HealthyGamerGG - Dr. K, how do I Pursue my Passion?

Episode Date: September 17, 2022

Dr. K dives into being successful, self-sabotage, how to start, and more! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/healthygamergg/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

right? You don't know, am I doing enough or not? So how do you know, how do you answer the question of, am I doing enough on social media? I don't know. You ask other people so that you understand what the average is. Hello? Oh, hey, that's scary me. Oh, sorry. What do you go, my friend? Pierre. Okay. And Pierre, what, um, uh, I think our prompt today is where do you want to go and what's getting in the way. Yep, that's exactly that. Sorry, who do you want to be, but what keeps you from getting there? Yep. So tell me, Pierre. Can you hear me or not? Yes, I can hear you.

Okay, cool. I got a disclaimer to do right now. Just so we're on the same page. My English is not my first language, so I'm going to try my best. Okay, awesome. Thank you. There you go. Um, where do I start? Um, I think I'm just going to read again what I've wrote on the Discord chat. Okay. So what I said is my whole life, I wanted to be a comic artist,

web to an artist, basically, telling my own stories to the whole world. But now I'm currently working on my dream project and trying to make a living out of it after dumping my girlfriend, sacrificing my social life. working all the damn time and cutting all income. I kind of feel like I'm a prisoner of my own passion. I don't know if I'm ready to sacrifice my own happiness in the name of my future self,

the successful storyteller I've striven to become or just let go in order to become someone else not bound to my work but free to live. Pretty much it. Wow, man, that's deep. Yeah. Okay. So Pierre, you are a rarity, my friend.

Oh, how is that? Why? Because most people dream of giving up their careers, their lives. They want to give in to their passion, right? They want to sacrifice everything. Like in the movies, like, I'm an artist, and I'll sacrifice everything for the sake of my art. That's exactly that. That's what everyone wants to.

Everyone's too afraid to do it. Yep. And so tell me, tell me about your sacrifices, my friend. How did you make them? How did you make those decisions? I think first think. Yeah. Just.

I think the biggest sacrifice I went through was especially in my dating life. I've been in a long streak since 2016. I've been through a lot of girlfriends, got a lot of relationships. and now it's just like a void and it's not it's not familiar and it's kind of an expression of something different and what are the words for that I have no clue that's why I'm here and the other sacrifices are like I said is dating life financial that's the right word social life I don't see my friends that often

the only moment I can just interact with them is with a friend I would go to the gym with them and because I force myself and force myself it's a pleasure to do it's like I like to do it but it's I force myself

to go outside and go to the gym just to you know work on myself a little bit and it's it's going to someone

familiar with your previous person you were chatting with is that there's a lot of notion of feeling behind like I'm surrounded by people that amazing artists

that are having their life together they have got money a lot of money and they're just doing amazing things in the industry, you have concert artists, illustrators, and I'm 26 years old, still struggling on my thing. It's taking a long time to do it, and there's no certainty

it's going to work at all, and it's scary. It's so scary because if it fails, it's like I've, it's like I've used all my cards, basically. Okay. When you say you're surrounded by people who are successful, how are you surrounded by them? What's the nature of your interaction? Surrounded is I'm close to a few friends. They got back to my art school. And through circumstances, I've met other people through a Discord channel.

And this Discord channel is private, by the way. And these people, I've finally met them in your person, and these people are enjoyable, amazing. And to say they have friends, it's kind of a stretch, but these are people I can share professionally, but that's pretty much it. Okay. But the other friends I have, but the other friends I have, are coming from my art school. But when you say these people are very successful, like, how do you know?

Are they making a living, making art? Oh, yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah. To be fair, like, if I should compare to most of freelance artists, like, they're making money. You know, like, I'm pretty sure of that. Like, are they, like, making millions? No, no, at all.

