kudos to you! The only foreign language I'm halfway decent at is German, and I can't really communicate for shit. I admire you for getting this far! But wait - what's that? Did you just claim your English is perfect? Just a minute - are you acting as if you're a native yourself? But ... but you mispronounce words all the time! Your grammar is faulty! You have a heavy accent! You're excellent at this language, but by no means as fluent as someone who's had it hardwired to their brain ever since they learned to talk! If you don't deal with that fact, how are you ever going to get better? Iron out those flaws? That's right - you aren't! So FUCK YOU.
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| FUCK YOU |
- It seems you're writing a story. That's great! I love writing too! Can I read it? Thanks! Well, overall it's an awesome piece of work, but I've got some critique. You've got some basic structural errors here and I think your main character's a bit too perfe--wait, what? Nobody else has given you negative critique? But how is that relevant? I'm a reader, and I have an opinion on your work; you can't just shoot me down like th--wait a sec, what's this I see? You're going around telling everybody that you're going to get this published? You're referring to yourself as if you're an accomplished author? But ... but you can't even handle critique from a fellow aspirant! Has an editor taken a look at this? Have you asked for honest opinions from people who know better than you, to try to develop your style? You're excellent at this, but you've got so much room for improvement! If you don't deal with that fact, how are you ever going to get better? Iron out those flaws? That's right - YOU MOTHERFUCKING AREN'T, so stop acting like the best thing since Stephen King. Seriously.
RANT DONE. FOR NOW.
Well I do like to try and do the best I can but thanks to my confidence issues I don't have that part of me that accepts I am good. Which is odd because I always want to be better too. So I fulfill one and three, but not two. It hurts when people tell you that your work isn't as good as it is, but that's how you get better, and how you know you're good. I agree with a whole lot of this rant Sophia :)
ReplyDeleteConfidence is really important. What's the use of being good at something if you can't realize that yourself and derive joy from it? :3 But of course, that's no excuse to stop developing. WORK HARD M'BRO and thanks for agreeing with me that makes you a good person ;D
DeleteThat last point, so fucking hard. It's there in, like, all of the fucking fields of everything ever.
ReplyDeleteAlso, doesn't #2 slightly contradict #3? Or is that just me?
#2 is rather objective, though. ie winetasting, because it's an easy example. Right now you may be like "yeah that wine's good but I like the other one better", but after years of tasting experience you'll look back and wonder "why the hell did I like those vulgar fluids?"
You continue to develop, and thus the distance you can see as far as skill level goes (so to speak) increases. Right now you may look up to folks who are decent at painting stuff, going all "wow you're the best I can't ever do that" but once you learn to do that, you'll see there's so much more room for improvement (as you said). You'll see that the people you once looked up to were just "good" and by no means "more good" or "perfect", though your initial impressing made by your unexperienced mind did say so.
...did that make any sense?
#2 means knowing what your level is, being able to self-evaluate. I.e., seeing yourself from the outside, knowing if you're below average, exactly average, or way above average.
DeleteThe function of #3 is to ensure that just because you know you're good, you don't end up a puffed-up douchebag who thinks you're ~THE BEST~ and become unable to look at yourself critically because you believe you're already perfect.
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