“Stay on the Bus”
No matter what you do, you probably have a desire to do things differently and leave your mark on the world. However, if you’re not careful, you can get bogged down in trying to innovate and never get anywhere.
According to Arno Rafael Minkkinen’s The Helsinki Bus Station Theory, real success and a chance to leave your mark is consistency, hard work and perseverance. If you take a bus leaving Helsinki (a metaphor for your work), you will likely see that the route you are taking has already been used before. Wanting to be innovative, you get off the bus at the first stop, take a taxi to the bus stop, and take another bus. Once again, when you drive, you realize that this route has already been passed.
Minkkinen cites the example of a photographer who understands that the photos they want to take have already been taken – and better – by others. So, the photographer is looking for his trademark over and over again. But this bus replacement process never works, Minkkinen explains:
“So you get off the bus again, get into a taxi, race back and find a new platform. This is how your entire creative life continues, you always show new works, always compare with others. What to do? It’s simple. Stay on the bus. Stay on the fucking bus. Because if you do that, over time you will start to see the difference. “
You may be doing something similar to someone else, but over time, your personality, voice and ideas will emerge. First you need to master your passion and then let the uniqueness of your work emerge. Sometimes it’s better to stick to a certain course. You can read the full theory as well as some research by performance expert James Clear at the link below.