It always fascinates me when my peers look at lateral influences that impact positively on their work and life. This from Christian made me think about the parallel pursuits that facilitate our journey; whether that be painting, playing video games, team sports, stamp collecting, learning a new language, or even skateboarding. Interestingly, Christian leans into continuous improvement, which is a particular mindset that I embrace, yet, the years of practice in skateboarding have undoubtedly taught him much more. As with many of these 'hobbies' or 'pastimes' the reward is far greater - it amplifies our creativity, gives us belief in taking risks and helps us all see those unseen paths. So, I'd say continue that side hustle, 'scratch that itch' or just take a leap into something new, as you too could benefit from heightened skills that: 🗻 Help us overcome obstacles ⏳ Better manage our time 🧠 Increase our patience and a willingness to learn 🌳 Reduce stress 💤 Increase our recovery ✍🏻 Foster productivity and creativity 👀 Gives us different perspectives And then when it comes to everything else there's more clarity, focus and energy to keep on doing.✊🏻 And in terms of my role as Creative Director at Everything Connected, one of the key learnings for me is to always encourage pursuits of happiness as ultimately, happy people help you achieve the impossible!!
Helping turn ideas, products & services into engaging visual stories. Animation for brands, agencies and corporates.
I was excited to see Skateboard at the Design Museum before the exhibition closes this weekend. To many, skateboarding can a noisy irritation. To skaters, the pursuit of landing a new trick is a thrilling compulsion. I’ve taken a lot from this sport over the years. It helped me foster a mindset of continuous improvement long before I came across the term in the business world. And creativity is an innate part skateboarding. When you start skating you begin to look out for new spots to skate. The world around becomes an opportunity to subvert the urban landscape into an impromptu skate park. The better you get, the more opportunities you see. Unsurprisingly, professionals take this to the extreme. They see things no one else can. Whether it’s Jeremy Wray jumping a huge gap between two buildings, or Aaron Homoki jumping the Lyon 25 (25 steps!). If you’re at a loose end in London this weekend, check it out before it closes. #Skateboard #continuousimprovement #Creativity
Love this. And Christian’s post. Loving your art postings. Really amazing work you’re doing. Can’t wait to hear more about the book. Same for me - have kept making art over the years. Often failed, sometimes due to factors beyond the work but sometimes because I couldn’t see the ‘problem’. Not until years later. And then other times ending up somewhere completely unforeseen and making something that really speaks for itself. You really did something strange and interesting. Hard to go on those kinds of journeys in commercial work I find. So I keep making art.
Keep learning. Stay malleable. Be interested.
Very interesting Darren Richards. Keeping the mind open and willing to learn is always a great way to unlock creative thinking. Side hustles and exploring new pursuits keeps the synapses firing!
Would be great to know what your 'side hustle' is? For me, art is a particular passion of mine being a frustrated artist. I have recently 'scratched that itch' by producing a little self-published art book... more about that it the coming weeks/ months 😉