I’ve always wanted to learn how to skateboard, but never had the gusto and dedication to go through with it. When you’re older, it’s pretty embarrassing to try and learn a new sport. Especially if that sport prides itself on being cool. It’s like someone trying to learn how to be cool at the age of 30. It’s just uncomfortable.

And then in a conversation with my friend Gabe (who is over 30 – don’t tell him I said that) and I found out that he was learning to skate. I thought that it was really cool. He didn’t have the same predilections as me. He didn’t give a fuck if people saw him trying to learn. He didn’t care if he looked like an ageing hipster. He didn’t care if he fell. All he cares about is learning and getting better. He’s a teenage boy living in a 30 year old’s body.

Skateboarding is the perfect paradigm for creativity. It’s self taught. It’s monkey see, monkey do. You learn from seeing someone do something and then trying it yourself. Throwing your own swagger and style at it. You learn from your mistakes. You practice. You improve your skill. And the better you get, the more and more everything you see starts looking like a skate park.

The same thing happens with creativity and art. The more that you use your creative muscles, the more that you start seeing creative opportunities all around you. And you want to capture them. Paint them. Write about them. Bring them to the world. And just like skateboarding, you can start developing your creativity at any age.

But the thing that I like best about skate culture is the do-it-yourself mentality that comes from teaching yourself the sport. They don’t wait for a director to find the best skaters and make a video about them. They film it themselves. And edit it. And design the cover art. And post it online. There’s a blue collar mentality of doing what’s necessary to get it done. So, part of you is a skater. But part of you is also a producer. A designer. A director. A salesperson. Maybe even a seamstress.

What drives this do-it-yourself frame of mind? Easy. Skateboarding is fun. It’s relaxing. It’s scary. It’s thrilling. And when you’re having fun, you don’t mind doing the extra stuff. It’s rewarding. The first time that you’re able to see yourself pulling a trick on film, you feel like a bad ass. All of that extra work learning how to use a camera, figuring out iMovie, learning about lighting  is worth it. It’s all about creating a product that you’re proud of and showing it tot he world.

And sometimes we forget that about being creative – especially if it’s part of our job. But you’ve got to take the time to find the fun again. To be a bad ass. To get inspired. To be excited about your work.

- Christian

You have friends of friends. You have friends. You have best friends. And then you have life long friends. This story is about one of my oldest friends – Chris. We’ve been buddies for almost 20 years, which is amazing.

Over the course of two decades, I’ve learned a lot from him. But after a week of drinking scotch together in Hong Kong, it was apparent that we are still teaching each other things. And not just about expensive scotches.

Four years ago, Chris was working as an investment banker in New York. He was busting his ass, working crazy 80 hour weeks for some rich assholes. And then the markets crashed. The whole industry was thrown in a tailspin. He was in a situation where he wasn’t sure that his company was going to be able to pay him. So, he bounced.

He moved from New York to Beijing to learn Chinese. After a couple in Beijing, he connected with a guy that he knew in college. Together, they started their own private equity firm. After a couple of years and a stint in Shanghai, he’s now in Hong Kong running their company.

Let’s take stock. Four years ago, his world went to shit. But instead of sitting around trying desperately to hold onto his old lifestyle, he let go. He got the fuck out of there and made his own opportunities. He now speaks fluent Mandarin and pretty good Cantonese. He’s the boss instead of the employee. And (best of all) he makes his own hours.

What I love about Chris’s story is that he took lemons and making fucking awesome lemonade. At some point in our lives, we will all find ourselves in a situation that sucks. It can be school, a job, a relationship, an apartment or even a city. You think, fuck it. I’m out of here. I can do better somewhere else. But it takes balls to leave. It doesn’t take any courage to hang around and complain, trying to get your old life back. It takes courage to let go. To move on and actively search out your next opportunity.

The courage to embrace change - that is what’s cool. And that is what Chris taught me.

- Christian

1. Stop aiming for perfection. 
There is such a thing as good enough. It’s better to get your work in market than to waste precious resources trying to make it perfect. There’s a standard lifecycle of adoption for new products, services and ideas. The early adopters don’t need a product to be perfect. They just want it to be new, cool and to address a need. Stop using perfection as an excuse to get your work to market. 

2. Stop waiting for opportunities. 
Chase them. If you see something that you want, be bold and go after it. Don’t stands there in a coffee shop waiting for the girl that you like to do something that creates the perfect opportunity for conversation. Just go up and talk to her. Same thing with projects at work. If you hear about a pitch that you want to work on, go talk to someone to get yourself on that project. Does it take balls? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely.

