You're ready. Start making stuff.

Show your work, and when the right people show up, pay close attention to them, because they'll have a lot to show you.

Usually, when we talk about creativity, it's about self-expression, which is great, but for work to be art or design, there has to be someone on the other end. The audience makes the work come alive.

Write the book you want to read

Become a documentarian of what you do.

Be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else--that's how you'll get ahead.

What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.