But they're successful. And doing, like, kind of decent bucks in the industry, that's cool, especially when you're, I think it stems from basically the thing I'm comparing myself a lot. I got no money and no like no salary or income at the moment. And so I'm not, what do you, do you think that if you keep at it, you will, I'm just not too familiar with your industry. So like what, you know, what are the chances that you can sustain yourself financial? I'm taking a direction that is very different from them, from a lot of people I know. Like, I think it's going to be easier for you to understand my struggle by just saying that what

I'm doing is, it's not bragging on anything, but I know it's unique. Okay. It's not, it's like everyone is working for our clients. They're doing freelance jobs or they're working in a studio or people are just working. for you know some some friends I have or in the comic industry in the traditional comic industry which is like you print comic books and you sell them worldwide and I'm trying to do webtoons and webtoons are just basically comics on phone and you just crawl them and you got a story and I've been working on this idea of this

project I got in my mind and just all thing of doing webtoons and I'm and I feel like I've got something to bring, but I don't know if this thing I want to bring is going to be accepted. Okay. And how many hours a week do you spend on your project? From Monday to Sunday. And basically eight to nine hours a day. And so are you like, like, is there like a completion point or you're like uploading stuff regularly? Like what's, what's, what's, what's getting in the way of success? My, I'm sorry. It's confusing. The...

You're explaining things very well. This is just my ignorance of your industry. Okay, fair enough. I think I'm going to speak for myself when I'm doing at the moment and why I'm so scared. It's basically at the moment. Comics takes a long time to do, like a very long time. and I'm trying to plan ahead. Like, to give you an example,

I'm trying to work on this thing, and I'm trying to plan, like, in a year, basically. I know exactly how many things I'm going to do, how many chapters I'm going to do in, like, in the next August, 2000, 3, basically. I know how many things I'm going to do. I know how many things I'm going to draw. I know that all my weekends,

are going to be like full of work. I know that that day and that I'm going to rest. Okay. So I, thanks for explaining that, Pierre. I'm still not, I'm going to ask my question again. Sorry for interrupting. Yeah. What is keeping you from being successful?

Is this the kind of thing where your comics aren't out yet or they're out and they're not getting visible? At the moment, at the moment is, it's not out. And the moment it's not out. There are a few three chapters that I've done for a contest. For those who I'm webbed to, and there's been this contest called Call to Action, and I published my three chapters there.

And you can't publish on the thing, like up until October. So I'm currently working on the storyboards, which is like kind of a rough of the future chapters you're going to do. Yep. And that will help me to work on them in the future. And I'm going to publish them. How do you say that weekly? So, Pierre, here's what I'm kind of trying to understand is like, let's say you continued giving this your all and making sacrifices.

Do you have a sense of like when you would at least have an initial like product where you like when's the first opportunity for you to be quote unquote successful? Let's put it that way. To make a living out of it. I know, but like when is that like, so let's say like I'm an author, right? Yeah, yeah. And I can say, okay, I'm writing a book. But like the book, like, when is the earliest opportunity that I could have to publish that book for it to hit shelves for people to start reading it? I'm trying to understand like where you are practically.

Like what are we talking about here? So at a moment, to say it like, in a funny way, we'd be like, I'm a moment. I'm a moment. I'm nothing. I'm no one at the moment. I get that you're no one at the moment. What I'm saying is when is the first chance for you to be a someone? Yeah. So the thing is, Webtoon are publishers as well. And what I'm striving for is to, you know, make the editors on Webtoon to notice me

and get a contract from them. Or be successful enough and get viewed enough on the platform to have enough patrons to have to sustain myself in the future. Okay. So but basically. Yeah. So like what is the timeline for like so but can anyone support you on Patreon or something right now? You don't have comics that are up right now, right? At the moment, there are only three chapters. I'm doing a side project, which is like a tiny thing I'm doing in a moment. And at the moment, to be realistic at the moment, I know that it's going

to take a lot of time. It's going to take a long, long time. But how long it's going to be? Because the thing is, I've set up some kind of deadline until August of 2022. Okay. So so what I'll say. So here's, can I offer some thoughts, Pierre? Yeah. Okay. So I've worked with a fair number of artists. I've worked with artists who are both successful and unsuccessful. So here's what I've noticed. So sometimes what holds an artist back is the quality of their craft. So for example, like if I'm an author, like my book just isn't good enough. And so sometimes like what I need to invest in is like becoming a better writer. Now that's kind of like a long-term investment. We don't really ever know if I'm going to get there or not get there. Other artists I've worked at, they much like yourself, feel like they've got a really good idea, have something unique,

