David Bowie: Go until your feet stop touching the ground
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area."
Musician David Bowie on being out of your depth:
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet aren’t quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
Bowie also advises against playing to the gallery:
“Never play to the gallery…Always remember that the reason that you initially started working is that there was something inside yourself that you felt that if you could manifest in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society. I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations — they generally produce their worst work when they do that.”
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The “get out of your depth” advice echoes a thought from software engineer Marissa Mayer, an early employee at Google and then CEO of Yahoo, on how she grew throughout her career:
"I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that's how you grow — when there's that moment of, 'Wow, I'm really not sure I can do this,' and you push through."
Source: MAKERS Interview (via JC)
P.S. Watch BOLO, my new standup special:
