Hi, I'm Sam,
It is very important to keep at the back of your mind that a lot of things we do in life are only subjective to others. Just like you can't like everything you see or everyone you meet, that is also the way it translates to us. A lot of us feel bad when someone can't seem to like us or anything we've done but want to reserve their right to like and dislike things; do you see how that doesn't make sense? We scroll through social media giving our unsolicited opinions on people's fashion, products, ideas, and lives but we feel bad and complain when people do the same to us. There's a line between constructive criticism and borderline hate or craziness;
Opinions,
whether unsolicited or not should never make you stop doing anything; it should
only make you want to be and do better. I am a strong believer that opinions
should not always be about what someone is doing wrong but what they can do
better and if possible how they can do it to make it better. Most times people
drop opinions on something they don't even have a full idea of, especially with
regards to businesses. No one ever makes all the ideas and plans about a
business known rightly; it could be a marketing strategy to take things slow or
maybe the business owner is still trying to figure things out and testing out
different things and styles and you shouldn't make them feel bad about figuring
things out as they move.
The
only way to do great work is to love what you do; you can never be fully
invested in something if you don't like what you do, no matter how much you're
making from it. At some point, the money starts to irritate you because there
are other things you want that you can seem to get from it, and in most cases
that missing thing is peace of mind. You can only do great work, not good work
when you love what you do and you can also make a huge difference and stand out
when you're committed to what you love. The world has become a global village
where I can be in Nigeria and know the creative ideas of people in North
America or a place far from me and unfortunately that has made a lot of people
copy and paste people’s ideas because those people seem to be making a lot of
money from it. You have to dig deep and find out what you love to do and find a
way to monetize it, that is if money is what you're looking for. Variety is the
spice of life, can you imagine a world where all musicians sing the same songs,
actors, movie producers, and directors make the same movies, or businesses sell
the same products the same way? The world would be very boring. That your idea
which seems different from what everyone else is doing or your way of doing
something different from the way others are doing it is the spice we
desperately need in our lives. Your unique idea sets you apart and also
implores people to do things in their ways and own it. When you're doing what
you love and doing it in your way rids you of the idea of competition because
you are focused on your own thing and because you are not using anyone's
blueprint but your own you always know what stage you are and what next to do
without looking to the next person for ideas. Your motivation to do great work
must be divine and intrinsic; it is okay if others and your environment inspire
you but they can only inspire what is there inside of you and divinely given,
not be your sole pathway to creativity. When your drive is divine and
intrinsic, it means you can function and create Art no matter where you are and
what is going on around you and there is no stopping you when you get to that
level of creation.
To
explain further I'm going to use Taylor Swift. Everyone seems to love Taylor
Swift lately but there was a time when it was almost considered epileptic to
love her songs. Despite the criticisms and unsolicited opinions she got early
in her career she stuck to what she knew best and what she knew was her calling
and look at her today. If she had stopped making art after her first Album
because she didn't scatter streaming records, she would not have made her
second Album which made her the youngest artist to ever win Album of the Year
at the Grammys. If she had stopped at her second Album people would have not
been able to draw up a pattern and purely identify her style and know if they
could listen to her or not. If she had stopped at the third album she would not
get more people to stream her music. What I'm trying to say is the more you
continue to make art, whether or not you get what you wanted out of your last
art, you will always get something from your new and next art. There is a
blessing attached to every new level in life, all you have to do is always make
sure you get to that next level and the blessing will be yours.
A
lot of people get it right at first try and from the beginning, some people get
it right after one mistake and others after multiple mistakes and corrections
and that is not a bad thing, that is what makes us human and your words should
be used to raise and inspire people not to ever make them consider giving up.
No matter what you face, just keep making Art, nobody can figure out exactly
what you're doing or your way of doing something just from one try. You have to
build a pattern and you can only do that only if you keep working and being
better than you were yesterday.
Always remember, Winners never quit and quitters never win