Book Review - Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon
The Book in 3 Sentences
Identify something that you love, learn more about it and share the process with others.
Let the process of doing and mastering your work speak for you. It’s not necessary to try hard to impress others in any other way.
Persevere and be consistent with sharing because you don’t know what people could like, what they could learn from you, and even if your work is good, it could be just a matter of time.
My Impressions
The biggest lessons for me are about not needing to be an expert to share content and make money, at the end of the day in almost any field there’s probably something else to be discovered.
When you want to build a business from doing what you love, you still need to do it because you love it, and money comes with that but it is still important to ‘show your work’, other wise people won’t know about it.
Sharing content doesn’t need to be a complex process, sometimes people are curious about simple things, such as the bloopers at the end of a movie, people love watching that.
Although the book is great, I was expecting something much deeper given the high rating and reviews the book has on Goodreads.
I also think that saying “stop worrying about...”, “learn to take a punch” and “don’t be afraid to charge for your work” are not ‘single-event’ decisions, they may take time and from my experience as a coach and facilitator there’s usually an issue with the individual’s ‘deserve level’ and how they see themselves.
Who Should Read It?
Mostly artists, but the principles are applicable to businesses of any kind, you just need to make your own examples as you read the book and see how that applies to you.
How the Book Changed Me
It made me think of the amount of time we spend thinking if something we’re going to share in social media is good enough but in the end we don’t know, we just have to post it, see how it goes and learn from it.
My Top 3 Quotes
“The only way to find your voice is to use it. It’s hardwired, built into you. Talk about the things you love. Your voice will follow.”
“Obituaries aren’t really about death; they’re about life.”
“Whatever the nature of your work, there is an art to what you do, and there are people who would be interested in that art, if only you presented it to them in the right way.”