As with any major turning point in life, a birthday is a highlight that you've reached another year in life, bringing to this new year all the wisdom and experience from the old. Personally, one of the things that helped me reach this next level of thought that I talked about in a previous post was a group of books from various authors. Here are three of my picks and how they can help you.

Real Artists Have Day Jobs by Sara Benincasa

I came across Sara's writing on Medium, and was instantly enthralled as I found it both extremely witty and hilarious. Real Artists offers many lessons for anyone trying to make it as a creative, but my biggest takeaways are:

• "Life is too short to waste time pretending to be small and inconsequential when you are actually as vast and powerful as a distant star."

• "If I was to get what I wanted from life... I had to act like I owned it."

In essence, showing up every day and being confident about who you are, what you want, and asking for it comes across to the other people in the room, and it can make a total difference in how you approach everything from business deals to relationships. 

The Keys by DJ Khaled

DJ Khaled's positivity and willingness to do what's needed to make things happen serves at the backbone throughout the whole book. A few of the Major 🗝's I loved were:

• Having vision is essential.

• Work ethic and passion are important 

• Authenticity matters

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcom takes case studies throughout history, and examines how underdogs can overcome challenges that may appear.

• "The powerful and strong are not always what they seem."

• Sometimes, the best way to overcome a powerful opportunity is to not challenge them on their own strengths, but playing to your own

• "Courage is not something that you already have that makes you brave when the tough times start. Courage is what you earn when you've been through the tough times and you discover that they aren't so tough at all."

Taking the lessons from each of these books has given me insight to explore my artwork in a more bold, authentic manner, and own what I do. Hopefully these lessons and books can serve you as well.