3. Stop driving everywhere.
Walk. Bike. Take transit.  Leave the car at home. Get some fresh air. Interact with people. We spend so much of our lives in cars, cut off from the rest of society. Stop confining yourself to a little metal box on your commute. Stop having to worry about traffic. Stop getting stressed about parrallel parking on a busy street with everyone watching (my own personal fear). Stop driving everywhere and allow the journey to be time for yourself.

4. Stop hoarding ideas.
You see this sometimes in creative industries. Some people are afraid of competition and so they hoard their ideas. They hide them from the rest of the group and show them only to their boss. These people are under the impression that you have a limited number of good ideas, so they guard them for their exclusive use. But the truth is that creativity is like a muscle. The more that you use it, the better it becomes. Give your ideas away for free. Let people build on them. Listen to a different perspective that you wouldn’t have considered. Your brain can only hold so much. You need to make room for all of this year’s new ideas.

5. Stop making excuses. 
Accept reality. Understand the challenges. The limits. What you can and cannot change. And then deal with it. Stop making excuses. Stop putting it off. If you want to do great work, do great work. Don’t complain about the budget, the brief or the client. Work your magic with the cards that you’re dealt. 

To be creative, you need to get your work out there in the real world. That’s what makes you a creative person. That’s what separates the artists from the people who simply own a Mac with Photoshop. As Steve Jobs said, real artists ship. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to get out there. Let’s make 2012 the year that you ship your best work yet.

- Christian

I’m a firm believer in the fact that every year coming up is going to be better than the one that just passed. As I reflect on the relationships, the opportunities, the failures, the people and events that made 2011, I feel fortunate to experience what I have.

If you haven’t had the greatest year, it’s easy to get bummed out. Stay positive and work had to make the next day, week, month and year better. Here are a couple of things that you can do in 2012 to keep you happy and get those creative juices flowing:

1. Read more.
Put down the TV remote and open a book. Read. Read the classics. Read books that inspire you. Read books on entrepreneurship. Read about history. Read about interior design. Read about interesting people. Just read more.

2. Sweat more.
About a year ago, I was feeling pretty shitty about life. I was in a new city with a new job and it was tougher that I thought it would be to adjust to a new social setting. And I got saw less than 30 minutes of sunlight a day, which is depressing unto itself. And then I joined a gym and started going every day. Running, biking, lifting, playing basketball. It feels awesome to sweat.

3. Smile more.
Smile. Smile a lot. Even if you’re not happy. Two things will happen. (1) The act of smiling will make you happy. Fake smiles lead to real smiles. Trust me. It’s science. (2) People will reflect happiness back at you. When you smile on your commute, at the mall, in the hallways, people smile back. And that definitely makes you feel good. Plus, the world could use more smiles.

4. Write more stuff down.
We all have ideas, but they tend to come to us at the most inopportune times. Like on the toilet. Or when you’re sleeping. Or when you’re watching a movie. But then we forget them. Inspiration is fleeting and can come at any moment. Get into the habit of writing stuff down. Whether it’s a “to do” list, a random collection of inspirational articles to read, business ideas … it doesn’t matter. Write it down. It’ll make your life less stressful.

5. Dance more.
Dancing is fucking awesome. The world needs more dancing. Dance in the morning. Dance into the night. Dance by yourself. Dance with a partner. Dance with your friends. Do a fist pump (I won’t judge). Do the white man shuffle. Do the Carlton. Be suave. Be stupid. Be sexy. Just have fun and dance. I’ll be honest. I’ve had a couple of one-man dance parties in 2011 and they definitely got me to a happy place.

Remember, if you’re reading this, you’re on a computer that’s connected to the internet. You have a roof over your head. You can afford to connect with people. You also have the gift of creativity. Don’t be afraid to use that gift to make stuff. Let’s make 2012 an awesome year!

- Christian

If you can’t view the video, click here.

- Christian

If a problem grows to become complicated and all consuming, you have to ask yourself one simple question: is it worth it to fix it?

Your time might be better spent doing something else. Something that you love. Something that doesn’t cause you stress for nothing. Or something that delivers results.

It’s easy to get drawn into a black hole with a project. You start and some small bumps arise in the road. And then the situation gets bigger and more complicated. It gets bumped up a couple of levels. At the end, there seems to be more effort on getting agreement and approval than actual work being done.

Is it worth it? If not, ditch the project.

Spend your time on a project that keeps things simple and ships.

