Fig. 1
Buy my course and uplift and grow your zeitgeist of a business to a money-making machine while you just stand back and do nothing. Ah yes, the next level, money back guarantee, enroll now, buy my masterclass, no fuss and no discuss, catch the success bus, plus, besides all that don’t be a wus, don’t be a cuss, buy from me I ain’t no sus. I’ll make you rich, it’s time to ditch, that old thinking that made you a bitch, watch the matrix, break the glitch, take the blue pill, take the red, start just by making your bed, make that dough to get the bread, feeling hungry just get fed, buy my product here instead.
Fig. 2
Boy oh boy, if I haven’t seen my fair share of discontent content. Is not often that I come across a variety of individuals who are selling courses to better themselves, step up their game as a business, or just in life, as I, a mere human, have no idea how to live. I see this on social media and on a variety of other channels where people with no prior experience in a domain, are selling a product meant to teach others about that specific domain and even more, how to produce piles of money and make oneself feel more complete and whole. Kids selling life lessons and being life coaches made me wonder if they found out how to skip all this “living” and made it to the end, straight to the wisdom fountain and now they are living like Benjamin Button. Designers who did no design are teaching others how to do design and even more so, how to conduct such a business. For your sanity, please change the word “business” to “BS” in all of the sentences above.
Did no one find joy and contempt in doing a thing without making such a big deal about the money? Oh, but they did, and they are sharing their thoughts and ideas. There are tons of books on this theme. Some are as old as the writing itself. But reading all that won’t help you scale your business to seven figures. And here I am, click-baiting and sharing thoughts.
Fig.3
If you are not making money, you are not working hard enough or smart enough.
Is not hard to see why we get to blame ourselves for our lack of financial resources. Some who are in a privileged position won’t stop talking about how “hard work” and three hours of sleep made them so rich and successful. Chicken and broccoli and working out every day built this physique, it’s all grind bruh. Listening to this type of discourse makes me feel lazy and undisciplined. In a culture where we attribute personal success and wealth only to hard work and self-control, it goes without saying that poverty is something you also choose by not doing what the wealthy are doing.
As a conclusion, being poor is something to be ashamed of. That can lead to self-hatred, a lack of dignity, and a vulnerable state which can be easily exploited by others. Self-blaming is a vital marketing tool for those who are selling you a dream. But there isn’t such a dream. This might come as a surprise to you, but those who are bragging about making it and promise you the success they had just by buying their class, never made it. You can’t sell luck and opportunity, you can’t bottle the environment and the right people at the right time, and you can’t put into words the right instructions for serendipity.
Fig.4
Capital and achievement in the world of design.
Money and success for a designer is not tied up with the amount of effort you invest. You need a bit of luck. You don’t need to do ten masterclasses and buy ten courses to step up your game and make figures on an Excel table, you need only to care about what you do and about others . . . the rest will follow. Focusing on labor to obtain the world’s goods will never pay off. Most of the designers out there, dream of laying a collaboration or a project in working with a big company, as if that will approve of their skills and value. No, it won’t. If you were not enough before being hired by a big name, you won’t be enough after. Why not focus on what you can do, help these small businesses grow, and help your customers by delivering good design?
No amount of work and dedication is guaranteed to deliver you financial freedom, fame, or success. If that were true, there would be so many hard-working people out there that fame and success would be mundane. But that isn’t the case.
It is said that there once lived two neighbors. One of them had an apple tree near the fence that was separating the two. Every year the tree would grow apples and most of the apples would fall on the other’s man yard. And every year they would get into an argument of who’s apples are. A stranger was passing by and seeing the two men in a heated talk, offered himself to deliver justice. The two neighbors agreed. The stranger gathered all the apples into a big pile and then asked the men:
-Which way do you want me to split up these apples? Man’s way or God’s way?
-God’s way, said the two neighbors.
The stranger then proceeded to give one man an apple and the other one the rest of the pile. And that’s how it goes.
Fig.5
It happens very often that when someone is presenting himself with some sort of creative energy, people are usually encouraging him to monetize it.
As if people don’t get to enjoy one’s art without bringing in the money. Do you sing nicely? You should make a career and sell albums. Your drawings are gorgeous. You should be selling prints, making a social account, turning them into NFTs, and making tons of money, don’t forget me, because I told you how to make money from your craft. You are creative and inventive, study engineering become an engineer, and then make lots of money. Oh, thank you for the nice bracelet you did for me, you should be selling these, you know? Your cooking is gorgeous, you should open a restaurant. And I could go on and on.
“But the people are trying to help” some might say. If you see someone’s piece of art and find yourself enjoying it, the colors, the lights, the atmosphere the way it reminds you of a better time in your life makes you feel somehow or if a cake someone baked makes your tongue burst in joy and the only thing you can think off is how to make profit out of that, let me tell you, my dear human, someone got inside your brain and really fucked things up.
That’s how we do a compliment nowadays, by involving money and the market. All the hobbies you enjoy doing and making your life fuller are now turning into side hustles that will suck the life out of you. There is no more free time, fuck the free time, you are wasting when you could be making something and be productive. God forbid you waste some time, you might start thinking again. And that doesn’t sit well with our lord and savior, the economy.
Lots of things messed this up since you were born, always telling you you are not enough, you are not rich enough, you are not smart enough, you are not handsome enough but do not despair because there is a product that can fix all of your “not enough” problems. The ONLY thing you need is money because money can buy anything and everything. From this perspective, it’s easy to see why some are choosing to do a profession just for the sake of profit. Save your dignity and respect, there is nothing to be ashamed of when you are being honest and true to yourself, find joy and meaning in your suffering and your living, don't just search for fixes.
Fig.6
We are what we seem to be.
We are seeing all these problems in the world, climate change, ecosystem destruction, loss of biodiversity, and natural resources, waste, pollution, exploitation, child labor, and so on. And it’s always a problem that needs to be addressed and solved. But take a step back, and see what causes all this. It’s greed, selfishness, and a way of seeing things only for the sake of profit.
Each of us needs a cultural and spiritual revolution. We need to look and enjoy things for what they are. You enjoy doing art, writing, and knitting because it brings joy and fulfillment, and don't start frustrating yourself by thinking that you waste your time when in fact you could be doing all that as a profession. Do that and watch how the delight of life is slowly dripping out of you and makes you feel empty and dry. But now you have capital and you can buy something that will make you fulfilled for a while.
I want to close this short entry by quoting Seneca: “It is not the man who has too little who is poor, but the man who hankers for more.”
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I write on this blog almost weekly and you can find details about my graphic design work and get in touch on this website.