What is your obsession? Are you driven to succeed because of that obsession or are you just trying to get through the day?

Rock Prophecies is a documentary following rock photographer Robert Knight as he presents his archive of imagery ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Panic at the Disco, chronicles his relationship with Guitar Center, and his attempt to discover new artists before anyone else.

Great interviews reveal not only Knight’s obsession with creating memorable images, but his desire to be a part of a community. At one point he says that it matters more what the artists think of him, then the art itself.

As I watch the documentary, I can’t help but feel the obsession that Knight has for music and creating great photos. Steve Vai, guitar virtuoso, had this to say about the life of the creative person: “If you’re really a creative person, you just have no choice but to keep trying to make yourself happy.” I see Knight in this documentary as continually trying to make himself happy, and he is loving every minute of it.

Why? Because music is his obsession. However, Knight reveals a greater motivation early in the film: “The minute you stop reaching, you will be irrelevant.”

Obsession pushes you. It motivates you. It causes you to reach for the stars regardless of the opinion of others. And without obsession, you face the brutal reality of irrelevance.

I had coffee with a friend this morning and one topic that we talked about was loneliness. Both being small business owners, we talked about physical loneliness since we tend to work in isolation. But then my friend asked me if the loneliness could be caused by thinking differently than others. I hadn’t really thought of loneliness as being a by-product of the way that I was thinking, so when he asked that question I started to see a true distinction between feeling alone in a physical sense and feeling intellectually and emotionally isolated.

“One is the Loneliest…”

It’s easy to not feel physically alone. You hang out with some friends, spend some time with your spouse, do something with other people. But what happens when you are with others and yet still feel alone?

You have to start looking at your feelings a little deeper. Are you connected with the person? Is that connection based on a common interest that brings meaning to both of your lives or is it built upon the shallow minutiae of life? Are you alienated with other people by the way you think and how you live life?

There is something transcendent when you can make an intellectual or emotional connection with others. You feel understood. Regardless of whether you are in their physical presence or not, you know that someone gets you and that sense of being understood erases all of the loneliness in a mysterious way.

We all want to be understood and it is up to each of us to be able to communicate through our times of loneliness in order to connect with others. It is not out of despair that we connect with others, but out of desire to share life through the good times and the bad.

I recently read a great book called Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music by Greg Kot about the MP3 revolution and its effect upon the music industry. There were chapters about Metallica versus Napster, Radiohead’s pay-what-you-want release of In Rainbows, Nine Inch Nails digital experiments and a whole lot of head scratching and suing on the part of the music industry. The question raised by executives and artists was how to make money in the digital age because they were no longer able to control the way people listened to and shared music. Not only was technology disrupting business as usual, but it would redefine intellectual property rights to include digital files.

The music industry is not the only industry being affected by digital technology. The rules are changing for everything from movies and photography to hardware and software, and the only way to really benefit from the changing times is to make sure that you understand what has changed, how it affects your business, and how to address those concerns as they come up.

It’s one thing to fight change, but ultimately unaddressed change will kick your ass, leave you broke, and mock you as others who are more business-saavy and less talented than you will thrive.

How are you addressing the changes in your industry? Are you hoping that the changes will go away? Perhaps you are learning everything about the changes, using them in unique ways, profiting from not only being the first in your field to understand them, but also understanding that your audience is diverse and multi-networked?

It is an exciting time to be in business. The times are changing fast, the competition is fierce, the risks are greater, and the rewards may be less, but that doesn’t mean that there are no rewards to be found.

Hone your craft. Stay current with the times and continue to ride the wave that technology brings.

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s October 17-23, 2011 issue, five people were asked how to fix the education system in the United States. Of the five people interviewed, one person stood out: Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway, an amazing prosthetic arm (demoed on TED) and a myriad of other inventions, as well as founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Kamen was asked if it mattered what was taught to students. His response is not only a challenge to the current political chatter regarding jobs, but a cultural shift redefining education. Kamen says:

Education is not filling a pail, it’s lighting a fire. And you can build the best system and the best process, but you can’t open up a kid’s head and pour this stuff in. What FIRST is all about is the recognition that, assuming we have good schools and assuming we have good teachers, we still have another major problem in this country. It’s a culture problem. Both parties are running around saying it’s about jobs, it’s about jobs. Kids need more than jobs. They need careers, they need passion to solve real problems.

