In this mini-sode, Gina and Valerie discuss the 7 books that every photographer (or struggling artist) should read.

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Show notes

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

“Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.” The War of Art preface

“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”

― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

“Often we don’t realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.”
― Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies? The result was that once again nearly all (93 percent) agreed, even though no real reason, no new information, was added to justify their compliance. Just as the “cheep-cheep” sound of turkey chicks triggered an automatic mothering response from maternal turkeys—even when it emanated from a stuffed polecat—so, too, did the word “because” trigger an automatic compliance response”
― Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

“Let me list for you some of the many ways in which you might be afraid to live a more creative life: You’re afraid you have no talent. You’re afraid you’ll be rejected or criticized or ridiculed or misunderstood or—worst of all—ignored. You’re afraid there’s no market for your creativity, and therefore no point in pursuing it. You’re afraid somebody else already did it better. You’re afraid everybody else already did it better. You’re afraid somebody will steal your ideas, so it’s safer to keep them hidden forever in the dark. You’re afraid you won’t be taken seriously. You’re afraid your work isn’t politically, emotionally, or artistically important enough to change anyone’s life. You’re afraid your dreams are embarrassing. You’re afraid that someday you’ll look back on your creative endeavors as having been a giant waste of time, effort, and money. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of discipline. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of work space, or financial freedom, or empty hours in which to focus on invention or exploration. You’re afraid you don’t have the right kind of training or degree. You’re afraid you’re too fat. (I don’t know what this has to do with creativity, exactly, but experience has taught me that most of us are afraid we’re too fat, so let’s just put that on the anxiety list, for good measure.) You’re afraid of being exposed as a hack, or a fool, or a dilettante, or a narcissist. You’re afraid of upsetting your family with what you may reveal. You’re afraid of what your peers and coworkers will say if you express your personal truth aloud. You’re afraid of unleashing your innermost demons, and you really don’t want to encounter your innermost demons. You’re afraid your best work is behind you. You’re afraid you never had any best work to begin with. You’re afraid you neglected your creativity for so long that now you can never get it back. You’re afraid you’re too old to start. You’re afraid you’re too young to start. You’re afraid because something went well in your life once, so obviously nothing can ever go well again. You’re afraid because nothing has ever gone well in your life, so why bother trying? You’re afraid of being a one-hit wonder. You’re afraid of being a no-hit wonder”

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller

‘It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world.’
‘Passion for something leads to disproportionate time practicing or working at it. That time spent eventually translates to skill, and when skill improves, results improve. Better results generally lead to more enjoyment, and more passion and more time is invested. It can be a virtuous cycle all the way to extraordinary results.’

How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie

Since it was first released in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold over 15 million copies.

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

“Talk to someone about themselves and they’ll listen for hours.”

“Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Just Kids by Patti Smith

“I don’t think,” he insisted. “I feel.”

On being worried about messing up….

“Say anything,” he said. “You can’t make a mistake when you improvise.”

“What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?”

“You can’t,” he said. “It’s like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another.”

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown

“The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time.”

‘Nothing has transformed my life more than realizing that it’s a waste of time to evaluate my worthiness by weighing the reaction of the people in the stands.”

How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman

How to Make People Like You focuses on the concept of synchrony. It shows how to synchronize attitude, synchronize body language, and synchronize voice tone so that you instantly and imperceptibly become someone the other person likes.

“It’s much easier to be convincing if you care about your topic. Figure out what’s important to you about your message and speak from the heart.”

“Just as with swimming or riding a bike, you can’t really learn how to fall in love from reading a book not even this one. Sure you can read about the different swimming strokes or the parts of a bicycle; you can learn the theory and physics behind the sport. But to get to the heart of the matter you’ve got to leap in and learn by doing.”