It’s time to come clean.
I . . . am a thief.
It’s true. I’ve often said that I don’t have a creative cell in my body. What may seem to some people as my being innovative is, in reality, simply a combination of ideas that I’ve outright stolen from others.
—–
I steal everything I can. Even the idea of stealing, which I stole from drummer Dom Famularo.
In his highly motivational clinics, Dom encourages young players to steal rhythms, techniques and concepts from every other drummer they encounter. His book, The Cycle of Self Empowerment, introduces Absorb, Adopt, Adapt- a process of stealing an idea, applying it to your particular situation, and then allowing it to evolve and become your own.
Stole the idea to investigate ‘lifestyle design’ approaches from guys like Tim Ferriss and Cody McKibben.
Stole the idea to start blogging in the first place from Lucinda Vette.
As pathetic as it is, I even stole the idea for this blog post . . . from Karol Gajda.
Without their knowledge, I’ve ripped off several of Chris Guillebeau’s approaches to travel and Adam Baker’s hard-earned lessons on how to get out of debt.
I’ve stolen percussion rhythms, techniques and concepts from some of the world’s best players. Even from some not-so-good players!
—–
When struggling to make difficult decisions and move ahead in the world, some would argue that “it’s all been done before“- that there’s no idea out there that hasn’t already been thought of and attempted. I beg to differ. However, I do know that coming up with a completely original idea (one that’s all your own) can sometimes seem nearly impossible.
That’s why I steal left and right. I take advantage of every available opportunity to glean something from other people that I meet or read about. He/she may be a fellow drummer, a blogger, an accountant, a carpenter or an acupuncturist. Regardless of their line of work, chances are they have their own unique methods of getting things done, stirring up business or creating new products. Snag just one little tidbit, stuff it into your “bag of tricks” and find a way that you can apply it to your life, your career. Make it better, if possible. Make it your own. Some ideas will work out better than others. A few may not apply to your profession so well. But, successful or not, keep on absorbing, adopting and adapting until you’ve accumulated a treasure chest of stolen goods. I guarantee that you’ll never be at a loss for ideas again!
—–
And, now it’s your turn to steal from me!
Any and all of the ideas that are presented in my blog posts (past, present and future) are yours for the taking. You don’t even have to tell me. Actually, please don’t tell me. That’ll just keep me up at night, worrying if I locked all the doors. Just sneak in, steal them while my back is turned, run with them, put them into action, morph them into something new and (if they work) tell the world they were yours from the get-go! Don’t even give me credit. Although, it would be cool if you found some way to pass me a secret message once in a while, keeping me posted on what you liked, didn’t like, learned in the process, and how things are going.
I know what you may be thinking. “Steal” sounds like such a nasty, dishonest word. But, however you prefer to say it . . . steal, purloin, filch, snitch, pilfer, cop, hook, swipe, snatch, seize, lift, pinch (synonyms stolen from dictionary.com) . . . just get to it!
Any favorite idea that you’ve stolen from someone else along your journey so far?
Post a comment below and share it with the rest of us!
Stealing is not really the correct word. I think that it is making the best use of accumulated information and skills learned. We all take from our “teachers” and apply the knowledge to make it useful to us and therefore, our own.
I think of the people that I have been fortunate to meet that I know I carry a piece of due to learning. I am better at my work with kids because of my mentors. An example – I was in my first teaching job. I was a long way from home (Montana boy now living in Florida), basically a stranger in a strange land. I hadn’t trained to teach elementary physical education but that was the job that I currently held. My mentor became Joe Jackson, a lifetime elementary physical education teacher of approximately 70 years of age. I learned (stole if you will) his techniques of laughter, gentle skill, and love of small, developing children. I use these skills today in my current practice in pediatrics.
We all accumulate knowledge from our contacts in life. I will be “stealing” from you, Mark, but I won’t tell you what unless you ask.
That’s a great example, Jeff! And you’re right, “making it your own” is really where much of the value lies when making use of the “accumulated information and skills.” Thanks for posting this!
hehe, stealing can be fun
I stole the idea of “steal this blog” from Leo Babauta. He calls it Uncopyright, which is a much nicer way of putting it.
Hey, Karol- then I guess we’ve BOTH “uncopywritten” from Leo then, eh?
And yes, it IS fun!
I also “stole” that idea from Donald Trump who at Trump University taught that in school we weren’t suppose to copy off our neighbor’s paper but in life – it is highly encouraged if you want to be successful.
Nice, Debbe! It’s very true that stealing from those more successful than us can help to create a model to work from. Smart guy, that Donald!
Mark, it really isn’t stealing, it is the continuous evolution of knowledge. You advance an idea to your natural usage point, and I take the idea apply it to my world, and someone else applies it to their world. That is how knowledge grows. We are only doing our part. As Tom Peters said “Steal Ideas shamelessly”, it’s the only unlimited thing out there.
You’re right- that really is how things grow. Love Tom’s book, “The Little Big Things
” Thanks, Brent!
Love your blog- fantastic stuff. It’s not stealing but “quoting.” Speaking of, here’s a great quote:
Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.–Igor Stravinsky
Quoting. I like that! Thanks for reading, and the encouragement, James!