Be nice to people up and down the ladder

Success is not a straight line upwards. If you show up every day, give your best, be willing to learn, and know your own value, you will progress. But no matter how far you make it, you will experience rough days. Prepare for failure in times of success and you’ll be on the right track to make a living even in times of failure.

Is Will Smith the nicest guy on the planet?

Will Smith made it. He was the biggest star in the world by the end of the 90s. Men in Black, Independence Day and Bad Boys made him the biggest movie star, while his music topped the charts as well.

But has Will Smith made great movies of big success in the last ten years? If so, I can’t recall.

Even though, Will Smith is currently working on Bad Boys 3 and Gemini, two of the biggest (Non-Disney) productions of our time. How was it possible for Will Smith to remain a big name in Hollywood even though, he hasn’t had any hits for a decade?

I think the answer is obvious. If you see Will Smit on tv, at the movies, or on YouTube, you see the most positive and nice guy you can imagine. I could never see him as someone yelling at the catering guy on a movie set, putting down a driver that is bringing him to his next interview, or not giving a generous tip to his barber.

Will Smith seems to be nice to everyone, so everyone wants to be nice to him in return.

No one has success all the time

When you make six figures a year for the first time, it is easy to look down on people just starting out. When you’ve made it on your job, it is easy to put down those who haven’t. But the asses you kick while rising become the asses you’ll have to kiss while falling.

The articles I write, and the tutorials I produce, expand my online reach, they grow my business, and they provide me with another source of income. But they also give something back to people.

I taught myself design using online content. That content was posted by people who made it in the business and wanted to give something back. I wouldn’t have made it myself without their (mostly free) content.

Creating (mostly free) content myself is now me giving back and being nice to people that might be nice to me in the future, when one of my projects don’t work out – and I’m pretty sure, this day will come.