What Is The Best Way To Measure Creative Success?

This robin has a pretty simple metric of success: find a worm and eat or don’t find a worm and go hungry. (Photo: Author)

The trickiest part of “creative success” for me is knowing when I’ve achieved it.

Creative success is a moving target I seem to redefine…well, almost daily. One day I’m headed for the stars; the next day I’m wallowing in a pit of despair.

I want to get off that emotional teeter-totter. I want long-term ways to measure my progress toward creative success so I’ll know when I’m on the right track and when I’ve “made it.” Some milestones and objective, external markers.

After much thought, I’ve dreamed up the following indicators of creative success. If any of them sound appealing, feel free to borrow them for your own use.

Being able to afford creative things without worrying

A big part of success to me would be buying certain things related to my creative pursuits without getting stressed about the cost. Quite a few things fit into this category.

Years ago, I thought I would know I was successful if I could afford to buy hardback books instead of paperbacks. I suppose I had visions of reading in my oak-lined den wearing my velvet smoking jacket, a meerschaum pipe clenched in my teeth and my faithful Chesapeake Bay Retriever lying at my feet.

When I achieved a level of success (or money, at least) that allowed me to buy hardbacks, I realized it didn’t matter anymore. I bought the occasional hardback, but only if it was a really special book: something by Hunter S. Thompson or Anthony Bourdain, for instance. It wasn’t the money holding me back. It was realizing there was really no additional value in reading words bound in a hard cover rather than a soft cover. Besides, I didn’t have a den, I don’t smoke and I’ve never owned a dog.

Today, the things I’d like to buy without worrying about cost are a little more lofty: better camera gear, faster computers and glossy photo books (because those seem to cost a lot more than other books).¹ I will also feel I’ve achieved a level of success when I can subscribe to the full Adobe Creative Cloud Pro plan² and not worry about the cost. And of course, the new Apple Creator Studio subscription. Dare to dream. I should probably start buying lottery tickets.

People hanging on my every word

Let’s face it: no one seems to care what you say or think about creativity when you’re anonymous and unsuccessful. I should know. I could offer my opinion on any number of topics (some of which I actually know quite a bit about) and I’d get about as much attention as a random internet troll.

Being named an ambassador for a creative product or brand would be a good indicator that people had begun to care what I say, think and do. Companies don’t usually pull names out of a hat when naming ambassadors, after all. They look for people who are accomplished in their field and who will represent their brand positively. People who have large social media followings or who are otherwise famous. If I could choose, I’d be an ambassador for Nikon, Pictorem and Moleskine.³ That would cover all of my image-making, printing and writing needs. Or at least subsidize them. I might shoot for being an ambassador for Radium Brewing, the micro-brewery in the village where I live. I’d be happy to quaff a pint or two for the cameras.

Similarly, being invited to appear on a podcast (a good one, not some amateur production) would indicate success. I wouldn’t appear on just any podcast — I’m not interested in politics or culture wars — but if a podcaster who deals with creative topics, like Tim Ferriss, Matt Payne or David Perell, called me, I’d probably accept.⁴ I’d even work on my hot takes in preparation for being interviewed. That’s what sells, right?

In some ways, I’m already making good progress toward being influential in the creative space. I don’t want to brag, but several times, companies like Booking.com and Amazon have asked me to write reviews for them. Pretty special, right?

Crazy town, population one

As long as I’m shooting for the moon, why shouldn’t I pick some really nutty indications of creative success?

How about this: I’ll know I’m successful when I’m nominated for an honorary degree at a major university. They give those things out like candy; maybe they’ll pick me one day? I promise that if I am selected, I will write a killer speech that will have the audience weeping, falling out of their seats and rending their garments. That David Foster Wallace commencement speech about water will look like the writing on a gum wrapper.⁵

Why not shoot higher? How about having my face featured on a postage stamp? (Assuming there is still a postal service when I achieve success.) Or even crazier: being appointed to the Senate.⁶ Or being named to the Order of Canada.⁷ The sky is the limit.

The best indicator of creative success of all

Those things all sound great — the subscriptions, the spending, the guest slot on a podcast, being appointed to the Senate — but there’s one more measure of creative success that would eclipse all those things: being invited to be a sitter on Portrait Artist of the Year.⁸

Now that would be an indicator of success! I could do it, honestly. I could pose for four hours, engage in gentle, humorous banter with host Stephen Mangan and choose my favourite portrait to take home at the end of the session. I could have a cup of tea with the best judge on the show, Tai Shan Schierenberg, and discuss the fine line between clever and twee. Seriously, if you know the producers, could you ask them to get in touch with me? I can be on a plane in 24 hours or less.

So those are the ways I’ll know I’ve achieved creative success, the milestones toward which I’ll work. Odds are I won’t achieve any of these markers, but it’s good to have them in front of me to remind me of what could have been if I were a more interesting or talented person.

How do you define success?

Notes:

1. Real estate and vehicles probably belong in this list as well, but including them wouldn’t surprise anyone, not even me. Being able to buy real estate without worrying about the cost is something for the super rich, not something I aspire to.

2. Currently, the Adobe Creative Cloud Pro subscription is about CAD$92 a month. Even the Creative Cloud Standard plan, which honestly includes everything I want, is CAD$72 a month…and that’s if you commit for a year and pay monthly. These costs don’t really matter if you’re generating more money by using the applications than they cost, but so far that remains a far-off dream for me.

3. I actually don’t use Moleskine products. I’ve never understood how my writing would be improved by using a notebook that costs twice as much as something like an Amazon Basics notebook. Which I don’t use either, come to think of it.

4. I’m sad Marc Maron shut down his podcast last year. I think he and I would have produced a killer show. I would remind him of the early days when he used an AC/DC song as his theme music and we would laugh and laugh…oh, the fun we’d have.

5. This Is Water, the commencement speech David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College on May 21, 2005, is widely considered a masterpiece. And it’s a heck of a lot easier to read than Infinite Jest.

6. In Canada, senators are appointed, not elected. It’s been an issue for years and I’m sure it won’t be worked out by the time I’m considered for appointment.

7. The Order of Canada is an award that “recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.” So it would definitely be a shot in the arm to get one. I’m open to being nominated; don’t hold back.

8. Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year are presented by the UK’s Sky Arts channel and easily eclipse any creative reality shows produced in North America. The next season of PAOTY (the hashtag the show uses) will feature a new lineup of judges after more than a decade, so I’m a little concerned.