- Christian

Earlier this week, I was fortunate enough to participate in a discussion initiated by Brian that revolved around the concept of the story arc. What’s a story arc? All of the most popular movies, video games and books all contain the same structure for telling a story. The structure has existed for hundreds of years. Beowulf. The Bible. Even The Little Mermaid. The stories that resonate with you all follow the same pattern.

The structure is simple. First, there is a hero. The hero has been comfortably living his life. Then a conflict forces the hero on a journey. The hero faces temptations and challenges. Eventually, the hero has a revelation where they discover how to control their superpowers – they realize who they need to be. They enter a hero state and it allows them to accomplish the task set out to them. They slay the dragon and fulfill their destiny.

The Hero Journey is a universally relevant storytelling structure. Regardless of your age, gender or culture, you can relate to it. Why is that? It’s because we believe that a hero’s journey is the same as our own. Our own lives mimic the conflict, trials and revelations in the story arc. Maybe it’s your journey through adolescence to figure out who you are. Maybe it’s your journey to become quarterback of your football team. Maybe it’s the journey of your career.

We are all heroes in our own story.

And as heroes, we have to pass a series of tests. These challenges pull you into the darkness. You struggle. More often than not, you fail. But then bit by bit you start uncovering your own personal superpowers. You may only get a glimpse at first, but then you learn to understand them. To focus them. To control them. To use them to get to where you want to go.

This sparks the revelation. You realize who you need to become in order to suceed. It lets you step out of the darkness and start kicking ass.

Sometimes, life will shit on you. But when you’re in the thick of it and life sucks, just remember that these are trials. They are tests in your journey. You just have to figure out how to master your superpowers in order conquer it.

And at the end of it all, you’ll be a hero.

- Christian

How Bad Do You Want It from Greyskale Multimedia on Vimeo.

- Christian

If you’re stuck in a rut, there’s a simple solution.

MOVE.

Seriously.
Get off your ass.
Get out there.
See the world.
Get a different perspective.
See how we’re different.
See how we’re all the same.

See the generosity of strangers.
Haggle with a local cab driver trying to rip your off.

Creativity comes from the ability to see different angle.
To come at problems with a new perspective.
To connect the dots between disparate insights and elements.

Cooked food is better than pre-prepared meals.
A book is more rewarding than a magazine.
And you’ll learn a lot more from an experience than from a movie.

So move.
Whether you travel across the city or across the world.
It doesn’t matter.

Just move.

- Christian

And that’s the thing about the playoffs – nobody cares about what you did in the regular season. Once you’re in the playoffs you have to earn every shot, every stop and every point. Nobody sits back and let’s you have it easy because you were the king shit a couple of months ago.

There is value to being clutch. To being the member of the team that everyone can count on to make the big play when the game (or the series) is on the line. Everyone wants to be a hero. People pay a premium for people with that ability. But being clutch doesn’t come easy. It takes three things: skill, experience and heart.

Skill
Skill is the raw ability to perform. It’s having the toolbox of weapons that you can draw from to win. Whether it’s amazing design skills, a brilliant way of simplifying complex problems or an undefendable pull-up jumper, the skill is the base level required in order to be clutch. It’s the bread and butter that allows someone to physically complete the tasks required to win.

In some lucky cases, skills are obtained through god-given talent. But more often than not, they are developed through practice. Through experience. Through experimentation and repetition. For most of us, it’s about putting in the hours.

Experience
Experience is the key to performing in high pressure situations. When it’s the first time, it’s easy to let expectations and uncertainty unravel the nerves. But experience brings a sense of calm. They’ve been there before. There’s no panic. They are aware of adjustments that occur in different people’s games as the stakes are raised. And they are able to adjust yourself to fit the new situation in a rational way.

Experience prevents panic and nerves from shutting down your skill. It allows people to make the right choices and focus on doing what needs to be done in order to win.

Heart
Heart is the catalyst. It is the desire to win. It is the realization that what you’re trying to achieve is more important than anything else in the world. It’s more important than a million dollar contract, than how your legs feel right now or even the ability walk correctly tomorrow. People with heart find a way to win. They find a way to make a play. They take a 50/50 jump ball and make it a 90/10 ball. They put their blood, sweat and tears out there trying to achieve those extra inches. Trying to fight for those small details and tiny advantages that could provide a win.

Heart also has the uncanny ability to make up for gaps in Skill or Experience. Pure desire can allows a young startup to challenge a big incumbent for the title. Heart is what makes champions. Excuses are what make second place teams.

CONCLUSION
To make yourself a clutch player on the court or in the boardroom, you need to combine all three elements of skill, experience and heart. But once you get there, you’ll be the member of the team that everyone can count on to make the big play when the game is on the line.

- Christian