To Be or To Do

1. To Be or To Do

John Boyd, a military strategist/ colonel in the US air force often asks his mentees a question,

“To be or To do?”

You can Be somebody. I.e. a person with a name, reputation and status. People know you for you. YOU are of value here.

Or

You can Do something I.e. make meaningful work that affects a lot of people and yourself.

But the thing is, people might not know you. But they will be reaping the fruits of your labor.

One is pride, power, greed

And the other is duty, honor and country (he’s a military guy)

Which one do you choose?

This question can be applied to the creative work that we do. We can go chasing name and reputation for ourselves as artists or DO great work. The rest will be symptoms that may or may not happen.

The coolest part is, Great work doesn’t necessarily come from being somebody, but the vice versa happens all the time.

Heck, look at Boyd, he was one of the most influential military strategists of the 20th century, yet no one knows him.

But his projects, the F16 falcon and the F18 hornet fighter jets have changed the game of war and the country it serves.

That's great work right there.

2. Choosing Colors

Here's a the illustration breakdown of the ‘Murugan’ piece which I promised.

I've explained the composition behind the piece and the thought process that went into choosing the colors for it.

3) Favorite Quote of the Week

“If you are going through hell, keep going”

⁃ Winston Churchill

That's it for this week guys.

See you on the next one!

Best,

Kesh