Are You an Artist?

Flickr Via Tomroid

Are you an artist or a day-laborer?

A day-laborer does the bare minimum, follows the rules, doesn't go outside of his job description, clocks in on time and clocks out on time. 

An artist goes well beyond what is expected, rarely follows the rules (in a good way), extends his role, creates unexpected value, and doesn't keep track of time because he loves what he does. 

In his book Linchpin, Seth Godin further describes art as:

1. A personal act of courage
2. A personal gift that changes the recipient. 
3. A free gift. 
4. An act of human expression. 
5. Original
6. The product of emotional labor