What The Batman Can Teach You About Your Creative Career

I saw The Batman last week and it was a masterpiece.

My friend described it well: Part Se7ven, part Batman, and part Oliver Twist because he’s an orphan and after three hours I was still going, “please sir, can I have some more?”

It was a real Detective Comics of a Batman story and a clear departure from all the other big-screen Batmans that have come before.

It made me think of all the different types of Batmen that have been featured throughout the years. From Adam West and Will Arnett making you laugh to Keaton and Pattinson taking you into the dark.

All of those creative people who had the privilege of approaching the character have done it in their own unique way.

Even if some of them have suffered the fate of a thumbs down from the fans (I’m looking at you Mr. Clooney), each movie had a unique, creative spin on it.

It reminds me of something a mentor of mine said when he was talking about succeeding with your creative career.

There are thousands of freelancers, creative artists, and entrepreneurs out there competing for attention so they can make an income. Even if we know we can offer something of true value to the world we see the competition and freeze because “how are we supposed to stand out from the crowd if there are so many people offering what you want to offer?”

What he stressed, and what I’ll tell you is that everything is a remix (inspired by this video series) and that even if what you want to do has been done before by somebody else, it still hasn’t been done in your unique way.

But unfortunately, we instinctively shoot down our potential just because we see somebody else doing it and then decide that there’s no more room for us.

If that’s you, don’t sell yourself too short too soon. It accomplishes nothing.

If you’re doing something cool and creative, there will have been people before you that have inspired you. Those creatives were also inspired by the people before them, and the constant cycle of creativity added something unique every time.

Like I say in the introduction of my book, You Get What You Give: