This is how this blog started - with a post in my LiveJournal Blog . As I began to expand these points I realised that they might be better in a more focused context - the LJ blog is generally quite visual and chatty and disorganised. So - here is my current list. The expansion of each point will follow. For those who got up to point 10 on Livejournal - there are a few changes. Change is good. Mostly.

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How to be Creative (with a big C) and Survive and be Successful

1. Take risks – even big ones.
2. Don’t worry about starting in a small, modest and slightly embarrassing way.
3. Accept you’ll be laughed at. Welcome it as a good sign.
4. Work hard. Then work harder.
5. Forget the “exit strategy”. If exiting is that important to you, maybe you shouldn’t have gone into it in the first place.
6. Don’t moan, don’t blame.
7. Let some things go - that might include your own sense of your own identity.
8. Think. Even a little bit, but regularly.
9. Don't cling to your day job. Those shackles are holding you back, not keeping you safe.
10. Don’t confuse creativity with novelty.
11. Don't expect someone to save you from the big, bad world. Protectionism has never worked.
12. Find a few people you trust. Use them mercilessly - and let them use you just as much.
13. Avoid all the people who would rather pull you back. If you can't avoid them, hum loudly while they're talking to you.
14. Don't believe other people’s hype and spin unless you can see clear evidence.
15. It usually takes years – don’t merely accept that, welcome it and love what time brings.
16. If you find yourself nodding off while talking about your work – either you’re up far too late or you’re doing the wrong thing.
17. Look to the future constantly. But understand that you can’t predict it.
18. If it’s cool and fashionable – run from it before it eats you up.
19. Don’t worry about what happens after the current project. Long before you get there, you’ll know.
20. You remember that silly, unrealistic dream you had when you were twenty-one? Now just might be the time to chase it.
21. Get a “feel” for recognising clearly what your best work really is – regardless of what others think.
22. Don’t buy (with your few pennies) into the starving artist myth. Unless, that is, you really, really want to starve.
23. Talk to people. Listen to customers. Then make your own decision.
24. Know that you can do it. You can do it.