As a part of my attempts to hold myself accountable to sticking to my resolutions I'm going to share my progress with all of you! Aside from creating more often (in my studio or through my blog) I set a goal to read 4 books this year. 4 books doesn't seem like a lot I know but for me that's a huge step in the right direction of reading more. These 4 books have to be substantial reads. Nothing to fluffy and preferably something that causes reflection or a call to action to change even one poor habit.
For my first book I choose Real Artists Don't Starve by Jeff Goins. I suppose you could categorize it as "self help" although that term has a bit of negative stigma associated with it. Anyways for an avid reader I'm guessing the book would be a rather quick read. For me (a constant pick up put down reader) it took a little longer as I read a chapter at a time. What I like about the book is it well set up for my style of reading (up, down, up, down and so on). The basis of the book is to stop being so lazy. Artists (in any form) starve because of a mentality they have. For some it is that they do not need help, for others it could be they feel they are above the help. Over all what most starving artists have in common is a poor un-coachable attitude and lack of willingness to change and adapt for the better.