- "You're so creative", "You just have this eye
for what looks good." "You're so talented." "I wish I could do stuff like that." If you're a visual artist or
a musician or a photographer, or just anyone who's in or
is pursuing a creative field, then those phrases probably
sound pretty familiar. That's a good thing. Those are compliments. They're endearing. They're very nice. And they were probably
said to you by someone who meant it very well and
had the best of intentions, but none of that changes
the fact that it isn't true. You're not creative. You don't have an
artistic eye or whatever, and you're not talented. And that's a good thing. So let me explain. (car engine roars) (upbeat music) For example, photographers and filmmakers don't just have like a
natural eye for good images. They've learned to pay
attention to light and color and composition and patterns
and all of the other elements that make up a good shot. So I stopped to take a few
photos of this spot behind me. And, at first glance, it
just jumped out at me. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that what
made this scene stand out to me is all of the different specific elements that I've learned to pay attention to. The repeating pattern created
by all of the similar trees that line up in the background, but also the fact that we have one tree very close to the camera that stands out and creates a subject, also
the fact that we have rain on the leaves that gives
them a very deep green color, adds some contrast to the shot, the way the mist in the
background simplifies the scene and emphasizes the depth. And, finally, the way we have foreground through this little bush,
right in front of the camera and can get those leaves really close and emphasize that depth even more. And those are all elements
that I've gradually picked up and learned to pay attention
to while I'm out shooting. Like if I had walked past this
scene four or five years ago, I probably would have just kept walking. It's just a bunch of trees. And the funny thing is
that as you internalize all of those different components and get better at your craft, it becomes second nature
and does just feel like a natural talent or an
artistic eye, you could say. Like this scene just jumped out at me and I had to reverse
engineer it to figure out why all of those individual
elements stuck out. So it can almost seem like something that you just either have or don't. But it's important to remember that anyone who's good at something has gotten there by gradually picking up all of those individual pieces. And that's why the word talent
specifically sells people so short, like a talent
is being able to flip your tongue upside down or something. Being able to run an Ironman
or play an instrument well, take good photos is way more than talent. On the surface, that's all this is, just me complaining about
people using the wrong word. You could swap it out for
skilled or some synonym of that nature and
everything would check out. But that's not quite the entire point. If you think you're talented, cool. If you think someone
else is talented, great. But if you think you're not talented, that's when it becomes an issue, when you start saying, "I'm not creative," "I'm not athletic," or, "I'm
just not good at X, Y, Z." And that's not good because
no one should be deterred or discouraged from doing something because they don't just naturally get it because the reality is no
one just naturally gets it. And that doesn't mean
that you can crush it at anything under the sun. You still have to be
interested in the thing. So let's say I wake up tomorrow and decide that I want to run a marathon. Granted, I have no actual
interest or enjoyment in running. I'll probably go out for a
run, hate every second of it, not do it for very long
and never really make it to that marathon level at all. But if I were to decide like six years ago that I wanted to make films and videos, then I would probably make
one, put it out on the internet and it would get absolutely
no views, none at all, but I would still do
it again the next week and the next week after
that and continuously for long enough to get to this point. Same goes for hiking. A couple of years ago, this would have been a
pretty tough hike for me, whereas now it's not really an issue because I've gotten not only
more physically fit for hiking, but also more knowledgeable and prepared. I know how to execute this properly because I've been doing it continuously. So in the case of both
hiking and film, photography, these are both things that I
started out royally sucking at and gradually pushed through the failures to get gradually a little better at. And I'm glad I did
because I really enjoyed the hell out of both of these things. And there's nothing better than
having something like that, like a craft or an activity that really challenges and fulfills you. So if you feel like you
have something like that, but you're on the fence
about whether or not you should pursue it because you feel you're not talented at that thing, remember that you're not
supposed to be good at it. You're supposed to get good at it. Being good at the thing
is not a prerequisite to doing the thing. Doing the thing is how
you get good at the thing. So whatever that thing may be,
get out there, do the thing. And remember you're not creative. You don't have an eye or whatever, and you are definitely not talented. And that's a good thing. (tranquil music)
