Have you ever done or longed for doing something wholeheartedly that is just for you? Without expecting likes or loves from anybody else? Without expecting a good performance review from your boss? Do you have dreams you want to pursue? If your answers are yes, yes, yes, and yes, then this article (and this book)…
Ignore Everybody is written by Hugh Macleod. He is very talented at creating cartoons. However, he started his career as an ads copywriter while improving his skill and portfolio in cartooning in a simple medium: the back of a business card. Eventually, he created a blog, gapingvoid.com, to publish his cartoons portfolios. Years later, it led him to opportunities to commercialize his cartooning hobby and subsequently develop and expand his business out of it.
However, this book is not telling us about copywriting or cartooning. To me, it is more a career book from a unique perspective. Hugh said everybody has their own dreams:
Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
Hugh Macleod, Ignore Everybody (Chapter 10)
Many say that we have to make our dreams come true at any cost. However, this approach is a bit unrealistic and not practical. Hugh suggests that we have to pursue our dreams while still keeping our feet on the ground and living life. Given that Hugh has already succeeded in attaining his creative dream, he is definitely the right person to talk about the subject.
So, why does the title say Ignore Everybody, and the contents focus on achieving dreams? Before we go there, below is a bit of detailed information on the books to enable your further search for the book:
| Title | Ignore everybody: and 39 other keys to creativity |
| Author | Hugh Macleod |
| Pages | 127 pages |
| First published | 2009 |
| Publisher | Portfolio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. |
| Version | Kindle |
| Price | $14.99 |
Ignore Everybody is actually the title of its first chapter. You may go to a deserted road when you have a creative idea. You may be alone, and probably your only friends are noises that tell you to stop and turn around. Hugh said in the first chapter,
The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you.
Hugh Macleod, Ignore Everybody (Chapter 1)
It is very logical, and you can just ignore everybody else and keep executing and improving whatever you do.
What Hugh wrote really resonates with me. In achieving our dreams, we will have to do our best and do it from the heart. It will need freedom and a mindset that this work has to be the best version for us, without seeking others’ approval or worrying whether our work is already fit for commercial purposes. Thus, he encourages us to still have a day job that generates good money to prevent us from being impatient and bothered by things other than our creative minds and ideas.
However, working on two careers, our day job career and a dream career may be exhausting. We will have to dedicate hours of practice and work to build our portfolio. It is not a short-term sprint but a lifetime marathon instead. Thus, hard work and time management will make the difference even between two people with the same talent level. As Hugh put it,
Ninety percent of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort, and stamina.
Hugh Macleod, Ignore Everybody (Chapter 3)
Most of us have many excuses to make our dreams come true. Some of us think that we don’t have enough money to purchase the necessary tools to start. Some others think that we are too busy at day job work and don’t have adequate time to pursue our dreams. We got many other excuses to block us from working on our dreams.
All you need to do is start working on your dreams with the most accessible props. It will enable you to work on your dreams whenever and wherever the inspiration pop in your head. Hugh even sketched his cartoons on the back of his business card while waiting for his friends. Business cards are easy to carry, so he can just take a pen and business card and start sketching whenever he gets his AHA moments.
This book inspires us to start anything we are longing to do. What I love the most about this book is its practical and realistic advice compared to general career books. In addition, it is pretty easy to finish amidst our busy works because it has short chapters and a well-structured writing flow. I think this book is good for people in general and is very suitable for employees who have hobbies or side-hustle outside work and think to work on them full-time someday.
Are you interested to read it? If so, you can click the above image to purchase its Kindle version. If you live in Indonesia and prefer to read a physical one, you can buy it at the following link: https://tokopedia.link/XhWPBQ7RDnb .
Happy reading, Folks!
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