Think Like an Artist, Work Like an Accountant

The words "artist" and "manager" are not associated very much. But it's the managerial skills that create great artists. The same skill set you might expect from an accountant.

Here's what I mean.

The world has romanticized the idea of the gifted artist.

The artist that was anointed by a higher power. The artist who could always create beauty out of nothing, with seemingly zero effort.

The artist who didn't have to work that hard because he was "born with a gift."

This notion is wonderful for Hollywood, but is pretty much BS in real life.

Ask any great artist or high-performer in their field about their "overnight success," and they will tell you that it wasn't overnight.

It was about setting a rigorous schedule of practice and sticking to it for days, weeks, months, years, even decades.

It was about developing and refining work habits and processes.

It was about showing up to work. Again, and again, and again, and again. 

You know...managerial skills. Managing emotions, managing processes, making things more efficient, dealing with distractions, and producing results.

Just like an accountant.

Think like an artist, but work like an accountant. Do it for long enough, and people will be calling you an "overnight success" before you know it.