Srinivas Rao > Quotes

“Rather than see ageing as a reason to contract, we should view it as an opportunity to expand. We should make each year of our lives are more interesting than the one before.”
― Srinivas Rao

“My greatest sin was to waste my life believing that I wasn't capable of something more.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“None of these things define you as a person: Your education The size of your bank account Your job title Your failures Your successes And sadly, we let so many of these things rule our lives. Obsession with crossing off the checkboxes of society's life plan leads to little other than therapy, midlife crises, and depression.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Worrying about what other people think is a jail of our own creation, and the irony of it is those people are in the same jail with us.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Most people are afraid. Most people get comfortable in a life that seems tolerable enough. They don’t have the time, they complain, and may actually believe it (even as they spend hours watching TV, playing video games, surfing the Internet, at the mall).   The price is that moment near the end when you realize that your life never belonged to you. You never stepped up. You never owned it. You never showed us who you really are.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Nothing matters. That's the key to unlocking the handcuffs that keep us imprisoned in worry, self-doubt, fear and disbelief.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“The “No bullshit” version of who you are can work with a compass. Your ego needs a map because it does not quite understand the wise words of Paul Jarvis, "Nobody is successful because they took somebody else's roadmap and copied it.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“you should consider. But letting those 500 words serve as a compass for your goals and dreams makes them much more likely to happen. If making a decision throws you so far off course that you're facing the polar opposite direction of where you want to end up, it might be the wrong decision, since it practically guarantees you won't end up in the direction your compass is pointing you. Let's say you want to be an artist of some sort and for the next 100 days you sit on your ass in front of the television. Well that's a completely different direction than the one your dream is pointing you in. But”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“To become truly unmistakable I have to be willing to ditch the map, travel without a guidebook, and see where it leads me.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“In his book A WHOLE NEW MIND, Daniel Pink describes how the forces of automation, outsourcing, and an overabundance of products are ushering in a new era.  Call it the Conceptual Age, or the Creative Age.  The important thing, Pink writes, is that if you want to survive  (much less thrive) you need to ask yourself three questions about whatever it is that you do: Can a computer do it for you? Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Is what I’m offering in demand in an age of abundance?”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Everything you see, smell, taste, touch, and hear is an environment. That environment is either adding energy or draining energy. It’s either inspiring you or expiring you,” said the Ultimate Game of Life founder Jim Bunch on an episode of The Unmistakable Creative.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“When you're the only person who could have created a work of art, the competition and standard metrics by which things are measured become irrelevant because nothing can replace you. The factors that distinguish you are so personal than nobody can replicate them.”
― Srinivas Rao, Unmistakable

“what would happen if we left our heart on stage every time we created anything. It’s a bust your ass to shine, honest to a fault, no bullshit, zero apology performance.  If you look at the work of some of the most successful people in the world you’ll see it as the undertone.  It isn’t just something they do, it’s who they are.  It’s the kind of performance where your heart and soul bleed.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“The only job security, to the extent that it exists, will reside in your ability to be “high concept high touch”: to come up with inspired and innovative ideas, gain creative insights, and connect with people on an emotional level through empathy, story or design.  To do what computers can’t, or that dude in China or India for only so many dollars an hour.  To create experiences that people didn’t know they wanted or needed but soon refuse to live without.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Every creator’s work is a mixture of the people they’ve spoken to, the books they’ve read, the art they’ve consumed, and the company they keep. However,”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“And I started to wonder, Srini writes, what would happen if we left our heart on stage every time we created anything. It’s a bust your ass to shine, honest to a fault, no bullshit, zero apology performance.  If you look at the work of some of the most successful people in the world you’ll see it as the undertone.  It isn’t just something they do, it’s who they are.  It’s the kind of performance where your heart and soul bleed. I like that a lot.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“Forget about the bestseller lists, the gallery openings, and the shining lights. The creation of fulfilling creative work is the result of losing yourself in the moment.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“People are afraid to cross the line over to complete honesty and imperfection because they worry about losing things they do not have or even worse, things they have but that do not REALLY matter to them.  Keeping up an act of any sort is easier in the short term, but becomes soul draining as life goes on.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“my zone of genius. This is also a place of great peace, and it is where my best work comes from. This zone of genius is where your no-bullshit self lives: ·         The one that is not afraid to take risks ·         The one that is not afraid to tell the truth ·         The one that is not concerned with validation ·         The one that creates for the simple, satisfying joy of creating”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“What if AJ Leon's wise words that "this is not your practice life" became the filter for all your decisions?”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“As Srini notes, things have a way of revealing themselves only once you’re in pursuit of them. This generally means that you have to start running on faith. Most people are afraid. Most people get comfortable in a life that seems tolerable enough.”
― Srinivas Rao, The Art of Being Unmistakable

“I collected bullet points on my résumé as I aimlessly wandered from one job to another until I had been fired from nearly every one.”
― Srinivas Rao, Unmistakable

“We must learn to let go of our attachments and expectations if we’re going to derive satisfaction”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“LADY GAGA When you make music or write or create, it’s really your job to have mind-blowing, irresponsible, condomless sex with whatever idea it is you’re writing about at the time.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“DAVID BOWIE I’ve become more and more selfish about what it is I want to do, what I find satisfying. Because if you make yourself happy, a little bit of that sunshine can spread onto others.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“Focused on the process, our creative life retains a sense of adventure. Focused on the product, the same creative life can feel foolish or barren.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“SARAH JOY SHOCKEY Anything you create that brings you joy or even frustration shapes you into someone with experience.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“By not sharing everything I make, I have freedom to play, to experiment, and to fail. I’m able to practice my art free of judgment, opinions of others, and expectations. I’m able to listen to myself and tap into an opportunity for full self-expression and self-exploration.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“MADELEINE L’ENGLE But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake

“The creative process parallels listening—in fact, it is a form of listening: listening to ourselves and finding a desire to create without external pressure. It requires us to pay attention, to be alert to our environment, ourselves, other people, to stay open, engaged, and curious.”
― Srinivas Rao, An Audience of One: Reclaiming Creativity for Its Own Sake