Living like an Artist

Essay by Russ Roberts

December 22, 2022

Russ Roberts, American economist known for his podcast EconTalk and his latest book ‘Wild Problems: A Guide to Decisions that Define Us” recently published an essay in TIME on how to live like an artist.

Following are the key takeaways from his piece:

  1. What we want, what we enjoy, what gives our lives meaning, emerges from the choices we make, and that emergence takes place alongside the choices and what we learn from living with those choices, adjusting what we do accordingly

  2. Trust the opportunity to adjust the plan or journey to the new information that you learn as you go through the experience

  3. Taking advantage of optionality means saying yes to things that are not obviously worth doing but have the chance to expand your horizons, your experiences, your connections

  4. Living like an artist means being open to discovery about the world and about yourself

  5. Living like an artist means appreciating that how you interact with your experiences has a life of its own