Career Coach: Be Thankful for Your Uniqueness
During the filming of Some Like it Hot, Tony Curtis (who just recently passed away) pointed out to director Billy Wilder that he was doing an impression of Cary Grant. Billy Wilder replied, "If I wanted Cary Grant, I would have hired Cary Grant."
There is no one else in the world exactly like you. You have talents, experiences and a perspective that make you unique. Be grateful for your unique gifts. Nurture and develop them and utilize your strengths to add your unique vision and insights to the world. Your uniqueness is your most marketable quality. Yet many creative people make the mistake of chasing the latest fad or imitating the newest style.
It's tempting to chase trends or emulate successful people. I fell into this trap. Years ago I worked on a screenplay with a friend of mine I knew since high school. We were 3/4 of the way done with our script and we decided to celebrate and went to the movies. We were enthralled with the escapades of Indiana Jones in the Raiders of the Lost Ark. We decided to rewrite our detective screenplay in the Indiana Jones style. We never finished it.
"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." -- Bill Cosby
Don't try to chase the market or try to please everyone. Imagine Leonardo da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa in a storefront window. People pass by giving him feedback on his work in progress. "I think her dress should be a lighter color." "Her smile should be bigger." "The painting should be bigger." "She should wear her hair up." "The background should be the city, not the mountains." "There is too much shadow under her chin." Can you imagine Leonardo changing the painting as people made comments, concerned about whether everyone would like La Gioconda when it was finished?
Those who allow their unique strengths to set them apart from the crowd are those who achieve milestones in science, art and literature.
Whenever you are tempted to blend in and try to be popular with everyone, remind yourself of your uniqueness -- your passion and goals. Dare to be different and you will achieve success. Again, you can't be all things to all people. Rita Mae Brown reminds us: "The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself."
Be thankful that you are different from everyone else in the world. You have a unique contribution to make. Go ahead. Be distinctive. Originals are rare.
Pamela Kleibrink Thompson is grateful for her family and the opportunity to contribute the Career Coach column to AWN and for all the readers and followers. She is a recruiter, career coach and speaker. You can contact her at PamRecruit@q.com.
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Hey, that's the graetest! So with ll this brain power AWHFY?
Ok people - try to put aside your obvious tantrum-throwing about how you tried but failed or how life isn't fair and try to really understand the gist of the insight that Pamela has been kind enough to offer us. Or really, be thankful.
Everything is about balance. Being unique is great, of course, but she's mainly saying that it's good to enhance and sharpen your uniqueness - or at least be able to identify what your uniqueness is. She's saying be bold and confident about yourself and the talents you have to offer, not "whore your artwork like a sellout for making money" nor is she saying "be a unique little angel, oblivious to the industry".
Don't be a pretentious art snob and be over-prideful about yourself, like: "I don't think I could ever enjoy going to work knowing my employers expect me to be something I'm not." Sometimes, yes - you are going to have to be something you are not. You're gonna be asked to draw or animate in a style that isn't like yours or isn't even necessarily a good artistic choice.
And don't be a irritating, pessimistic, jaded old animator and say: "I tried this advice for about 7 years and it got me nowhere. Blending in may be boring, but so is never having any work or money." or "You sound young and idealistic, but that will probably wear off the moment you throw your back out and don't have the insurance to fix it."
Some people already it, but I'll say it again - the bottom line is this: you must be flexible and balanced, maintaining focus on the bigger, simple picture. That picture may differ for everyone but it's pretty much this - do what makes you happy. If you can apply your uniqueness to your job, do it. If you can't, then alright - work on stuff at home. But don't blame anyone else for not accepting your uniqueness if you didn't even bother to do enough research to find out what employers are looking for in the first place. And don't be a bitter old bastard who hates on the industry because they don't accept your style. And don't even start with the whole "people who work in the industry and make commercial animated productions for someone else are sellouts" because without those people 'selling out' you wouldn't even have any animated content to watch on tv or in theaters.
Be thankful for your talents. Be yourself and be smart about it. That's all she was saying.
Unique is unstable.. trust me I know. I wish you'd write an article on the true volatility of the animation industry. Something that tackles the idea that we're graduating WAY TOO MANY grads through the college machine, and there simply aren't enough jobs.
I think to say 'conforming is the only way to find success' is obviously wrong but it's also less risky. The problem is knowing when to conform and knowing when to be unique or cutting edge. After a while the industry trends will change and those who are the conformists will have to imitate the new trends and those who set these trends will find success in reinventing the industry. This happens in all creative industries and always will. Ultimately, the trendsetters take the most risk but find the greatest reward.
Really? Even if a good job allowed you to donate all those extra funds to charity? Even if you could help underprivileged children, or aid disaster relief, or fund an animal shelter? Or would the shame of being a "sellout" overwhelm the happiness that stemmed from doing good in the world? Heck, you'd still have free time to work on your own personal projects and be yourself.
You sound young and idealistic, but that will probably wear off the moment you throw your back out and don't have the insurance to fix it. Or your car gets wrecked and you don't have the money to get a new one. Or you have a friend in trouble and you can't help because you don't have any money yourself.
If you look at some of the recent animated shows that have failed, such as Flapjack or Chowder, you can see a common theme: somebody was more devoted to their "vision" than to creating a show kids can identify with and enjoy.
I fail to weep for such somebodies. Animated shows are a business venture, not just artistic expression. My advice: deal with the fact that what usually works for audiences is "the same, only different"; in other words, a familiar theme with a unique twist. Success-wise, it's the difference between The Simpsons and Futurama, although both came from the same creator.
I would rather be poor as myself and know that I was true to who I am,
Rather than ever sell out as a fake. I've been fighting to find jobs as well, but
I don't think I could ever enjoy going to work knowing my employers expect me to be
Something I'm not. Sydney poitier once said " you don't have To be something you're not
To become better than you are" , and I live by that.
I tried this advice for about 7 years and it got me nowhere. "This is too weird," "this isn't what we normally publish," "this hasn't been proven"... the list goes on and on. Blending in may be boring, but so is never having any work or money.
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