Career

The Long Climb Down To Success

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It's something I hear talked about every now and then in geek and fan circles: the person who made it who looks down on their past.  They deny they wrote fanfic, try to forget their earlier artistic efforts, don't acknowledge their roots.  The complains usually involve the person in question looking down on people who do the very things they did to launch their careers; writing fanfic or for free, the oddball cosplay outfits, the years of grinding out boring web code.

My guess is you're nodding as you hear this.

I'd like to note not only are people who act like this arrogant, I think they're missing the point of doing what you love: it's not climbing up the mountain of success, it's about descending into what you truly love and embracing it.

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The Lessons Of Fandom: Courage

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Your fandom lets you develop business sense, a sense of customer service, and entrepreneurship.  If you think I'm done talking about the professional advantages of your hobbies, it won't surprise you that I'm not done yet.

Fandom teaches you courage.

That may sound strange to some people – until you think about what fandom actually involves.

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What I learned As A Progeek

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Fifteen years ago I looked at my career, realized I wasn't happy with where it was going, and decided it was time to do what I liked.  I had gotten distracted and off my career path, I'd gone on to be "responsible" and "realistic" and it wasn't working.

So I decided to go back to one of my earliest love – computers – and make it happen.  Fifteen years later, I have no regrets, but when I get in these moods to look back, i find there's many lessons to share with fellow and future progeeks.

One of the first lessons I learned is that passion pays off.

You cannot fake motivation, you cannot simulate interest, you can't simulate drive.  Any attempts to will result in a watered-down imitation at best and utter burnout and frustration at worse.  You just can't fake passion.

On the other hand when you have real passion, real drive, there is absolutely nothing like it.  You are productive, you are engaged, you are doing things.  There are many things you are not doing, and you're not doing them or distracted by them because you're focused on what you care about.

I found very quickly when I went "back to progeekery" that once you do what you're passionate about things get done.  They get done faster, they get done better, and you're a lot happier with your life and what you've done.  Its hard to explain this unless people have experienced it.

When I "follow my geekery" things seem to come together – because I'm driven, focused, and know what I want and what I want to do.  This passion rallies our emotions, our intellect, and our energy together in harmony – and that harmony lets us basically get stuff done.

So one of the first lessons I had as a progeek was that it gets your passions going.  That's stuck with me ever since.

– Steven Savage