Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon – My Thoughts

Introduction: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon is not what you might expect. Kleon is not advocating that you steal other people’s work. The subtitle, 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, gives you insights into what this book is really about. The author uses each of the 10 things as a chapter title.

This is the second book by Austin Kleon that I have read and liked. I read this book because I wanted to learn how to become more creative. I have been reading a lot of books on creativity and how to generate big ideas. If you are looking to become more creative, two other good books that I recommend are A Technique for Producing Ideas and The MacGyver Secret.

Have you read?

Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, Book Review

Content: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

1. Steal Like an Artist
2. Don’t Wait until You Know Who You Are to Get Started
3. Write the Book You Want to Read
4. Use Your Hands
5. Side Projects and Hobbies Are Important
6. The Secret: Do Good Work and Share it with People
7. Geography is No Longer Our Master
8. Be Nice (The World is a Small Town)
9. Be Boring (It’s the Only Way to Get Work Done)
10. Creativity is Subtraction

You can read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon in about an hour. It’s an easy read. The chapter headings give you insights into what they are about. In fact, they can guide you. The book allows you to tap into your creativity.

It’s not about stealing from an artist. It’s about studying the work of many artists whom you admire, then coming up with your own style. You have to know and understand what great work is before you can produce it.

While I was reading this book a few years ago, I didn’t take detailed notes like I usually do, because Steal Like an Artist is not that kind of book. What I did instead, was to jot down a few things that resonated with me. For instance, I loved,

“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

The words spoke to me because they reminded of Goethe’s quote,

“Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again.”

Other advice I liked and appreciated include:

Emulate your heroes, learn to think the way they think. You want to see how they see. To me, this is important, because it allows you to build on the work of others. It allows you to go further than your mentors.

Write the book that you’d like to read. I’ve heard this advice before, and it makes sense. If the book doesn’t exist, and it’s important to you, write it. It’s a clear indication of the road to take.

Find the intersection between disciplines. This is something that I have talked about. I go one step further by recommending that you blend disciplines. That’s where genius happens.

Work on side projects. I have heard of so many instances where side projects became hugely profitable businesses. And it’s also important to have multiple streams of income.

Conclusion: Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

I recommend that you read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon because it forces you to tap into your creativity.  The advice is common sense, and that’s exactly what you may need. I guarantee that you will find one or two ideas that resonate with you. I also recommend that you read Show Your Work by Austin Kleon.

Next Steps

Wondering what to do next, you can do all of:

1. Buy my new book, Leadership Reading: Spilling the Tea on How Top Leaders Read

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6. Buy me a cup of coffee!

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First appeared on Birds on the Blog. August 15, 2016