In Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Hugh MacLeod shares his 40 keys to creativity with straight talk and no apologies.
There are no silver bullets, and instead he talks about refreshingly honest things like the fact that selling is harder than it looks, you have to put in the hours and you should keep your day job.
My favorite: Meaning scales, people don’t.
You won’t agree with everything he says, but that won’t matter: there are a few gems in it that make it worth your time.
It’s only 154 pages and is packed with his little illustrations so you’ll be able to read it one sitting—and you probably will.
‘Nuff said.
I loved this book. Particularly the overall message, which to me is that you should just do what you believe in and ignore everyone else.
The reality is that only you know what you should be doing. We are born with that instinct. Hugh doesn’t exactly put it in those terms, but I love that he gives the inspiration to just ignore everybody and trust in ourselves.
Well put, Maria. Societal pressures make it hard to trust in ourselves so we seek safety in numbers. Problems is, great things seldom come of group think. Great things happen when someone with an inspired vision works their ass off to see it through.
Yes, Patrick, and then sometimes, when we do the great thing, the rest of the world doesn’t get it until 10 years later! (See that all the time in art.) But, that’s okay. The time’s going to pass anyway. Might as well keep doing great things and da hell with the rest of them!