As an artist, it's essential to know what you want out of your art and your career. This means setting goals for yourself and having a clear vision for the direction you want to take in your work. It's also important to be honest about what you are willing to sacrifice to achieve your goals.

In our recent episode with Tim Lenoir, he revealed his story of starting from nothing and becoming an artist for the biggest names in the music industry. His experience is a testament to anyone trying to make it as a professional in any field, creative or otherwise. 

Here is what I took away from our conversation.

Don’t Despise Humble Beginnings

We joked that if you don’t start out by sleeping on other people’s couches while chasing your dream, you probably won’t make it. While we were just jesting, it holds a bit of truth. 

One of the biggest killers of artists is getting discouraged by humble beginnings. It can be disheartening to put your work out into the world and not get the recognition or success you feel you deserve. It's important to remember that success doesn't happen overnight and that it takes time and hard work to build a career.

Tim never despised where he started. He stayed motivated and focused on his goals, or in other words, his one more! That leads to the next insight he provided. 

Know What You Want and Get Laser Focused on It

Imagine setting out on a road trip with no plan and then getting upset that you didn’t get there. Ridiculous right? That’s what so many people (especially young people) do when they set out for a career in something they aren’t passionate about or make moves without knowing what they want. 

Tim talked about how he knew exactly what he wanted as soon as his brush hit the paper for the first time in college. Since then, he pivoted his life in that direction and never looked back.

While he attributes his success to hard work and dedication, he really pointed out how knowing what he wanted was the key to his longevity. When you end up creating art for people like Kanye West, Guns N’ Roses, Lady GaGa, The Beatles label, and so many others, it’s hard to refute this fact.

What Are You Doing it All For?

While it may seem cliche, Tim never worked for affluence or recognition. He’s just a guy that loves to create and refuses to do anything else. That’s what I love about him and his story. By all accounts, we would say he’s successful, but his definition of success is just being able to do what he loves and putting food on the table with it. 

The goal should not be to do your work for recognition. While it's natural to want and receive recognition for your work, it's important to fall in love with the process and not solely for external validation. When you focus on creating art for its own sake, you are more likely to stay motivated and inspired, even when the going gets tough.

Final Thoughts

The key to finding success as an artist or whatever profession you have in mind is to stay persistent and focused on your one more. It's easy to get discouraged when things don't go as planned, but keep going and putting your work out there. It may take time, but eventually, your hard work will pay off, and you will start to see success, even if it wasn’t what you had imagined.

Take a pause and figure out what you want, don’t despise where you are currently, and try taking recognition and money out of the picture for a second. By keeping all that in focus, you can overcome challenges. Rather than finding success, it may just find you.