I had it in my mind to buy a Celtic bouzouki. I wanted to learn some Irish tunes, and I thought that with a bouzouki, I could get into any Irish session at pubs. Everybody wants a bouzouki player. I’d be the only bouzouki playing at an Irish session in New York.
So, with that mission in mind, I left my hotel and wandered through my favorite city—London—to get lost.
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I’ve always been the type of guy who asks about things. I’ve sought out and engaged with dozens of mentors for all the pies I eat—creative, scripts, directing, producing, small business, marketing, technology, and video games. The first thing I do when faced with problems is ask somebody who knows something. There’s that part of me, and then there is this side. Nothing makes me happier than getting lost.
I like wandering, discovering, shifting perspectives, and losing myself. When you do that, you see things in a new way.
So, when I was a young creative, I took a lot of advice about my career and path. As an older creative, I get asked the same questions I asked when I started. There’s no single path to success in the creative world. Every journey is unique. What worked for one artist may not work for another. It’s a wild, unpredictable process that requires risk, failure, and persistence. And I love it.
Here are some things I learned.
1. There is no straight path to creative success
Vincent Van Gough redefined how we see the world. He painted an energetic beauty. His world was alive, and he worked to capture it. He wandered here and there, drank, got sobered, drank again, had fights, and fell out of chairs. Half the time, Vincent was lost in a fog.
Lady Gaga hustled around Manhattan seeking gigs, demanding people pay attention. Who knew Gaga would become a star? Nobody. Except Gaga. She insisted. If she saw a window open up, she jumped through it no matter what was on the other side.
Harrison Ford was a set carpenter, and then, suddenly, he was Hans Solo.
There is no straight path to success in any of their careers. And I bet if you ask any artist how they got there, the answers will be the same. It’s a maze with only one path, but it is yours, and no one else can take it.
JK Rowlings sat in cafes on welfare, rejected by dozens of publishers. She got the Potter series in her mind on a train.
Kurt Cobain did everything he could NOT to find his career. It found him when he wasn't when he wasn’t looking.
Quentin Tarantino worked in a video store. Have you ever been in one? They are hard to find these days.
The angels habitually put you on your path, whether you see it or not.
2. Focus on the art
Breakthroughs come from perseverance—staying true to your creative vision, whatever it is. Artists are selfish. Is there any other way to deal with these obsessions? Not that I’ve ever found. Persistence and belief in yourself are key.
Save your money. It comes and goes fast. Success is sometimes only a heartbeat or two. I learned that lesson the hard way, but it’s true. An artist should develop frugal habits as a young man and never lose them, No matter what success they achieve.
Watch your health. It’s emotional, stressful work. Think about Van Gough and Cobain.
Look, I get a large part of genius is a wrecked soul. From great pain comes great art. When I was in music school, some of my classmates thought heroin might be the path to play like Charlie Parker. Total bullshit, but the story proves how lost so many artists were at the beginning of their careers.
The key to getting straight in your head right from the beginning is this: you don't need to know your path. It’s right in front of you on the canvas or the music score. It’s right here. Your job is to focus on the art. Make the best art you can. That’s it. Stay lost. It’s the best way to be.
When we built Irving Place Studios in New York City, I wanted a visual maze. I achieved the effect through windows and mirrors. I knew the place inside out, but when I first directed a session there, I stood in the studio and saw an actor at a microphone, and I was like, where is he? Why am I seeing him? It was a first-class visual maze, and we did incredible work in the studio. I believe it was because of the spatial distortion.
3. A beautiful, twisting, insane, impossible labyrinth
I lived in London as a kid, so I knew the city. But no city stays the same, and memory tells its own story, so it didn’t take long for me to get lost. It was the end of the day, twilight, and it was raining—not a heavy rain but what Irish farmers call a soaking rain. The street lights reflected off the pavement. The shop windows were lanterns of curiosity.
One thing that almost every successful creative has in common is a commitment to continuous self-investment. Whether improving their skills, exploring new ideas, or building a network, they don’t wait for success to come to them. Chris Rock once said, "You have to keep moving forward. Always be"the driver of your success.”
I walked down a narrow street, a little hunched from the rain. Up ahead, I saw an alley, and as soon as I saw it, I knew—in that alley, there was a music store that sells bouzoukis.
That’s pretty crazy, but I was operating on a beautiful sense of belief—if I get lost, I’ll find it.
Was I surprised when I turned a corner and saw a perfect, almost Victorian-looking music store? I walked in and asked if they sold Celtic bouzoukis. It turned out they had the finest collection of bouzoukis in London, and yes, an hour later, I walked out with one.
There’s no map for creative success. It’s a beautiful, twisting, insane, impossible labyrinth.
Embrace the unpredictability, protect your mental health, and keep going; the breakthroughs define you.
Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Keep challenging yourself, learning and evolving, and caring for your well-being. Trust your unique path.
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