‘Steal Like An Artist’ Book Review | People Must Read This

One of the things I am so grateful for doing every single day is starting my own blogs, podcasts and having my own platforms on the Internet. Not only are there so many benefits to doing this, but I also believe that it has taught me many of the lessons that most people learn when they are in their mid-late 20s. Some of these lessons were beautifully encapsulated in this book which is ‘Steal Like An Artist’ by Austin Kleon. Here are some of the highlights and my book review on this book:

What the book is about:

The book is about learning that no work is 100% original and you can take others’ ideas, repackage them and put your own spin and share it with the world. This book encourages one to start building their brand.

What it has taught me:

Do the work you want to see done.

The whole manifesto and summary of the book is this: you should do the work you want to see in society. If you feel that there is a lack of representation in the self development community, start something in that area. If you want to see more book reviews, start a book review channel. There is a huge difference between stealing and theft.

Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing.

This might seem counterproductive but it is true. The book suggests allowing yourself to have time off with no distractions because that is when you can get ideas for your projects. Allow yourself to get bored at times.

Keep all your passions in your life and let them talk to each other.

This is different advice to what I normally hear as normally, people say you should only pick two-three of your hobbies to do and discard the rest. However, the author suggests that you keep all of your passions. Let them talk to each other and something will begin to happen.

Do good work and share it with people.

In the beginning you won’t be known but that is a good thing because you are experimenting. But as you grow, your work will become better and the more you share it with people, the more you will be known.

Ask ‘what can I fill this with?’

Austin says in the book: ‘Whenever I have become lost over the years, I just look at my website and ask myself, what can I fill this with?’ You have control on how much to share and how much to reveal.

The best way to get approval is to not need it.

Follow the best people online and pay attention to their work. Send them fan letters and if you truly love somebody’s work, you shouldn’t need a response from them. Make something and dedicate it to them by either answering a question they have, solving a problem for them or improving on their work and sharing it online.

Make a praise file.

Don’t be scared of hate. Get comfortable with being misunderstood or ignored because the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care. Store all the nice messages from people in a file. When you need motivation or when you need a boost, look at that file.

Take care of yourself because you need to conserve your energy.

Conserve energy to do the important things. Austin mentions taking care of yourself by managing your time in a yearly box calendar, having a day job and learning about money.

The way to get over a creative block is to simply place some constraints on yourself.

Challenge yourself to write in your lunch break. Build a machine out of spare parts. This will help to think outside of the box and this can lead to some great successes.

You must embrace your limitations and keep moving.

Often, what artists leave out is what makes the art interesting. You don’t have all the experiences, and therefore, you should embrace what you do have and choose wisely.

What I like about this book:

I love how in the foreword, the author states that this book is a collage of other people’s ideas. This makes it incredibly special because it has so much richness and variety with different artists and creators’ quotes, perspectives and discoveries. According to an editor, a successful book cannot venture to be more than 10% new. And that is because the old ideas work and are more accepted. This is what this book encapsulates and I love the message.

What I dislike about this book:

This is not even a dislike but I wish the author had put all the rest of the information he initially wanted to put into the book. The book was short and quick to read, but due to the ‘curse of knowledge’ I knew some of these ideas already. I would have loved to see some more chapters.

I guess there were also many quotes where there could have been more detail but it is very concise and straight to the point for those who don’t like reading.

But these are some minor improvements.

My Rating: 5/5

This book is for anyone who wants to build a brand, become more creative or wants the confidence to share their work with the world! If you are a creative individual, this book is for you!

Where to buy the book from (not sponsored):

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article. This link is not sponsored. Comment down below if you have read the book too. If you enjoyed this article, please check out my other articles too!

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!