For the majority of Americans, we have jobs. It is something that we do on a daily basis in order to pay our bills, afford the necessities of life, buy some toys, and perhaps have a little left to save or donate to worthy causes. We go to work, it is something that we do. For many, it has nothing to do with identity and everything to do with necessity. We are willing to accept a disconnect between the work that we do and the effect that work has upon the world. Jobs are about survival and addressing the daily needs of our lives.

But if our only concern is survival, how can we focus on solving real problems? Isn’t survival a real problem?

What Kamen is saying that there is something beyond just surviving in today’s world. We can solve problems. We can change the world. We can recapture our identity within the work that we do. Careers aren’t just what we do, but who we are. It is all about identity and the mark that we can make upon the world. Careers reconnect the work that we do with the effect that it has upon the world.

In order to have this  career-oriented mindset, how we are taught and what we learn must change. Learning isn’t a checklist. It isn’t something that can be absorbed from a stack of books. It isn’t a linear process. Kamen uses the illustration of lighting a fire. I’ll take it a step further and say that continuing to learn is like stoking a fire and keeping it from going out. How do you do that? You need wood. You need oxygen. You need space. You need the right conditions. You need to be vigilant, yet free to let the fire be what it is going to be. That is the very nature of what is living.

Comfort zones are dangerous. They really should be called “danger zones,” but I imagine that Kenny Loggins would have a problem with that. Unless he needed the cash of course.

Comfort zones are dangerous because you do what you know. You stop learning. You stop trying, striving and seeking. You stop asking questions. You accept old answers. You do what comes naturally, even if what comes naturally is mediocre. You get into a rut.

Throughout the last two weeks I have been forced out of a well-established comfort zone (rut) with regards to how I work and do business. While filling in at a local sign shop (their in-house designer was on his honeymoon), I had to have set hours and answer the phone when it rang, two things that I honestly don’t really care much for, but did regardless.

I don’t like set hours, because it’s hard to say that I’ll be “creative” between the hours of 8:30 am and 5:00 pm. However, by having set hours, I actually got a lot of stuff done. Granted, I wouldn’t say that some of it was my best work, but interestingly enough, most people just wanted it done according to their standards, not my own. That was a great lesson and something that I will definitely be applying to the weeks and months ahead. While I will try and set hours, I will be focused more on getting things done each day.

Want to know what else I learned? While I am afraid of talking on the telephone—I know, silly phobias, but we all have them—it is possible to get over the fear by having to answer the phone whenever it rings. Each time I answered the phone, I got a little more confident and I started to realize that the people on the other end were a little nervous as well. That was a huge confidence booster. Most people are not comfortable on the phone. I’m not alone. So, if you call me this week (with the exception of tomorrow as I’ll be finishing up my obligation at the sign shop), I might just answer the phone.

So, what would you say your comfort zone is? Is it really comfortable or perhaps a danger zone waiting to trap you in a rut?

‘Those with “something to fall back on” invariably fall back on it. They intended to all along. That is why they provided themselves with it. But those with no alternative see the world differently.’ – David Mamet

Today’s visit to the city of books led me to Herzog on Herzog, a collection of interviews with Werner Herzog, acclaimed German filmmaker who recently filmed a 3D documentary called Cave of Forgotten Dreams. When deciding to buy a book or not, I typically read the introduction hoping to be intrigued with some jewel of wisdom, and Herzog on Herzog blessed me with the quote above. Something or someone was speaking to me in this quote. I didn’t know what, but I knew that this book was going to speak to me at some artistic or personal level. Yet another book was purchased to live in the stack of books next to the full bookshelves.

So, what is it about the quote that speaks to me? It is a powerful statement of the transcendence of vision beyond mere success or failure. It is placing a purpose or meaning for life above simply making it, surviving or even thriving. It is making sure that the very things that I set out to do are not mere flirtations with what could be, but worth giving all that I have so that they will be.

The quote is asking me a very simple question: Do you have something to fall back on?

Part of me doesn’t think that I do, but then there is the doubting Thomas within that says that maybe I should give up and get a “real job.” Then I remember why I do what I do. It’s not just about the work, but how the work impacts others. That is why there is no fall back plan. I may change directions, but the vision remains the same.

What is your fall back plan or are you stubborn like me?

Let’s change the world by not changing our minds when the wind blows against our very existence.

