The Flinch: Its a mindset thing.

Words by Brandon Corral - Leather worker

Eight years in, a lifetime to go.

My name is Brandon. For the past eight years, I've been trying to carve out a career as a leather artist. I sculpt things out of skin and then turn the skin into valuable things- the details aren't important. I want to discuss the useful and often necessary skill of entering the correct mindset to tackle daunting challenges. I'm going to try to be very honest. I don't like sugar-coating. More specifically, I'm terrible at sugar-coating. I'd rather be transparent and honest than safe and vague.

Suppose you're familiar with the world of creative entrepreneurship. In that case, you must be fully aware of the colossal number of challenges that are put on your plate on a very regular basis. If you're new to this world, don't stare at it too much; it can smell fear. This seemingly insurmountable mass of things to do and things to accomplish can look scary, and let's be honest, it is scary, but the useful skill is not to avoid being scared. No, fear is useful. Fear keeps you sharp if you can manage it. The useful skill is to prevent flinching in the face of it.

I had a bit of a rushed childhood. My mother indulged in the classy lifestyle of meth consumption when I was six years old, and that set me up to grow up pretty quickly. It's not the best and, unfortunately, a more common thing in the world than we would like it to be. However, when you grow up, you have to learn lessons fast. Before I could do multiplication in my head, I had to learn how to navigate gang culture. This was my first lesson in creative entrepreneurship, long before I became a creative entrepreneur. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with this concept, I'll run you through a scenario. I promise there's a point to this.