A Designer's Time Travel Wish: 10 Things I'd Tell My Past-Self
I'm a sucker for time traveling movies. The idea of time traveling is silly or mind-bending sometimes. Either way, I geek out about those movies.
After watching the trailer for Looper, I had an incredibly nerdy discussion with a friend on awesome time traveling movies which inspired me to write this post. What would I tell Past-Dennis to better prepare myself to work in this industry?
So I came up with this list of the top 10 things I'd tell myself.*
*I would start off by telling myself not to occupy the same space when I do encounter my past-self.
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1. It's humbling, isn't it? This is probably the #1 thing I wish I could tell myself back in the day. I spent so much time comparing my work with other people and trying to duplicate their talents, trying to beat them in their own game that I found myself losing my own professional and creative identity. I would have said, "Dennis, stop trying to beat the next guys' work, instead better your own work."
And the truth is, someone will always be smarter than you, be more creative, more technically skilled than you, and that's ok. The most important thing I could have told myself is to find your own identity and be yourself. I was trying to be the next great [insert super popular and talented designer/artist] when I should have been trying to be the next great "me".
2. This directly relates to #1. When I started, I was trying to be great at everything than I never got a chance to really master one thing. This was also really relevant in school when I was trying to be a Web Developer, Modeler, Animator, Rigger, Storyboard Artist, Designer, Artist, Lighter, Motion Graphic Artist, etc... that coming out of college, I never got a chance to be killer at one thing coming out of college. Jack of all trades, but master of none. The one thing that drove me was that I was hungry. I was hungry to learn as much as I could, but never asked myself what was the one thing I really enjoyed doing.
My advice though is to find that one thing that you truly love to do, master it, then add skills on top of that. Ask yourself, "What is the one skill you really love to do?" Mastering that one skill can make you desirable. Adding more skills on top of that will make you indispensable.
3. Some of my first misconceptions starting in the business was the idea that it would just be me, my talent and my computer. One of the biggest things they don't tell you when you first enter the industry is that "lone ranger" mentality won't cut it. I had this terrible misconception that people would just hand me work, I would do it, it'll kick ass the first time around and then you move on to the next one. Silly me.
Collaboration and working is one of the greatest things about working in our business. I suggest you relish in it, thrive upon it. Some of my best work and most enjoyable experiences in the industry were the ones where I learned how to work and communicate along side others. Whether it was peers, bosses, or clients, nothing can ever replace the satisfaction I got from working with people.
You can be the most talented person on the planet, but if you're difficult to work with, you're not going to go very far. Which in fact leads me to....
4. Design isn't about just pushing pixels around. Every designer out there can push pixels. Given our own choice, most of us designers would prefer sitting in front of our computers in a dimly lit room listening to repetitive electronic music and we'd be completely content.
I firmly believe in order to be successful in this business you have to realize that 1/3 of what will we do relies on pushing pixels. The other 2/3 is our ability to communicate with our peers, our bosses and our clients. It was shocking to me in the beginning how much I was put into situations where I had to communicate with everyone.
I remember freezing up in critiques in my very first engagements. I wasn't prepared for it. I used to dread critiques cause I never got a chance to train myself on to communicate effectively. Critiques became more nerve wracking than asking a girl out on a first date.
So learn to communicate early on. Learn how to take critiques (don't take things personally), but more importantly, learn to ask questions, listen, and communicate with others to figure out whatever problem lies in front of you. It will go a long way.
5. Coming out of college on top of my class, winning student contests, being awarded with best portfolio made me cocky as hell. Well news flash again, Past-Dennis™, in the real world, none of that means shit.
I failed to understand how much I didn't know when I was out in the real world.
It wasn't until I realized how I reached success in my college career: I had mentors. I had professors and peers who knew more than I did and I thrived off learning from them.
I struggled in the very beginning because I wasn't seeking out advice from the people who knew better. Some of the greatest figures in professional sports of all time have mentors or teachers to help them out, to point out flaws and to give out advice.
Michael Phelps had Bob Bowman, Michael Jordan had Phil Jackson, Tiger Woods had Earl Woods, Chipper Jones had Bobby Cox, Harry had Dumbledore, Luke had Obi-Wan, Justin Bieber had Usher... well... you get the point. Having a mentor, someone you can trust and be honest with you will only help you in your career. Seek advice and learn from others. It's a big key to success.
I credit @davidsteyer and @ideakitchn to being huge part in my career. They schooled me in more than just slinging code and pushing pixels. (and continue to do so)
6. I can't say enough how much connecting with my peers has energized me and my career. Find peers that challenge you. Attend user groups (shout out to AWDG and AtlHTML5!), go to conferences (*cough* Remix South *cough* </shameless plug>) , meet new people! Not only will you learn from others, but chances are they'll be learning from you too.
The best thing about our industry is that it's filled with some amazing people willing to share their experiences with you. Getting connected with the design and development community can bring you inspiration and wisdom that Google won't be able to. Together we push our limits, give each other motivation, support, ignite new ideas, hold accountability and much more.
"One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions. Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
7. Relish in the grunt work. Someone just asked you to design 64 icons or asked you to search through thousands of stock photography, or asked you to clean up code or something very mundane. What you don't realize is that everyone at some point in the beginning of their career has been asked to do something "boring".
Change your attitude about it. Bust your ass in everything you do and I promise you and your work ethic will not go unnoticed. People will value your work ethic more than your talent. Ask any employer or someone in management, if they had to choose between someone that was ridiculously talented but had a diva-like attitude over someone that had slightly-above-average talent but had great work ethic, they're going to go with the latter.
8. If you've been reading carefully, there is an overall theme I'm going with: There is more to working this industry than the work than your produce.
Degree's are great, heck I have one, but I've seen so many talented people succeed in this industry without any formal training. They've succeeded because not only were they great at what they did, but their work ethic, ability to communicate, attitude, and determination to learn, set them apart.
9. Here's the full quote:
Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. -Bruce Lee
This industry is relentlessly changing. You have to understand that the techniques you use, the code you're writing, the work you're doing is going to be different from what it will be in 5 years. You have to learn to adapt to survive in this industry.
NEVER. STOP. LEARNING. EVER.
Most people don't tell you how fast paced this industry is. One day you're caught up w/ the times, the next day, there's something entirely new to learn. And it's a challenge. Trust me, I understand, I used to do Flash development. :)
10. I admit that in the beginning I was probably difficult to work with. I kept to myself. I was defiant in defending my designs. I didn't communicate nearly enough. Part of that comes with the territory in starting a new career and growing up in general. But all in all, I was pretty lame to work with.
I didn't figure things out right away. Through some aches, pains, blood, sweat, and tears, it finally hit me: If I am going to really enjoy this career, I'm going to have to be a better me. I asked myself, "Would I want to work with me?" I knew I had to push myself to be adaptable, to be a better communicator, and not take things so personally. Be nice. Don't be lame.
I do not regret the professional mistakes I've made because otherwise I wouldn't have learned from them. I've failed more times than I've succeeded. I've learned more in my career because I failed and I'm thankful for it.
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(Sidebar: Read this great post by J Cornelius on the Upside of Failure)
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This isn't to say that I have it all figured out. Far from it, actually. I just approach my career differently than I did in the beginning: I always put myself in a position to learn. Whether it's learning from peers, mentors, clients or anyone else, I approach things with a little more humility and an understanding that there is always something to learn.
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