are willing to put in the effort. I'm going to assume for a moment that you have the skill to accomplish what you need to. But what I oftentimes find is that a lot of artists are so focused on the art that they sort of don't think about the practicalities. Or it's not that they don't think about it. It's that they don't devote a lot of energy to exploring the practicalities. So I can write a really good book. But like if I want to make it, there's a difference between writing a good book and being a successful author. And it's in that gap that I think a lot of people fall short. So I have no idea how to

judge whether your art has merit or not merit or things like that. Let's assume for a moment that if disseminated properly, your web tunes will be successful. Even if your web tunes are good enough to be successful, there are a lot of steps here, which I'm not hearing a whole lot of clarity on. Right. So like this is the kind of thing where if you're trying to decide, okay, what am I going to do? I'm making all these sacrifices. Because, like, basically what you're talking about is almost like not really being an artist.

It's almost more like being an entrepreneur, especially or a content creator, especially in today's day and age, where, for example, like, you know, people who are successful at making web comics are very good at a lot of things besides making web comics. So, for example, you'll see, you know, social media posts about particular web comics. you know, they'll have, they'll put up like a good Patreon page, things like that. So there's a lot of stuff here that I think if you, what I'm basically kind of hearing you say is like, I don't know if I should continue doing this or not doing it. Is that fair to say?

Can I just say something? Yeah. You seem pretty aware of what the industry is by everything you said. Like you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about what's going on. So I just wanted to say that. I mean, I don't know about web tunes, but like I said, I've worked with a lot of artists. Because I just don't know. Like, if you were talking about writing a book, that's a process I'm way more familiar with.

But my point is that becoming, because you're talking about money, right? So there's like a difference between like being an artist and paying your bills as an artist. And my point is that paying your bills as an artist as we look at many artists who died penniless, right, who now we revere their works of art. there's like this simple thing where it's like, you know, being able to pay your bills is more about some of this other stuff. And what I'm hearing from you, there may be issues of confidence or this or that or losing yourself or things like that. But like my biggest concern is that you're grinding eight to nine hours a day, seven days a week. But I'm not hearing like much of a business plan. Like I don't know like, okay, so you're joined this contest.

That sounds good. Like that's the kind of concrete stuff that I'm kind of thinking about. And that's where I think like, you know, if I, I mean, I don't know that we're not going to have time to do this because when I've worked with artists, it's been longitudinally and stuff like that. But usually it's sort of like sitting down and sort of thinking about, okay, so you've given yourself August of 2023. That sounds like a fantastic endpoint.

But I think the key thing to remember there is whether August of 2023 is successful or a failure is going to depend on what you do in that time, which can be more than storyboarding and working on your art. Right? Like, what's the end point? So in business, for example, there's this phrase called KPI, which is key performance indicator. And my biggest concern for you is that I don't know how to measure whether you're on the

right track or not. Yeah. And I think, like, aside business things, it just, I think it stems from the fear of not doing enough, I guess. because I know I'm working a lot in all the communication I think it's just my biggest flaw is just

I'm not communicating enough on my project I'm just doing a few stories on Instagram and posting a few stuff there and there once it's done but I'm not taking the time just to talk about it because I feel like hey man maybe you should work on this thing

hey it's not done enough work and work at work again and I'm not taking the time to just talk about it. Talk about it, you mean like social media-wise? Yeah, yeah. So I know this sounds kind of weird, Pierre, because I'm not sure if you were like looking for more of like an internal exploration, but honestly what I'm hearing from you is like

more nuts. I think that, I don't know to say this, but like no amount of internal exploration is going to be a substitute for playing the game of the industry. Yeah. And what I'm hearing is that you actually. actually seem very introspective. You seem very devoted to your art. You seem like you feel very confident in an idea that you've got. And so what worries me more about you is not any of that stuff. Because like I said, like most people are struggling to make the leap, right? Like we started

this off by saying you're really different from most people because most people play it safe and they're never able to make the leaf and commit to their art. Since you've already given everything up, What concerns me the most is now that you've jumped off the cliff, how do we help you land the best? Does that make sense? Yeah, it starts to make sense, yeah. And so this is where I'd start like, you know, my first thought is like you have access to this Discord server. I don't know if people on the Discord server, if you've talked to them about how they've become successful and financially stable. Have you talked to them about that?

