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Steal Like an Artist Summary (Austin Kleon)
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Mar 3, 2025
Hey creative souls! 🎨 Ready to unlock your artistic genius? Join me as we dive into "Steal Like an Artist" - where we'll discover why nothing is truly original (and why that's totally okay!). In a world where creativity is often hidden, Austin Kleon’s book ‘Steal Like an Artist’ provides a new and practical view of how to be creative. Instead of feeding the myth that great artists operate in ingenious isolation, he breaks down how creativity has always been involved through remix, mutation, and creative theft from what came before. In this fun-packed podcast, we're breaking down Austin Kleon's genius guide to creative liberation. Learn how to transform inspiration into innovation, embrace influence without guilt, and create something uniquely YOU. Whether you're an artist, writer, or maker, it's time to steal your way to originality! ✨ #CreativeThief #ArtisticFreedom
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0:00
all right let's dive in we're tackling
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Austin cleon's steel like an artist
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today oh yeah this one's a fun one a lot
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of great stuff in there we've got a
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summary all prepped should be
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interesting especially this idea that we
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should all be stealing yeah like an
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artist of course it's not about
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plagiarism right definitely not
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plagiarism more about finding
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inspiration but I guess we should dig
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into that for sure basically he's saying
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everything creative kind of Builds on
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what was there before makes sense like
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there's only so many notes exactly uses
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this analogy of like genetic
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inheritance ah interesting we're all
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remixes of our ancestors in a way right
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yeah yeah so artists we kind of carry
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bits and pieces of everything that
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influenced us so instead of trying to be
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totally original we should be looking
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back and seeing what resonates with us
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yeah and then kind of transforming those
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things into something new okay I can see
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that reminds me of how hip-hop DJs
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sample old records to make new tracks
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perfect example it's not just copying
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it's taking elements and like weaving
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them together but then there's that fear
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everyone has like am I even good enough
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to start creating right Cleon says
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forget about waiting for permission just
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jump in and start doing yeah it's in the
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doing that you figure things out like
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fake it till you make it exactly that
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think about Steve Jobs in the early days
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of apple he just went for it and he was
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pulling ideas from all over the place
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Design Tech you name it exactly and you
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know copying the master is not
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plagiarizing but like studying how they
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did it like a master class in creativity
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exactly it's how you learn Cleon really
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stresses that we have a responsibility
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to always be learning always be learning
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I like that yeah and get this he says we
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should create the stuff we wish already
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existed whoa what do you mean like if
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there's a book you wish you could read
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write it huh you know what's funny that
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makes me think of JK rling and Harry
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Potter right she's a huge fantasy fan
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but she felt like something was missing
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so she wrote it herself yep so think
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about it what would you add to your
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favorite books or movies or even music
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that's a good question what I need to
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think about but shifting gears a bit
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Cleon talks a lot about the actual
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practical stuff of creating a
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nitty-gritty yeah he says computers are
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great but they can also like distance us
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from the process he's big on using our
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hands sketching writing by hand stuff
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like that yeah I get that that brain
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Body Connection you know reminds me of
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how kids are always building and drawing
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just natural creators yeah Cleon seems
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to be saying we should tap back into
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that I'm seeing a theme here cleon's all
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about balance digital and analog work
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and play you got it finding that sweet
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spot is what it's all about so you've
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been creating an experimenting now what
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how do you get your work out there well
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Cleon keeps it pretty simple do good
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work and then share it he's not a fan of
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chasing Fame really I think obscurity
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especially when you're starting out
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could be a good thing so better to focus
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on the craft and let the rest come later
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exactly look at the Beatles they were
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playing tiny clubs for years before they
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blew up that's a great point it's about
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putting in the time honing the skills
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and you know with the internet and all
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geography doesn't matter as much anymore
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you can connect with anyone that's true
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it feels like cleon's encouraging the
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spirit of sharing and collaborating
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absolutely and being kind being
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respectful building those good
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relationships really matters that
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reminds me Cleon talks about this idea
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of uh senius oh yeah senius it's this
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idea that creativity thrives in a
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community not just about individual
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genius right is that Collective energy
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the inspiration that comes from being
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around creative people so how do you
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build your own senius it can be simple
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things follow interesting people online
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join groups go to events just be active
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and engaged exactly and this might sound
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strange but Clon also says we need to be
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a little boring boring that doesn't
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sound very creative well he's not saying
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to be dull it's more about having a good
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routine taking care of yourself you mean
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like the mundane stuff can actually help
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our creativity exactly a stable life
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healthy habits that's the foundation
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makes sense I'm starting to see how it
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all connects cleon's not just talking
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about art he's talking about life he is
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and you know what else he's big on
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embracing limitations limitations how
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can that be good for creativity well he
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says that having too many choices can
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actually paralyze you interesting but
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limitations they force you to think
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differently to get resourceful like you
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have to work with what you've got
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exactly he uses Jack White as an example
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you know the musician yeah white says
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that having limited resources actually
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made him more creative huh never thought
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about it that way so how do we apply
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that to our own lives what limitations
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can we Embrace that's a great question
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maybe it's setting a time limit for a
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project or using only certain materials
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I like that it's like a challenge it is
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it's about pushing yourself to think
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outside the box this has been great
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we've covered so much already I know
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right Cleon packs a lot into this book
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there's definitely more to explore so
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Cleon he talked about how we got to
