“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art.
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”
— Andy Warhol
Playing Jazz or Blues music with world class musicians, especially in an intimate Jazz club with great acoustics and a knowledgeable, sophisticated, attentive audience, has to be one of the most exciting and satisfying things that any human being can experience. You add in several spontaneous, rousing, enthusiastic outbursts of applause following your solos and, well, on a musical level, it really doesn’t get any better than that. That’s about as close as one can come in this existence to a seamless flow of imagination, execution, result, reward and celebration all in one fell swoop.
Business is also an art and very similar to Jazz. You need to learn some theory. You need to develop some skills. You need to build (or join) a team. You need to learn how to work with other people. You need to have a vision. You need to have a plan. You need to take some risks. You need to bring something new and exciting and original to the party. You need to find your audience and sell them on your ideas. Finally, you need to execute.
There is a physical component. There is a mental component. There is an emotional component. There is a spiritual component. There is a process.
Watching Accuray rally on its first day of trading didn’t give me the same rush of energy as a spontaneous, rousing, enthusiastic round of applause – but it came pretty close. It did give me that same after-the-gig glow of satisfaction. And rather than just an hour or so, it lasted several months. Of course, there was also the money. Beyond the financial reality, there was an amazing sense of… the word that comes to mind is: vindication.
We are in this life to learn how to use our resources to create spectacular results. The moment you set an exciting, worthwhile goal and commit to these principles of self-actualization, the same used by highly successful people for thousands of years, you have embarked on a journey.
More than that, you have become an artist. Bravo! Bravissimo!
*(From Mission to Millionaireship) by Randell Young