Huh? No, I didn't. Yeah, so I think you need to, like, use these opportunities to, like, try to figure out how an artist becomes financially stable. So, like, and this is what I see with artists is that you'll devote yourself to your craft, but you can write the best, like, as we've seen from artists in the past, they'll die penniless because they don't know anything about, like, marketing or selling, right? And that's the real challenge of being an artist is that everyone makes it seem like it's this creative pursuit. But the truth of the matter is if you're talking about art for the sake of paying your bills, then you've got to be a little bit more like entrepreneurial. So I would start by asking people on your Discord server, hey, like, so this is my situation. I'm kind of curious, how do you make ends meet?

Do you feel like there's a, how do you balance like artistic development versus like taking free? Lance gigs. Because the other kind of thing that I'm kind of wondering, Pierre, is on a very basic level, if this is a long-term project where it's going to take two or three years of like storyboarding and revising and stuff like that, and you can't sustain yourself financially, then, like, it may be a better decision because I've been in a situation, or I've worked with people who are like this, where, and even to a certain degree, I've been in this situation myself, where, like, I can't afford to make art for three years without,

paying bills. So I'm going to get a job and sustain myself. And it's going to take me five years instead of three. But that's actually like the better plan. Yeah. And what I'm really hearing from you is, is that you've got to figure this out like more practically. Like,

let's just assume that your art is going to be successful if you play your cards right. Yeah. So it goes like a conversation, a business conversation and like all business tips and stuff. Well, I mean, not... I'm sorry if it's not, you know, the typical conversation. No, I mean, it doesn't bother me. I love having this conversation.

I think it's a conversation we actually don't have enough in this community because I think you are, P or someone who's like, you've overcome your expectations and overcome, you know, like money. And like, you've, like, taken the plunge. And so now the issue is for people who've taken the plunge, like, how do we understand, okay, like, who would potentially buy your... comic. Who would pay for your webtoon? Who are the communities that would like support you on Patreon? Right. Even if you're offering something unique, there may be a particular audience.

How do you get in front of those communities? You know, how do you know, like, let's say you take it to an editor and an editor says, okay, we're not going to buy this at this time. How do you know what you need to change for that person to say yes? Like these are the kinds of things that I'm not really hearing from you, which I'm afraid, the only reason that bothers me is because you're trying to pay your bills. The one paying the bills is not, it's not an issue. Like, I forgot to give a little bit of context is I'm currently living in my, in my parents' house at the moment.

So I got food. I got the roof. Yeah, yeah. So I sort of got that, right? So I didn't ask you how you're sustaining yourself because you're saying I'm not making any money. So I put two and two to. together there. But my point is that even by August

2023, like my worry is that you'll spend seven days a week, nine hours a day, making art storyboarding, making art storyboarding, but you're so disconnected from your audience that after that year you show up with something and it's like not what people are looking for or you haven't built enough like social media stuff over time or like whatever. Because I've even, I've even like, I've even like, I don't know if you've heard of this guy name,

have you ever heard of a guy named Brandon Sanderson? Yep. So Brandon Sanderson actually had a podcast. I think he still got it. But the podcast was basically with three people. And one of the people is a web comic person. Oh. And so he talks a lot about, like,

they talk about, like, how to be successful as a web comic artist and what it takes and stuff like that. So I'm getting the sense that, you know, from an art standpoint, you seem solid. It's just like, how do we, how do you think through things so that you know how to present your art? Yeah. I got a question. Do you think I'm self-sabodashing here? Because I got a feeling I am. I'm aware of everything you said here. But I feel like there's a part of me who's just trying to,

you know, not do this job and just to focus on the art I'm doing. as some kind of escape of responsibilities I have and a success that I don't know if I want. Like, that's something I have built for many, many years, but it's like I'm so close to it, but I'm not putting all the tools there to have it. And I know I have to do it, but I don't do it. I'm just doing art, doing my thing on this side. Do I think you're self-sabotaging?

