3 Inspiring Lessons From Austin Kleon’s “Steal Like An Artist”

Encouraging messages on creativity from an absolute must-read book

I first learned about Austin Kleon and his books on creativity and artistry from the amazing Ali Abdaal on his YouTube channel. I decided to give the first, Steal Like An Artist, a try.

And I’m so glad I did! I’m not lying when I say this book is life-changing. No, I wasn’t paid to say that. I really believe it.

This book is required reading for anyone who has doubts about their ability to be creative or to start something new. Even for those who don’t aspire to be artists or creators, this is a book worth reading.

Below I briefly describe just three of the many useful lessons I learned reading this book. Hopefully, they’ll help you the way they helped me!

Nothing is Original

This is essentially the main theme of the book. Austin argues that no creative work is truly ‘new.’ Every artist and every piece of work they create is at the very least influenced by someone else.

“All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.”

Austin describes how every ‘new’ idea is born from something that came before. But much like genealogy, these ‘new’ ideas are not replicas of what came before. Just as every child is a product of their parents and yet an entirely unique individual, every idea is a product of the artist and those who influenced them.

This idea resonated strongly with me.

One thing that kept me from writing most of my life was the thought that I had no original ideas of my own. I read a lot of books as a child and young adult, and I was afraid that anything I wrote would be so similar to what I read that it would be akin to stealing.

But Austin maintains that even if you “steal” another artist’s idea or style, you can’t entirely replicate it because you put your influence into it as well.

Your work is a mixture of you and the people and ideas you are influenced by. As he puts it, “you are the sum of your influences.”

Fake It Until You Make It

This idea takes on the common feeling of imposter syndrome, where “you feel like a phony, like you’re just winging it, that you really don’t have any idea what you’re doing.”

Imposter syndrome can make you feel like you’re not just a phony, but that your ideas are not good enough for anyone to want to read. This keeps many people from creating in the first place.

To combat this syndrome, Austin tells us to “fake it until you make it.”

Pretend! Pretend you‘re confident, and eventually, you will find you have real confidence.

Pretend you are an artist, act like an artist, and you’ll find that, at some point, you’ve become a real artist in the process.

I can personally attest to the effectiveness of this idea. When I was a student in surgical technology school, it appeared to my fellow students that I was a natural at all the technical tasks we had to perform. I learned quickly and was at the head of the class.

In truth, I didn’t know any more than the person next to me. But I was great at pretending I knew what I was doing.

I acted confident, and I became confident.

I pretended I was good, and it came true. I ended up graduating as valedictorian, so there is actual proof that this concept works!

Get Physical

It’s so easy in today’s digital universe to rely on technology for pretty much…everything. As someone married to an IT guy, our house is brimming with computers, cameras, and various black boxes whose purpose eludes me.

I write almost exclusively on my laptop. I’ve tried writing in a physical journal, but I’ve found that my thoughts fly faster than my hand can write, which is extremely frustrated. The computer was my savior.

But Austin Kleon points out that sitting motionless in front of a computer can literally kill you, and kill your work too. You end up using too much of your brain and not enough of your body. Your work can become stale and heartless.

“You need to find a way to bring your body into your work… motion kickstarts our brain into thinking.”

In addition to affecting our bodies, the computer may also be hurting our creativity. Computers are great as word processors and editing tools, but:

“…They are not really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key. The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us — we start editing ideas before we have them.”

I had a minor epiphany when I read this paragraph.

I’ve struggled so much with worrying about being ‘perfect.’ I never realized that my computer, which I rely on so much, might be hurting my creative process. I hit the delete key… a LOT.

This doesn’t mean you need to abandon technology and go off-grid. But introducing something tangible into the creative process can help break you out of your comfort zone and bust some molds.

Introduce some analog into your digital world, and watch your ideas grow!

There are many more ideas contained in Austin Kleon’s brilliant book. I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed reading it, and how it inspired me in so many ways.

I loved it so much I ordered Austin’s other two books, Show Your Work and Keep Going, and I’m ready to dive into both.

I highly recommend Steal Like An Artist to anyone who wants to be inspired and jumpstart their creative drive. This is no affiliate marketing. I’m just a huge fan!

Here’s a great article from Renuka Gavrani about how to read a book like successful people. There are some great tips in there if you want to get the most out of your reading:

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