Last month, I was hired by the Museum of Photography (FOMU) in Antwerp. They asked me to provide a workshop at Nightwatch — a program for young artists. The goal of my workshop was to teach them how to convert a vision board to tangible goals. It was good fun and super inspiring to watch these kids burst with creativity and ideas. They were eager to learn. And to succeed as artists.

Two young Ukrainian designers who run Otog Studio attended my workshop and asked an important question.

“How long does it take to become an established brand?”

My answer was this.

There is no ‘one way’ to become a known brand or artist. Everyone has a different background, different chances in life, a different drive, a different definition of success.

But there are some factors that are crucial to reach goals. Elements that — when you’re aware they exist — you can turn into an advantage. Will share them further down in this newsletter.

But first I want to shine a light on some other interesting insights on how we function as humans. These are insights of neuroscientist Katelijn Nijsmans. She shared them in this interview (by Nathalie Le Blanc, written in Dutch, behind a paywall) where she talks about neuroplasticity — or the plasticity of our brainz.

She says: “We, humans, are not as makeable as we think. All those lists with tips & tricks to become a better version of ourselves are even a bit dangerous. They make us believe we can change anything, as long as we put enough effort in it. So according to these lists, the key to success is a 100 % in our hands. And if we don’t succeed, we have failed, because our brain is makeable, and apparently we didn’t try hard enough.”

“But that’s not how our brain is wired,” she explains. “Our brain is only partially flexible and changeable. True: we learn every day. Next week we are a different person than we are today. But the basics of our brain development happened when we grew up — our brain developed unchangeable connections during our childhood, based on the experiences we had. Another part of the connections in our brain are genetically programmed.”

“This means,” she concludes, “we only have impact on what we learn today, as adults. How we are capable to deal with life is only partially within our control. It’s harmful and unfair to put that much pressure on ourselves when trying to change or to reach for certain goals.”

Phew. Super interesting, right?

Bottom line is: don’t blame yourself, know yourself. If you discover where some of your behaviour patterns come from, it’s easier to understand why things go wrong.

On the other hand: the part of your brain that is able to learn and change, needs fuel. So keep giving yourself new impressions, new skills, new experiences — all within a realistic frame of you capabilities, your youth & your genetics.

But to continue answering the question from Mark & Ola from Otog Studio: what I always use as a reality check for my own work, and definitely to support my clients, is this hierarchy:

#1: know yourself (hence the wiring of the brain)
#2: do the work (if you just sit there, nothing will move)
#3: mindset (are your thoughts e.g. sabotaging yourself to reach goals?)
#4: talent (sparked by genetics x interest)
#5: luck (are you in the right place & time, with the right persons, etc.)

Alright, enough interesting stuff to wrap your head around. Hit me up if you’ve got thoughts about this.