Freelance Week 12

You want to know the secret to success... there is no secret. Work Hard. Trust God. Enjoy Life. It's more than just my twitter bio. It's the way I live my life. I believe God gave us all a unique gift to share with others. And it's in my efforts to share my gift that I've found, to some degree, success. There is no 12-step program. There is no special formula. There is only living, learning and loving.

On Faith

This past week was a bit of an emotional roller coaster for me. And it can pretty much all be summed up with one word, taxes. I've gone through denial, resentment and now to a place of peace. But it seems like everyone I talk to agrees on one thing, our tax situation is totally unbalanced here in America. Without going off on a rant, I'll leave it at this: If I can trust the Lord with my provision then I can most certainly trust him when it comes to paying taxes. The following verse really hit home for me this past week:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

On Work

From last week I had a breakthrough in my project I was struggling with. I can only say that being open and honest with your client(s) is the best thing possible. I found I have to be willing to put it all on the line, even if that means I may lose the client. I would rather risk losing a client being honest than selfishly stringing them along. Once we recognize that clients are people too then it becomes more about the relationship than the money.

I continue to feel so blessed to be doing what I'm doing for a living. But the desire to create something more than myself keeps growing. As I watched the documentary "Being Elmo" last night I was struck with the importance of doing what we love. That's why I love partnering with people like Tim Coons and The Blackthorn Project. It's an opportunity for me to pour in all my talents and skills to help someone else. And that makes me happy.

On Life

I'll be 30 in less than 3 months now. I reflected on this last night in the fading light of dusk on my back porch. Wondering what my life has been so far. I've never really known hardship I realized. Most, if not all, of my struggles have always been with myself. I've never known hunger. I've never gone without a roof over my head or clothes on my back. For the better part of my life I've been a selfish brat. But I'm learning. Learning how to give back. Learning how to love others. Learning that my life is not meant for me alone.

Freelance Week 11

My work does not define me I was confronted with those six simple words, again, this past week. Usually when someone approaches me with a project, the process goes really smooth. But I hit a wall this week where I could not deliver what the clients needs were. If you've ever experienced this then you'll understand my frustration. Not with the client, but with myself. A lot of doubt, fear and frustration ran its course through my veins this week.

For the purposes of sharing what I'm learning, and without divulging any private information, here's a little peak at how this project has gone thus far:

1. Client shares great insight about their vision for the project with samples of what kind of style they want to capture for the brand.

2. I tell them how excited I am to work on this project and that I will have something to show them in a few days

3. I send over an email with the rough sketches to show what I've come up with and see if they like the directions I'm headed

4. Client rejects first round of rough drafts. Less typographic and more illustrative in nature is what they're looking for.

5. Awesome, I say. Back to the drawing board.

6. A few sketches later and a quick round of iterations over skype left me feeling less confident. (Side note: Don't do feedback sessions over skype. Pick up the phone.)

7. After a good heart-to-heart over the phone we agreed to move forward on the grounds that if they were happy with what I did next we could continue working together, otherwise we would go our separate ways. Not that I want this to happen, my goal is to always deliver the best work to fit my clients needs, but sometimes it's just not a right fit.

To be clear. I am not angry with the client. I only want what's best. No hard feelings. No grudges. Nothing. I can not afford to take this personally. Instead I choose to learn from this experience. I don't expect to be perfect. My hope is to always work through these problems in a professional manner. And that's what I plan on doing this week as I prepare my final attempt for this project.

Freelance Week 10

2 eggs, scrambled, and 2 cups of coffee, black. This is my morning routine. Staying 2 days in Austin for SXSW doesn't really lend itself to normal routines though. So I had to improvise. One morning was coffee with 2 breakfast tacos (win) and the next was coffee with no breakfast (fail). All in all, it was a good trip but I'm happy to be back home.

I'm hard-pressed to remember any real valuable lessons I learned this past week. The pages in mind keep flipping back the past seven days and nothing stands out. But who knows, maybe there's a lesson in not learning a lesson.

Looking out over the next few weeks I'm excited for a few reasons:

1. I'm starting a new branding project that is going to be a lot of "fun"

2. Our good friends from Colorado, Tim and Laurie Thornton, will be in town

3. My wife and I will be heading to Colorado for a week with friends and art shows

If I were to leave any type of encouragement this week, it would be this: Don't lose hope. Sometimes that is all I feel remains. Friends fail. Family hurts. Jobs suck. But hope is the gift we have to believe in something greater. Don't limit your hopes by where you are today. Think bigger. Dream greater. Live fuller.

Freelance Week 09

I'm going to start this week with a rant. Ready? --- begin rant ---

The xbox live experience, as a whole, is something I've come to live with. It's not perfect by any means, but really what is? Apple TV? Roku? I think any new piece of hard/software has just as many pros/cons as its competitor. I think it all boils down to what you're used to. We are creature of habit, we don't like change. And this is where my rant begins. The new Hulu experience on Xbox live is terrible. Same goes for Netflix. I don't know who told them they should mimic the xbox UI but they should be fired. That's not innovating, that's just being lazy. And to top it all off, the navigation within both the hulu and netflix apps are so bad I mostly end up cursing my tv and then turning it off because it's not worth my time.

