I haven’t been able to write as much on here as I would have liked, due to the ridiculously time-consuming task of filming and editing every stop on this tour. Someone messaged me on Twitter the other day, asking what the hold up was on the videos, and I just busted out laughing. I guess it’s hard for people to understand how much time goes into making these 2-minute clips. For each one, we get about three hours of footage (that’s why all of them have been so good — we whittle away A LOT). Then we have to put that footage onto a computer, which tragically happens in real-time (i.e. another three hours). Then we get to edit it, which usually takes another few hours. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we’ll be working the entire time on this tour, even on our “days off.” Thank god Greg (the other videographer) and I get along, because we have to spend a ton of time together.
I don’t want it to seem like I’m complaining, because I’m not. The tour has been awesome and really fun so far, and I knew going into this how crazy the hours were going to be. In exchange for remaining in a perma-exhausted state, I’m getting paid to receive a film school-level education in less than six weeks. Sounds like a good deal to me.
It’s funny, because whenever I really try to explain to anyone what I do or how I got here, their eyes kind of glaze over and I can see my explanation flying straight over their head. This is probably my fault, as I haven’t found a succinct way to explain it yet, but I also think that they just never considered a path like this as being within the realm of possibility. And actually, I wouldn’t think it was possible either a few years ago.
I haven’t really talked about this before, but I’ve failed more times than I can remember. I’ve tried starting up several businesses, tried patenting inventions, tried starting up online communities, tried building several websites, tried to win contests… and failed almost every single time. But I never chalked any of them up as failures in my head, because I learned so much in the process each time. So now, when I’ve finally reached a point where things seem to fall into place with far less effort, I can’t help but think about all those times where I didn’t succeed over the course of the last eight years. And I look back in fondness, because those lessons learned are the reason I’m here. None of this stuff happened over night — in a way, I’ve been working to reach this point since I was 15.
I actually shouldn’t even call them failures, because they were really just attempts. There’s a huge difference there. Everyone has failures, but most people never attempt things just for the sake of trying out something that looks fun, interesting, or challenging. For some reason, a lot of us reach a point where we stop doing things for the hell of it.
Why do you think I’m such a huge proponent of free work? Doing work for free forces you to find jobs where you can honestly say, “I would do this even if I weren’t being paid for it.” That’s an expression I took a bit too literally, but it is spot on.
My favorite part of The Dark Knight is when the Joker is talking to Harvey Dent in the hospital, and he says: “Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I’m a dog chasing cars. I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just DO things… I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are.”
And therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go.
It’s harder, for sure, and kind of scary sometimes. But it will allow you to look at yourself in the mirror and know you’re playing by your own rules.
UPDATE: If you’re coming over from Kottke.org or Lifehacker.com, be sure to check out my guide to getting your dream job. You can also subscribe to this blog here.
[...] bit of career advice from Charlie Hoehn is spot on: Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase [...]
By: Career Advice: You Shouldn’t Try to “Check Off the Boxes of Life” | Future Changes on December 18, 2009
at 12:55 pm
[...] this in a blog today, to which I was redirected from a youtube video which was hinted at in a lifehacking site to [...]
By: The Nontrivial » Advice on December 19, 2009
at 9:44 pm
[...] uudelle vuodelle voi ottaa Internetin self-help-tulvasta vaikkapa Charlie Hoehnin, 23v, elämänviisauden: Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, [...]
By: Kuutio » Vuoden 2009 retrospektiivi on January 2, 2010
at 2:10 pm
[...] via Thoughts on tour « Hoehn’s Musings. [...]
By: Best Sentence(s) Read Today :: Thoughts on tour « Hoehn’s Musings : On the 8 Spot on January 4, 2010
at 11:54 pm
[...] http://charliehoehn.com/2009/08/29/thoughts-on-tour/ via [...]
By: New Year Thoughts « calvin-c.com on January 6, 2010
at 12:56 pm
[...] and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go.” – Charlie Hoehn, who has had some interesting career moves himself. Roughly approximates what I’ve been [...]
By: Backup Brain » Blog Archive » Stop acting like you have a set path on January 10, 2010
at 10:32 pm
[...] Don’t get me wrong. Having no income and no health insurance is fucking scary. Yet, I still feel like it’s going to be ok. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I’m allowing myself to do things just for the sake of doing them. [...]
By: Three Things I Learned About Life from Up in the Air - Michael Preston - Deep Background - True/Slant on January 13, 2010
at 2:09 pm
[...] as an insightful blogger, Chris Hoehn, wrote just the other day a post about career choices and how it’s important to just DO [...]