I mean, if you're asking the question, maybe, but here's what I'd say. Yeah. I know a lot of artists who really like making art. And I know a lot of artists who don't like anything except for making art. And here's the thing to understand about success. So a lot of times people think that success is being really, really, really good at one thing. But in my experience, being successful is being really, really, really good at one thing, or even decent at one thing, but it also requires a minimum

competence and a bunch of other stuff that you may not like doing. And the artists that I've worked with who are more successful, like, objectively, I'm not talking about the quality of their art. I mean, can pay their bills, people know who they are, the reach of their audience, are the ones who focused, you know, they still primarily focus on their art, but they don't ignore the other stuff. So is this is there something psychological going on? Sure, but I think the real question is like if you know you need to do this stuff like I'm not so sure that it's psychological. Honestly, it sounds to me a little bit more operational, which means that you're, you've just never done this before. So your brain literally doesn't know the steps.

Yeah. Like if I do. It's scaring me. Yeah. So then that's normal. That's just because it's like, if I tell you, Pierre, you know, you say you've had several girlfriends before, but if you'd never dated anyone and I'm like, go get a girlfriend, it's going to be like scary to people, right? Because they've never done it before. So this is where, I mean, is it self-sabotage? I don't think so. I don't get the sense that this is like a deep psychological, like, you know, I mean, I have no idea.

If we spent a lot of time together, maybe it would be the case. But I don't get the sense that you're like trying to shoot your success in the foot. I think the problem is that you've figured out that you're good at one thing. There's one thing that excites you. You can grind towards one thing. And there's a lot of stuff that you don't really know to how to even start with. That, like, so you don't know how to start, so you don't know how to do it. What do you think about that?

I'm thinking. No, I think it's just the main fear I have, the main fear, it's not fear. It's just something I'm not used to. is when I'm seeing all these people who are stealing themselves on social media, they seem false, they seem not real, and that's something I cannot do. Even if we force me to do it, it's something I cannot do, because the people are most, the people are mostly successful by sending art and doing stuff, are people on social media, on social media are people that are playing a game of trends and things that I'm not good at it at all.

And even if I force myself to do it, I can't. I really can't. So I think you've got to be careful there because you're assuming that, first of all, people on social media are fake, and secondly, that you have to be fake to succeed on social media. I think that a lot of people on social media are fake, but I think that people, the audience of social media is tired of fake people on social media. And there's actually a hunger for authenticity.

And I would say, you know, if we want to talk about self-sabotage, if you're concluding in your mind that I have to be fake to be successful, I'm not saying that being faker will make you more successful. But I think that there's like, I mean, even the story that you're sharing today, I think a lot of people would resonate with. Yeah. And that's what I would love to hear people like that. Yeah. So that's why I think like what I would kind of do is like, you know, I mean, you got to be careful because I don't really know your situation.

But I would start by talking to people on your Discord and just ask them, hey, do you have some time to. talk, I'd love to learn about like your creative process. How do you manage like art versus like, you know, creating art versus paying bills, free lengths gigs versus not free length gigs. How many hours a week do you work? How do you storyboard? You know, how much time do you spend? How long did it take you from the first idea to like getting your first finished webcomic? For whatever website you want editors to pay you for, I would also approach them, hey, I have these three chapters, they're in this competition. Is this something that y'all would be interested in?

What are y'all looking for right now? Right? So, like, asking some of those questions, and that's where you may say, like, oh, my God, it's my art. I never want to compromise an inch of it, which is totally fine. But what you may find, and this has been my experience as a content creator, is that, like, my range is actually pretty wide. And I'm actually okay adapting a little bit to what people are looking for.

just to give you an example, when I started streaming, before my first stream, I spent three months indexing like 150 scientific papers. Because I was convinced that when I show up on Twitch, everyone is super skeptical and everyone's going to want references and citations and sources. And what I was really surprised by is like, I didn't get any questions about science. I got tons of questions about spirituality. And like even though I had this idea of what I wanted to share, which is I wanted to teach people about mental health, it turned like more into a spiritual kind of thing. And like I was actually okay making that adaptation.

