George Lois in his book Damn Good Advice talks about an environment most of us grew up in where our parents told us to ‘be careful and take care of ourselves.’
The words ‘George, be careful’ were punctuated by George’s mother when he was growing up.
They have been a refrain throughout his life – a sincere admonition from the lips of people who have always meant well but never understood his attitude toward life and work as a creative.
George goes on to say that In the act of creativity, being careful guarantees sameness and mediocrity, which means your work will be invisible.
Better to be reckless than careful.
Better to be bold than safe.
Better to have your work seen and remembered, or you’ll strike out.
There is no middle ground. You can be cautious or you can be creative but there’s no such thing as a cautious creative.
Forget being careful, forget taking care.
Take risks instead.
And… forgive your parents.