As I waded through comments and discussions regarding my post from earlier this week, Occupy My Life, I came across three types of people in regards to the Occupy Together movement:

1. Those that shine a light on the problems at hand.
2. Those that go beyond problems and offer solutions.
3. Those that don’t care either way.

I’m all for protesting, I’m all for shining a light on the issues that our society faces today, but the people that go beyond just raising awareness and offering solutions are few in numbers.

I received a link to the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City and towards the end of a long list of injustices, I came to a small paragraph of truth: “Create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.”

Part of generating solutions accessible to everyone is that everyone is involved in the process of defining what the problems are exactly. But therein lies an even greater difficulty: By which standard do we evaluate society in order to define whether something is a problem or not? Whose vision and painting of reality is correct? Is there a universal code of humanity that everyone abides by?

Solutions are not easy, but accurately assessing the problem is equally challenging. That is why some choose to respond with apathy or distance, but that is no longer an option. We are faced with systematic problems that are not going to get better any time soon. There are not enough voices defining real problems and there are not enough people proposing realistic solutions that are accessible to all.

As long as we are viewing life through our own self-centered filters, we will miss what this movement is about. It is an opportunity to put American ingenuity to work as everyone comes together—rich and poor, white and black, male and female—to change the world.

Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Portland: All protests composed of the 99% that are “getting nothing” and against the 1% that are “getting everything.” They are protesting the greed and corruption of Wall Street. They are losing their houses, they can’t afford rent, and they want to be bailed out, just like the corporations that have gained government favor over the past few years.

I guess I could be classified as one of the 99%. I’m most certainly not a member of the 1%. I struggle financially, I live month to month, and I am one accident away from failure. But the differences unfortunately end there because as I investigate why I don’t have what I need and struggle each month, it all comes back to me.

It is all my fault.

When I had money, I didn’t save it. When I needed money, I got it and when I didn’t get it, there was another form of money available, but the cost to use that was high. I knew that, but I did it anyway.

I knew what my education cost, I was told it would take 20 years to pay back. I knew what my mortgage cost, I signed on the line for the 30 year loan. Everything that I own, I knew the cost.

My protest begins here: I look in the mirror and yell at myself.

So, how can I occupy my life and get to a more comfortable position?

1. Save
2. Spend Less
3. Work More

I realize that this isn’t the case for everyone, but I guess I am in the other 1%, those that blame no one but themselves for the circumstances that they find themselves in.

There is nothing more fascinating than the topic of namedropping in order to amaze others with the company that we keep. I can’t even count on my fingers how many times I have heard so and so’s Name being dropped in conversations or meetings. You know who I’m talking about. The Names are the people that have made it, have been accepted by society and rewarded for the work that they do.

The question that I inevitably come back to every time is this: By dropping someone’s name, are we hoping to validate our decisions or wishing that the other person will immediately accept what we say because we know The Name?

I’ve tried dropping names before and it’s often met with a blank look reading, “Who is that? Am I supposed to know them?” Oops, I guess I don’t understand how to properly namedrop.

If you are namedropping out of insecurity, hoping that you will be validated because of your friends, it’s time to pay a visit to your therapist because that is not healthy. If you are doing it because you want a taste of their fame, they will see right through you for the sycophant that you are. However, if you are doing it to include them in your life, then you are a wonderful person and that is why they are your friend.

By all means, drop The Name every chance you get. But remember, most people don’t know who the heck you are talking about and are just being polite when they say, “Oh yeah, I know them, they’re great!”

One of my friends yesterday said that he was “taking it to the next level” by live tweeting photos from a football game he was photographing for Skyview High School. That got me thinking about what it means by taking it to the next level.

Every one of us wants to get better at what we do. Fundamentals, techniques, tools, tricks and tips are all great places to start in the discovery process of finding areas where we can learn more. There are a million ways to improve, but the most important area that we can all improve upon is the belief that we can still get better at something.

No matter how good we are at something, we can always improve. There is always something to learn and as long as we have that attitude, we will continue to grow and improve.

For myself, taking it to the next level is very specific. In terms of my filmmaking, I want to improve the cinematography of my productions, specifically camera angles, movements and lighting. In regards to writing, it’s a little more vague, because I am still in a place of experimenting and learning fundamentals. When it comes to photography, taking it to the next level is working in presentation and portfolio building. With design and other artistic pursuits, I just want to have fun and try new things.

So, how about you? What does taking it to the next level mean for your career and your life?