Ignore Everybody is a Great Read
Posted on Mon, Jul 27, 2009
Hugh MacLeod’s book Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity is a great business (and summer) read. The book offers advice on how to increase your creativity in business and life. While it is a quick read, it is a book you can turn to over and over again. In addition to his meaningful advice, MacLeod showcases some of his fantastic art on a business card, which has been on display, along with his witty and meaningful advice at www.gapingvoid.com for a few years.
Ignore Everybody offers concise, meaningful wisdom that will resonate with anyone who has pondered an idea, wanted to go out on their own or create their own business. It also provides a breath of fresh air for those who have no reason to go anywhere. We can all benefit from changing our approach, or simply, looking at what we are doing with a critical eye.
One example from the book:
You are responsible for your own experience. Nobody can tell you if what you’re doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is.
Read this book when you feel like the odds are stacked against you, or if you feel like your way of doing things just might work because it is so different. This book should be required reading for anyone in business, and the best part is that you will actually enjoy every minute of it. MacLeod takes a very pragmatic approach to the business of being creative. Even his writing style seems so easy. You feel like you are sitting with a wise, old shaman learning that there is no secret ingredient (sorry, still completely in love with Kung Fu Panda). You realize that you don’t have to sit in a Paris café to write your one true sentence like Hemingway, or suffer for the sake of art to get ahead.
This book gives advice I wish I had when I was just starting out, even though I might not have been brave enough to take on the world at such a young age. At any age, MacLeod instills confidence in the reader and many “ooh and ahh” moments can be expected. I spent most of the book blushing, laughing and saying one too many times, “he’s so right” and “ugh, I do that too!” Although, I must admit, I’ve been friends with budding rock stars, writers, painters, welders and craftsmen for many years, and most all of them gladly suffer for their art…but most of them are still suffering, and sadly, not all of them are creating art.
Get the book. It is worth every penny. Happy reading!