We asked folks we admire to share one piece of conventional advice that they disagree with.

Elizabeth Kleinfeld | Writer, Professor, Writing Center Director

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you follow this advice, you will be burned out and spread too thin. I think the trut is that there are many things worth doing and the real trick of life is figuring out which things to give 100% to. You can’t give 100% to everything, so you have to be choosy and give 100% only to the things that are really important. The rest of life can get less than 100%. Read more>>

Jayden Simisky | Bladesmith, Teacher, and Artist

Everyone always says “if you work a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life”, but I feel like that’s bad advice. Between welding and knife making, I’ve been fortunate enough to do something I love for work for the last 4 years. What I quickly realized was that turning something you love into a job can quickly make you fall out of love with it. Read more>>

Geoff Decker | Photographer

Conventionally photographers are taught to focus on one genre, one niche to excel in rather than chasing multiple interests. I’ve never been good at that thought process. Call it a lack of attention span, or a desire to experience what this artform has to its fullest, but I like to diversify and experiment. Read more>>