I sat in a video conference this week with none other than best-selling author and marketing guru, Seth Godin. I was able to ask Seth a question about brand values. His response included a stint about how the purpose in business (and life) should be to create art. It doesn’t matter what your art is, but you should be creating something new rather than managing the status quo.
There has been a great shift in the business world in the last decade towards this way of thinking. Businesses want people who create something out of nothing. They want employees who can look at problems and see solutions that others cannot, or will not, see. Organizations not only want these types of people, they need them to succeed.
The same is true for a life of happiness. We must be able to create a life for ourselves that goes beyond just conforming to the status quo. We must look at our lives from our own perspectives, not merely the way others look at their lives. What works for others may not work for us, but even if it does we should look for how to do it even better. We must, individually and collectively, strive for something more, something better, something extraordinary. We must, as Seth Godin puts it, become “artists” within our own lives. And creating art is something that drives our inspiration and happiness in ways that nothing else can. For when you’re an artist of your own life, you’ll find that the world truly is your canvas.