How to Make Something Undeniably Good
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
- Helen Keller
Want to know a great way to summon your best creativity?
Strive to make something undeniably good.
I realize I’m walking a slippery slope by saying this. I know it’s all relative. What’s undeniably good to me, might not be undeniably good to you. Two people can watch the same movie, and one person thinks it’s fantastic while the other thinks it’s awful.
But that’s not really what I mean. My point is…
Even if you don’t like The Beatles, you can’t deny it - they were undeniably good.
Even if you don’t watch Oprah, you can’t deny it - she is undeniably good.
Even if Hemingway isn’t your cup of tea, you can’t deny it - his novels are undeniably good.
You recognize the skill, the craftsmanship, the ingenuity, the quality.
When I made my first picture book, I had no publisher lined up. I made all the pictures from start to finish. I had one goal: make the pictures undeniably good. Make them so good that no publisher could resist them. I realize that might sound arrogant, but it was a great goal. It gave me the fuel to reach a higher standard.
As I made each illustration, I showed them to my art buddies, many of whom are more talented than me. I knew I had to create work that was on their level. Something undeniably good.
Am I talking perfection? No way. There’s always room for improvement, and there’s always someone better or more skilled out there.
The point is to ask yourself if what you’re creating is something most reasonable people might look at and say, “Yup, that is undeniably good.”
If you can recognize good, professional quality, then you already know what it takes to do this. Everytime you admire someone else’s creation, you know what it takes.
Why stop there? Why not create something undeniably outstanding, remarkable or unprecedented? Sure, that might be for others to judge, and of course the primary goal is to create for the love of it, without judgement.
But it’s something fun to consider, isn’t it?
What do you think? Leave a comment!
“…of course the primary goal is to create for the love of it, without judgement”
As I was reading through your post, I was wondering if it’s something more than talent that makes something undeniably good. I think it is. I think there is a certain amount of skill involved, but ultimately it’s the love of the artist for his/her craft that shines through and speaks to us on a deeper level.
Excellent post!
Mags - I’m so glad you mentioned that. Thank you. Absolutely - passion and love for what you’re creating is a key ingredient in making something undeniably good.
I am starting a new business which has allowed me to take an idea for teaching earth science using a huge cold air inflatable and present the program I am developing in schools as an assembly. I have seen so many assemblies over the many years I have been a teacher and I can say that my idea is the best one out there. It’s undeniably fantastic! It will be extremely engaging and will teach the kids a difficult concept that is state tested. Then I am developing support materials on my website for those who purcahse my assembly to use in their class. My business is linked to my name. On the page “The Experience” you will see diagrams of the inflatable that I am having made. It rocks!
I looked at your video on You Tube where you are creating your illustration for your book. Fasinating…I had no idea of the process that you went through to create your illustration. I loved how you did the photoshop cropping and pasting to get what you wanted in your picture. Very creative.
Hi Mark,
This is great food for thought. It reminds be of how our parents taught us…always do the best you can.
Even when I was a maid in a hotel, I was the best bed maker, toilet scrubber there was. I gave it my all.
Mark,
Problem with most of us is that we get defeated by our own mind before the battle begins. If we learn how to win our own mind with self-confidence, we can achieve anything in life.
I love to use Mantras as Man means Mind in Sanskrit and tra mean winning over. Repeating what we believe manifests in our life quickly.
Good job my friend,
Shilpan
Laurie - I’m excited for you. With that kind of enthusiasm and confidence I’m sure your project will be a huge hit!
Barbara - taking pride in those “small” jobs is key. Glad you brought that up.
Shilpan - You might enjoy Joel Osteen’s podcasts. His sermons are totally uplifting. He’s always talking about shifting your mindset from negative to faith-filled positivity. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, I’m sure you’d enjoy what he has to say.
I like what you wrote here. I think you were very brave in putting this out like this and I admire that.
I think for me it’s a way of life…the ability to see the greatness in each moment and to be really present (even in the hard or stressful times allows me to create greater more powerful things. I also feel that doing the things we TRULY love makes a huge difference. I also think that it has something to do with seeing that we are creating more than…say a project. We are creating a life or way of life through all our creative actions. Although, I also like the idea of consciously choosing to create something unprecedented, because it can challenge to create something that might never have been created, challenge us to think “outside the box”. I like that too.
Mark: I agree that we should all strive for greatness in everything we do. I think it was Nelson Mandela that said: “The world doesn’t need any more people thinking small.” By the way, I really like your UFO pictures, very interesting.
Hi Robin- so glad to have you back. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Marelisa - Cool quote from Mr. Mandela - thanks! And thanks for the compliment about my pics!