And there may be adaptations that you're actually okay making. But my point is that right, I think your biggest problem, honestly, Pierre, is that you're, it sounds like you're working in a studio for like 70 hours a week without like talking to anyone. Yeah, that's kind of a thing. And so I think if you want to be success, that's not about the quality of your art, that's about communication between your art and the rest of the world. It takes time, right? Sure, which is why if you've got until August 2023, I think that's fantastic, but I think the earlier you get started, the better.

And I'm not saying make any commitments, I'm just saying start having conversations. So you understand what is out there and what it's going to take. it's it's it's bizarre because everything you say I'm quite aware of all this stuff I made I made this conscious choice to work tirelessly on this thing because it takes so much so much time like it's I know that I have to communicate on all this stuff I know that I have to share my my story out there I know that I've know some do some because I'm already doing it in a way on Instagram. I'm just sharing stuff there. I'm posting there. I'm trying to find solutions to change how I post them. It's just I don't feel like I'm doing enough. And if I'm trying to do more,

it would be okay. Like, do I have to change something the way I express myself? Is it good or not? It's just, Pierre, so I'm hearing you're asking, do I need to be doing more? Am I doing enough? and my point is that I don't think your problem is one of what's the right move. I think your problem is not one of treatment, it's one of diagnosis. I think your problem is that you don't know how to answer those questions yet. Right? You don't know, am I doing enough or not. So how do you know, how do you answer the question of am I doing enough on social media? I don't know.

You ask other people so that you understand what the average is. sure. So I think you need more information from other people in your industry, which may be a very unsatisfying answer. I don't, I mean, because oftentimes it's like, you know, like, oh, like tell me about your upbringing and stuff like that. But honestly, this is the kind of thing where like a bro, honestly, I want to see you succeed. But I think whether you succeed or not doesn't, I mean, there may be a certain amount of like internal stuff. Like, why is it hard for you to have these conversations? Like there may be some kind of shame or like you feel embarrassed to ask or like there may be some.

internal stuff, but what I'm saying is, like, very practically, you've got to figure out, like, what's your business model for success as an artist? No, to be, to be fair, like, the fact that you're just telling me that it's just practical stuff, it's just reassuring. Good. That means that I'm okay. Yeah. I'm doing fine.

I, if I should shift the conversation elsewhere, it's, what am I going to do? do in August 20203 if it fails and this thing cares me so much so so so much because I have no clue what to do no clue it's like this thing I've been caring for so so so long I've been right it's not bragging anything I hate to say this but it's just I've been working on this thing for so so so long and I know there's this thing in my mind going like, hey, man, you've been working on this thing for so long. You deserve success. You deserve this.

But another part of me is saying, hey, man, the word doesn't work like that. They don't care about you. So here's what I, so this is going to sound kind of weird too. So I've got two kind of answers to that. The one, one is that you may have to deal with a certain amount of that now. But I think trying to solve that problem of 20, 23 now is a. waste of your time. And what I mean by that is that, so like, because what happens in 20203 depends on, I don't,

I know this is going to sound weird, but what happens in 20203 depends on what happens in 2023. So when August of 2020s rolls around, what do you do? Well, that depends. Like maybe in August of 20203, you've got a Patreon page with four subscribers. And maybe in August of 2020, you've got zero subscribers. Maybe in August of 2003, you've got 100 patrons. Maybe in August of 2023, the editor says, hey, I really think that you're on to something,

but we're looking for something that's more appealing to this group. And so what I'm saying is like, it's like there's no point in figuring out what you're going to do after 2023, because your position in 2023 could be in like 10 different places. Yeah, it's left around than that. Right. So, and I think that's why it's like kind of like, you know, once again, in medicine, it's sort of like, well, what if the test comes back positive? Well, like, let's see what the test shows.

