There's a common misconception that artists have a monopoly on creativity…But the very act of making waves—no matter the career—is a creative one. The Chase Jarvis Live Show is an exploration of creativity, self-discovery, entrepreneurship, hard-earned lessons, and so much more. Chase sits down with the world's top creators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders and unpacks actionable, valuable insights to help you live your dreams in career, hobby, and life.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

Skipping to the front of the line is gutsy. It involves taking risks, exploring your curiosity, and getting uncomfortable.

Each time James Altucher comes on the show, he provides incredible advice. I was excited to talk with James about his new book and how anyone can catapult themselves to the front of their discipline in an ethical way.

When we pursue our dreams, we attract fans. However, we will also face criticism and backlash for our work. In the episode, James told me about the backlash he received from his post “NYC Is Dead Forever. Here’s Why.”

He raised valid points and fans rallied around his arguments. However, many people called him a putz for writing that piece. Jerry Seinfeld wrote a counterargument to James’ piece explaining why the city would rebound. James pushed on and overcame the backlash from that article.

He explains that you need to become uncomfortable to produce great work. If you’re not afraid of what you’re sharing, then what’s the point? We need to embrace discomfort and curiosity to skip the line and achieve our dreams sooner.

Skipping the line isn’t about gaining an unfair advantage. The concept focuses on daily improvements and improving your learning process.

Did you know that if you get 1% better each day, you get 3,800% better each year? That’s the power of compounded growth. Even if you don’t get 1% better each day, the important thing is to make daily progress.

I enjoyed the simplicity James used to describe who we need in our lives to skip the line. We need the coach who’s better than us, equals we can play with, and the people we can teach. If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand the concept.

However, the best way to learn, by far, is failure. I’ve experienced this often in photography and business. Every time I made mistakes, I became better. Failures are inevitable, but if you view them as learning experiences, you get closer to success.

When we take action and conduct experiments around our theories, we get better. Experiments present enormous upside potential. Eventually, we develop skills. Not only do we become skilled in our intended craft, but we become skilled in other areas too. Skills translate into other skills. Someone great at chess may also be great at analyzing data for a company.

The moment you convince yourself that you can only learn through failures, you will have an easier time pursuing your dreams. Skipping the line accelerates the learning curve not by cheating, but by thinking differently.