By: If I could decide where to start… « Megan Must Muse on January 21, 2010
at 1:16 pm
[...] Hoehn said something really smart on his site. That he was getting paid to receive a film school-level education in less than six weeks. And I think that’s why it’s going so well. It’s not about doing a job. [...]
By: On Tour: Ten Stops Down | Attention Crash on February 7, 2010
at 11:17 am
[...] you liked the ebook, check this guys blog too. One of his posts that resonated with me was his reference to a scene in the movie, Dark Knight, involving the Joker [...]
By: thoughts on recession proof ebook « nishant mehrotra on February 10, 2010
at 2:45 pm
[...] (via Charlie Hoehn) [...]
By: I’m Making This Up As I Go (Just Like I Planned) « Hughbiquitous on March 9, 2010
at 11:50 am
[...] round it up with some thoughts I have read on Hoehn’s Musings by Charlie Hoehns blog. He tells us his way of how he got there where he is and his key message in [...]
By: Find your passion and how to become really good in something « Warm and Cosy on May 9, 2010
at 3:37 pm
[...] via Thoughts on tour « Hoehn’s Musings. [...]
By: VijayKiran.com » → Career Advice on May 16, 2010
at 8:51 am
[...] found this blog post yesterday by Charlie Hoehn via Hey Amber Rae. A lot of things came together in my head after reading it – the best [...]
By: people who plan ahead and people who are chasing cars - Henriette Weber on June 22, 2010
at 12:59 am
[...] Dollar entitled The Best Career Advice: Do Stuff. It had some excellent advice and pointed to this wonderfully freeing post from the blog Hoehn’s Musings. Here’s a snippet: My favorite part of The Dark [...]
By: The Joker, The Job Search and The Wanderer – Felce Arto on June 25, 2010
at 8:39 pm
[...] Dollar entitled The Best Career Advice: Do Stuff. It had some excellent advice and pointed to this wonderfully freeing post from the blog Hoehn's Musings. Here's a snippet: My favorite part of The Dark Knight is when the [...]
By: The Joker, The Job Search and The Wanderer – Felce Arto on June 26, 2010
at 3:41 am
Great article, and I love the source of the conclusion! I very much ‘just do it’ in my life; and my “attempts” have taught me so very much as well.
By: Chris Bates on October 4, 2010
at 7:35 pm
[...] Thoughts on Tour [...]
By: Hang On Little Tomato | Arjun Gupta on November 17, 2010
at 11:05 pm
Charlie, this post is iconoclastic and inspirational.
Your comments remind me of Ibarra’s “Working Identity,” which shows that we discover who we are — and what we like to do — not by introspection, but by trying out new things. By engaging in new experiences and starting new relationships.
From these experiments we learn about our skills and preferences. Volunteering is a great way to try out things you might like to do: it’s easy to start volunteering, but it’s also easy to move on if what you picked is not the right fit for you.
By: Kevin Kane on November 18, 2010
at 1:35 pm
[...] following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go. from thoughts on tour Posted by happycamper Filed in quote Leave a Comment » LikeBe the first to like this [...]
By: purple turtle notes on December 5, 2010
at 12:21 am
[...] places you don’t want to go and still never really “catch up with” the money. As Charlie Hoehn expressed it: Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the [...]
By: (Hopefully not the) Last Lecture* | Modern Ideas on December 12, 2010
at 10:30 am
[...] Career advice from Charlie Hoehn: Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be trying to check off the boxes of life; they aren’t real and they were created by other people, not you. There is no explicit path I’m following, and I’m not walking in anyone else’s footsteps. I’m making it up as I go. [...]
By: Serendipity and other quotes | shashwats on January 25, 2011
at 8:10 am
Excellent post Charlie. There are several nuggets of seemingly unrelated concepts that you have sewn together very well. Great stories and examples. It’s easy to see why this post has done so well. Keep up the great work.
By: Kent Healy on February 10, 2011
at 7:57 pm
You are awesome…Charlie. Keep it up :-)
By: av on March 13, 2011
at 7:46 am
Hey Charlie, great going. Keep it up
By: Noah Kapoor on May 25, 2011
at 2:09 pm
Just do things. Follow your bliss.
This is something you should hear when you’re 5 years old, but instead all you hear is “in order to do/be/have x you must follow this procedure…”
By: Sasha on August 18, 2011
at 4:33 am