Enough ranting. Here's an idea. Someone needs to develop an open source video streaming service with a painless user experience and simple user interface. Something that can pull in all your favorite services, free or subscription based, with none of the social media fluff. Just good streaming video. Is that too much to ask?

--- end rant ---

Now that's out of my system here are some meaningful things I learned this week:

1. Don't be too shy/prideful to ask advice from your peers

2. Stop waiting for things to happen and make them happen

3. My verdict is still out on SXSWi this year

I feel like more of my friends are traveling to Austin this week than in years past. And that's really weighing on me. First, because I'd like to see them all in one place. Second, because I'm over all the hype that surrounds that city for one week out of the year. The me two years ago is vastly different than the me today.

Moving on, I have a pile of receipts on my desk that I've still yet to sort through and record as expenses. Even thought Harvest makes it super easy to track and record expenses, the larger the pile gets the further away it gets. There is a pattern in my life I've noticed that goes like this: First, get really excited about something. Next, go full steam ahead. Then somewhere in the middle I realize it's like the hare and the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race. Whereas I start out like the hare, I eventually realize I must transform in to the tortoise if I'm ever going to finish what I started.

There's a lot buzzing around in my head today. Probably just the coffee talking. But I'm also excited about life. Just the other night, and this is gonna sound so stupid, but as I drove to the grocery store it just hit me that I'm alive. Like, this is my life and I'm in the middle of it. I became very aware of where I was at, in my car, on the road, and I just felt like a spec of dust. In the grand scheme of things this blog, this computer, these words won't matter. All that will remain is us, God's most priceless creation. Hope you have an awesome week.

Freelance Week 08

This past week felt like a I was caught in a whirlwind. The week started really strong then I ended up catching some weird 24-hour flu bug, but it all ended on a high-note when I installed my new show at Union Bear for their grand opening. If you live in Dallas you should check out the art space downstairs. Here are a few things that I learned through all the craziness this past week:

1. Learning to separate my work feelings and personal feelings is hard work

2. Making people a priority in my life is the key to living a healthy life

3. Give a damn about the work you do

The latter of these three lessons is one I find a continual challenge. Maybe you can relate, but whenever I have worked for someone else I found myself wanting to do the bear minimum just to get by. It was always a struggle to dig down deep and find some passion for what I was working on. But now that I'm out on my own it's like I have nothing but passion to wake me up and put food on my table.

Something I want to continue to reflect on is this: Is the work I'm doing today going to make a difference tomorrow? Or is the work I'm doing now just that... work. Ultimately God can take any situation, however mundane, and sanctify it. That's the beauty of grace. So it frees me to just live and work and love throughout my life without the added stress of if I'm where I think I should be.

So whether you're where you think you should be today, don't worry, this life is meant to be a journey. Stop looking over your shoulder and stop comparing yourself to others. Focus on the road ahead and don't be too prideful to stop and ask for help every once in a while. We're more alike than we are different. Hope you have a great week.

Freelance Week 06

The winter is wearing on me now. That cycle of wishing it were hot again when it's cold, and it's only February. Contentment. That's the name of the game.

Entering month two of my freelance journey and I feel great. I feel like I keep telling people I'm so busy, which is true, but I'm enjoying every minute of it. Balancing work time and family time is probably the biggest challenge. But I keep going back to a conversation I had with my friend and mentor, Ben Pasley, about visualizing your tasks and then marking them off when you finish them. Sounds easy enough right? But the art of ruling your time is a tricky one.

It takes time to make time.

Moving on. As I continue work with my clients I also have a few personal goals I'd like to complete by month's end.

1. Finish and release Steedicons Volume 2

2. Get the Folly shop up and running with our new shirts

3. Get my new instagram photo show hung up at our local coffee shop

A few final thoughts about time management. Making a schedule doesn't have to be a straight jacket on your life. I like to think of it more like my favorite t-shirt. But you can imagine whatever you want. All I'm trying to say is don't let your schedule rule your life. Take time to sit, pray, meditate (every day) on what's most important. Then go do that. The words of Solomon come to mind, "Where there is no vision, the people perish". Thanks for reading. Have a great week.

Freelance Week 05

This past week was pretty normal. Head down. Getting work done. Managed to get some work done around the house as well. There is something satisfying deep down in my soul when I do something manly around the house. I can make things on my computer all day long, but when it comes to using my hands to fix/install something that's when I feel really proud of my labor. On a side note, I am starting to sense the nerves rising up as I prepare for filing my taxes this year. This will be the first time filing as a full-time freelancer. I guess I'm trying to prepare for the worst. But honestly it's easy for me to get totally overwhelmed by all of it.

So here's to a new week filled with new opportunities to create. I remain thankful for the chance to do what I love for a living. I don't want to take this lightly. I feel a greater sense of purpose now that I am cutting my own path in life. Not just for the right now, but for the future, however uncertain it may be.