POPTIMISMS!

Everything is a matter of perspective. Change yours frequently.

Adjust your clothing, attitude, and body language according to the situation. A successful businessman excels at making a wide variety of people comfortable in his presence. Tone it down if you’re working with corporate types, be bold if you’re pitching for Paul Smith. You’ll end up happier.

You feel like you’re losing it. That thing you usually do so well. Making people laugh, coming up with great ideas, dressing like a king, whatever. You’re not exactly sure what’s wrong, but fear ending up like the rest: mediocre. It’s strange, because you do what you’ve always been doing. And that’s probably the problem. Change is necessary to keep on the top of your game. Habits don’t take long to form, and chances are, you’ve stuck to your guns in the name of integrity, when in fact, you’ve just been stubborn. Simply do the exact opposite of what you’d usually do. It’s not the opposite if it doesn’t seriously question your rules, morals, or ethics. It has to feel wrong in the gut. It’s the only way to get back on track.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s what Friedrich Nietzsche said. You become good at tennis by playing someone better than yourself. That’s what thousands of coaches say every day. There’s a lot to be said for a competitive spirit and struggling for years. But there’s also a lot to be said for taking the fast lane. The sheer arrogance of asking your opponent to make things harder for you, will often make him step down in fear, or simply become disinterested in fighting against you at all. “Why waste time,” he’ll think, “if he’s gonna succeed anyway.” Extreme confidence is extremely convincing. Of course, if you really wanna compete at this level - your only chance of truly improving - you’ll have to find someone as audacious as yourself.

Photographers, actors and ad men are particularly easy to satirize. That’s no wonder. Inflated egos have always been funny. When dealing with a self-professed genius, it can sometimes feel like you’re an extra in a bad joke. Bring him to a university lecture or an art gallery, offer a bit of bright commentary, and suddenly he’ll think you’re the genius.

Remember to remember the people who helped you along the way. When an employer sees you the same way you see yourself, it’s the best thing in the world. It’s like true love. And it happens as rarely. Be thankful and return the favor whenever possible. Thanks to James Viloria for teaching me this.

Parties are how you demonstrate your success. People remember a good time. More than they remember great work. An art exhibition often has as many visitors at the vernissage as it has during the whole time it’s on. French artist Yves Klein knew this. In 1958 he opened an exhbition and served blue cocktails. The next day, everyone peed blue - Yves Klein’s signature color. International Klein Blue. Good party. Good work.

A good compliment is what you always wanted to hear, but never did. Don’t trust those. There’s usually a reason you never heard it. A bad compliment is simply a redundancy. “You are fantastic” is a generic compliment, the purest you’ll ever receive. Take it and run with it as far as you can.

The good side is that you’ve established a loyal audience for your work - your disciples. The bad side is that you’ll have to do the same thing over and over again to keep them happy. And that can easily turn into a case of the marionettes controlling the hands of the puppeteer. That’s when things begin to turn ugly.

Imagine a CEO who is worried about how he appears while interviewing a potential employee. How well will he be able to judge if he should hire or pass? Don’t worry too much about how you look. You’ll learn much more by focusing on others. Chances are most of them will look more worried than you.

French philosopher Gilles Deleuze recommended that you read one of his books as you would listen to a record. Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle likens his process of working to jamming. This Poptimism was designed to be like an upbeat disco track with the provocative lyrics of a punk rock song. Go play.

If you don’t think your own work is worth referring to, why should someone else? Self-reference is a way of proclaiming importance. It’s the second best thing to writing your own reviews. German artist Martin Kippenberger built his career this way. Quentin Tarantino built his on referring to other people. And then he began quoting himself.

Steal from everywhere. Everything is context. Just ask Marcel Duchamp. A work of video art could become an effective piece of advertising. A paragraph from a book could make a beautiful short film. A stand-up joke could be a functional piece of furniture. Okay, maybe not that, but really, it happens all the time.

If you find every other Poptimism snooze-inducing, at least follow this advice.

Flawed arguments delivered with punch are more powerful than bulletproof arguments delivered in monotone. Ancient Greek philosophers called it sophism. Philistines call it nonsense. Who do you agree with? Remember, the opinions you trust are what makes you the person you are.