What Are Life Skills and Are They Important?

“Forget Being a Genius and Develop Some Skills” - Jerry Saltz

These words, “forget being a genius and develop some skills” are written by Jerry Saltz in his book How to Be An Artist. It's a wonderful, easy to read guide on how to approach creativity, full of wisdom, tips and tricks on how to grease your creative wheels. It's also a New York Times bestseller.

But this quote isn't one of the 63 tips Saltz lists in his book, instead, they are jotted down as a footnote of tip 17: ‘Use Your Studio’.

I don’t think Saltz realised how golden these words are, else he'd make more of a big deal about them. They sum up many other pieces of advice in one succinct thought.

To me, Saltz is saying all of the following in that one magical sentence:

1. Stop feeling entitled to success

I know one of the best trumpet players in the country. He was in the ‘Young Musician of the Year’ finals. He was able to play any song by ear and told me he can hear music in his head if he focused enough. He was an absolute natural-born talent, and after graduating from the Royal Academy of Music, was on a trajectory for the big time.

But he never reached his potential because he didn’t work for it. He probably was used to getting by on raw talent. He worked in music but fell to the level of his training. He still plays music, but he could have been so much more. Dreams, as they say, don't work unless you do.

Conversely, Nigel Kennedy was a British violin prodigy. He was another Royal Academy of Music graduate, but never rested on his laurels and subsequently grew into one of the most celebrated violinists of all time.

Kennedy practices endlessly. For years he refused to play on the classical London concert scene simply because of his perfectionism.

"It all comes down to the amount of rehearsal you get, or don’t get, in this country. I insist on three or four sessions prior to a concert, and orchestral administrators won’t accommodate that. If I didn’t care about getting it right, I could do three concerts in the same amount of time and earn three times the money. But you can’t do something properly in less time than it takes." - Nigel Kennedy

For all the people that branded Kennedy a genius, he never felt entitled to success and subsequently, he never stopped honing his skills.

It’s quite possible my friend would have never reached the heights of Kennedy’s international fame...

But who knows what can happen if you get up each day and work at it like a beginner?

2. Compete only with only yourself

Geniuses are both intimidating and otherworldly. They should not be your benchmark.

When starting a new project or chasing a new ambition, it is the outliers who inspire us. I looked to Bill Burr and Stewart Lee when I started open mic comedy for example, but I quickly realised the craft of comedy is harder than I thought, and those same idols that inspired me soon came to represent towering, impassable mountains.

Inspiration is fine, but we can easily skip to comparing ourselves to these geniuses.

We don’t see the work they put in, nor their failures.

When a musician thinks about Prince, he thinks about Purple Rain, not the dozen or so albums that were bland, lounge-funk duds.

Instead of looking at the best, just focus on the next rung, develop the skills to get you there and then repeat. That’s how progress is made.

Compare only with yourself, where you were yesterday. Where your skills were yesterday. Don't compare to anyone else. That won't serve you.

3. Always be learning (ABL)

The moment we think “I've got this” is the moment we stop learning, formally and informally. Complacency — even arrogance — sets in. Skills development keeps us afloat.

Saltz's words are telling us that learning is the priority.

I’ve played the guitar for years. I got to a point where I could hammer out chords and riffs and sound great. I became one of the better players I knew and that made it easy for me to sit in my comfort zone. Then I joined an acoustic folk band and my playing had to improve. Crystal clear notes and finger-picking patterns were the calls of the day - I had to up my game. I accelerated as a guitarist because of that difficult experience.

The first step to becoming extraordinary is understanding just how ordinary you are.

Then decide to bridge that gap. That’s the growth mindset.

4. Work, goddammit

Learning is one thing, but action is quite another. I saw the phrase “all your research is procrastination” the other day. A simplistic view maybe, but there is more than a kernel of truth in the statement.

Faffing around like a debonair genius will only get you so far. At some point you need to do real work; pen to paper, music to wav files, paint to canvas, whatever your chosen medium, you must put theory into action.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.

But skills only flourish when we use and develop them. Utilising what you’ve learned in the real world is the only point of learning.

So work, goddammit. Saltz is telling us to stop worrying about looking skilful and instead become skilful. Action brings with it clarity. Get moving.

5. Fuck perfection

Could “forget being a genius” mean anything more blatant than stop trying to create something that impresses others or is "perfect"?

Certifiable genius composer Hans Zimmer, he who has written the score for Inception, Lion King, Interstellar and The Dark Knight amongst others, said:

“Everything I’ve done, there’s always a little something I’d just like to tweak a little bit, so I’m still hunting down the great tune that I’ve never written.” - Hans Zimmer

If an actual genius can’t reach perfection, don’t expect it from yourself. Stop trying to be something great and instead just create. Perfection is the enemy of progress.

Start a project and finish it. Start another and finish that. Rinse and repeat.

Final thoughts

At university, one of my housemates studied English. She had to write an essay on the symbolism of ‘Terminator’. She told me some of the things her lecturers had taught her about the film and then added that its director, James Cameron, had gone on record to say a lot of it was nonsense.

This is the classic over-academicism of art and I’m probably guilty of it too. We all fall into our chin-stroking pitfalls at times.

But Saltz’s words - though most likely an afterthought, a nicely worded sentence to jot down - struck a chord. Sorry Saltz, but those words are now mine, and I’ll do what I like with them (also thank you for the book).

I don’t know if these words will help you, but I truly believe if we all let go of trying to be something and just embrace doing something instead, a lot more of us would carve out lives we love, rather than just lives we endure.