Because the results of the test inform the next steps. And so the only tricky thing there is that you're going to have to move forward with some amount of like fear and uncertainty just hanging out with you. I'm not saying it's easy to do that, right? Like, because that worry is going to be in your head and you've got to live with that. Yeah, looking up with it every morning. But I, yeah, I mean, so that's challenging and so meditate and all that other good stuff. But I think at the end of the day, like, we can't figure out what to do in August of 2023 because, like,

who knows? Like, maybe you'll win this contest. And then 14 editors will be like, we want your web tune. And then you'll become, you really created something unique and the internet absolutely loved it. And then suddenly, like, you've got a merch store and people are all. ordering prints and like, who the hell knows what's going to happen in August 2020. In August of 2019, like, no one predicted COVID. So I'd say, like, focus on what you've got to do this week, the next week, the week after that.

I'd be really careful about not being too zoomed in on just making your artwork and recognize that some things don't take a lot of work, but it takes time to grow. Right? So, like, there's a difference between building something and, like, growing something. And I wouldn't wait until, you know, July of August 2023 to plant the seed of social media. Oh, no, no, no, I would be doing like, I'll be working on social media. Like, I would be sharing stuff by saying, hey, it's going to add all this webton going on, the chapters on.

You can read it there, there, there, there. But it's not going like to be, like, all social media. like doing reels and just going to be pretty basic, but because I don't have time to do more. Yeah, that's okay. So that's where like I think you're trying to solve a lot of problems without the appropriate information, Pierre. That's like kind of the beginning of end of what I'm hearing. Like that's the most important thing. So I talk to these people on this Discord and try to figure out like how this works.

Whatever website you're trying to get to, try to do that. Even, you know, whatever call to action. Like that all sounds like good stuff. You just got to figure this stuff out. out. And that is like you can't, you can try to figure out on your own, but the whole point is that you're in this private Discord server that is invite only with successful artists. So you've got a lot of information at your fingertips. And you'd be amazed at how much you can learn by just asking people. Okay? Okay. Thanks for calling in, man. I'm doing good, I guess. I wasn't expecting to

have this conversation. I thought I was going to have like, oh man, maybe you should change a career or maybe you're not doing a good choice or something like that. But no, it's just apparently the thing that not most people are doing. Yeah. So, I mean, to summarize, Pierre, I think it's not my place to say that you should change your career or it was a mistake or not a mistake. Sure, sure, yeah. What I'm hearing is that you've taken the plunge and you've made a lot of sacrifices. So my primary concern is now like, how can we make sure that those sacrifices are as worth it as we can make it? Yeah.

Good luck to you, my friend. Yeah. Good luck to you, to you too. Thank you. Take care. You too. Bye. Okay.

So quick summary. So that's kind of interesting. So first of all, it's cool to have, you know, artists in our community. I think it is interesting because sometimes the, a challenge that we have is like, how do I take the plunge? How do I quit my dead-end job? How do I make these sacrifices? And we almost like fantasize that if I make all these sacrifices and I devote myself to my craft, then I will be successful. But the truth of the matter is like making the sacrifices is a really important but also insufficient step. Then there's a lot of

other stuff that you have to do, which is more than the madness of the madness of the creative process in your studio. And sometimes, like, this is what I've seen with a lot of artists, is, like, really the ones who are successful versus the ones who are less successful. We're talking about, like, fame, money, like, those are the barometers of success. I'm not commenting on the quality of their art. I don't know how to judge that. It's actually the ones who spend, have a minimum amount of competence in a lot of these other dimensions.

social media, relationships, networking, even to a certain degree like discipline and taking care of themselves and waking up on time and going to bed on time and things like that. Like that's the stuff that you really have to do. I mean, like, so for example, you can be the most brilliant doctor in the world, at least in the United States. But unless you are up to date with your documentation and your CME and a bunch of other administrative crap, like you're not going to make it as a doctor. because being a doctor is not just about practicing medicine, it's about all of the administrative stuff that comes with practicing medicine.

And that's true of like any profession, right? There's like the actual work of the profession, and there's all the stuff that you do on the side so that you can do the work of the profession. And oftentimes artists, because it's so much about craft and passion and vision and creating something unique, that like we kind of lose sight of that other stuff. And oftentimes it's the stuff that you don't enjoy doing,

haven't done, don't know how to do, it's like business kind of stuff. But I really just noticed a big difference between artists who are aware of that stuff and artists who aren't. Case in point, you know, Brandon Sanderson has a podcast about all of this other stuff and look at where he is.