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organize like all the creative stuff
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around us he mentions this thing called
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a swipe file a swipe file okay I'm
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intrigued what's that all about think of
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it as a collection of things that like
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inspire you it could be a quote a
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picture anything that Sparks an idea
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it's like a scrapbook yeah something
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like that a digital one or a real one
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whatever you prefer M it's there when
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you need a boost makes sense like having
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a library of inspiration right at your
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fingertips that's awesome it is it's so
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easy to forget those little Sparks of
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inspiration we get you know oh yeah
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totally but Cleon says it's not enough
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just to like consume all this
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inspiration right we have to actually do
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something with it exactly he talks about
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shipping your work even if it's not
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perfect better to get it out there than
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keep tinkering forever yep you you know
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the saying done is better than perfect
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oh for sure I hear that all the time
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when you share your work you get
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feedback you can collaborate maybe even
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connect to people who dig what you do
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putting yourself out there can be scary
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though it definitely can be but it's
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also a huge part of the creative Journey
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taking that leap of faith huh that's it
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and speaking of Journeys Clon reminds us
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that creativity it's not a Finish Line
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it's a path lots of twists and turns for
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sure you got to embrace the ups and
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downs okay that makes sense we we've
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talked a lot about the external stuff
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like inspiration and sharing but what
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about the internal like taking care of
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ourselves that's huge Cleon argues that
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our well-being is crucial for like
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lasting creativity so it's not just
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about having the big idea it's about
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having the energy to actually do it
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exactly he stresses the basics sleep
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good food exercise the simple stuff it
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might seem boring but it sets you up for
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Success it's like building a strong
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foundation for your creative life right
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and it's not just the physical stuff
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either mental health matters too like
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taking breaks meditating that kind of
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thing yep knowing when to push and when
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to rest burnout is a real thing it is
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for sure cleon's advocating for a
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holistic approach to creativity you know
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connects mind and body exactly and this
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might surprise you he's also a big fan
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of amateurism wait what yeah shouldn't
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we be trying to be like masters of our
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craft he's not saying we shouldn't
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strive for excellence but he thinks
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approaching things with The Beginner's
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mindset can be really
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powerful so being open to new things not
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being afraid to mess up yes it's about
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the joy of learning and experimenting
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it's like that saying every expert was
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once a beginner there you go we all got
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to start somewhere give yourself
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permission to explore I love that okay
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so we've covered a lot stealing like an
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artist swipe files limitations senius
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taking care of ourselves it's a lot it
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is but I think the main take is that
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creativity is within everyone's reach
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it's not some magical gift it's
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something we can cultivate exactly and
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it's a journey not a destination full of
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bumps along the way for sure but also a
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lot of fun and excitement I feel like
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there's still so much more to uncover
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with steel like an artist oh definitely
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it's a book you can keep coming back to
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and finding new insights each time you
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know it's funny this whole conversation
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makes me think of that quote good artist
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copy great artist steal oh yeah that one
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I think it was Picasso who said it I
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could be wrong right sounds kind of edgy
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but I get what they mean it's about like
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really understanding the art that came
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before you not just copying but like
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internalizing it and then using it as
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fuel to create something new exactly and
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Cleon takes it even further right he
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says we should actively be on the
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lookout for inspiration yeah he talks
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about having a swipe file we touched on
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that before but could you remind me what
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that is again sure basically it's just a
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collection of anything that inspires you
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quotes images colors whatever okay so
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like a mood board kind of yeah but more
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focused on like the raw materials for
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your own creative work so if you see
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something cool you add it to your swipe
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file exactly it's easy to forget those
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little Sparks of inspiration so it's
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good to have a place to store them makes
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sense I'm starting to see how cleon's
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not just giving techniques he's talking
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about a whole way of thinking oh yeah
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definitely he wants us to be more
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proactive about our creative lives not
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just sitting around waiting for
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inspiration to strike exactly got to go
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up find it and then once we've got all
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this inspiration what do we do with it
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that's where the shipping comes in
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cleon's big on putting your work out
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there even if it's not perfect right
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done is better than perfect like we
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talked about before yep it's scary to
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share your work but it's also super
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important it's vulnerable right it is
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but it's also how you connect with
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people get feedback grow as an artist
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it's like taking a leap of faith exactly
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and you got to remember the creative
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Journey isn't always smooth sailing
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you're going to be bumps in the road oh
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for sure setbacks doubts maybe even some
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failures but that's part of it right it
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is it's all about learning from those
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experiences and keeping on going so as
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we wrap up this deep dive into steel
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like an artist I think the biggest
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takeaway is that creativity is for
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everyone absolutely it's not some
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special talent you're born with it's a
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skill you can develop and Cleon gives us
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a bunch of tools to do just that he does
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it's inspiring really so to all our
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listeners out there get out there and
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create something awesome and if you hit
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a wall remember what Cleon says Embrace
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those limitations they might just be the
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key to unlocking your next breakthrough
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exactly until next time keep creating
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and keep diving deep
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