We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ludovico Crisanti Cucchiella a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ludovico, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I feel confident when I am competent. That has required asking shamelessly, learning and observing. Then I made sure I had absorbed the knowledge. Once I absorbed it, I felt sure of what I was talking about. That acquired competence developed my confidence.
I developed my self esteem by noticing my successes, no matter how small, and learning from my failures. When I published my first novel, I realised its architecture wasn’t perfect. And yet I noticed the success of being on national tv at 25 to talk about a story I had crafted. Noticing my successes fueled my self esteem and learning from my failures fortified my confidence by making sure I wouldn’t make the same mistakes.
Another way I had of developing my self esteem and confidence was focusing on my work and polishing it, refining it and improving it until I considered it outstanding. I trained myself to do my job and then take a brief pause. After the brief break, of about half an hour, I would dedicate some time to refine it. To make it better than it should be. Take the speeches I wrote to present my novels for example. I would dedicate myself to a speech for hours to make it work and then I would take a pause and reread it but this time it wasn’t about making it work. This time I would make it magnificent. It was about enchanting the audience. Doing a job until I deemed it to be excellent really developed my self esteem. It made me proud of myself.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Despite being Italian and staying in Rome I chose to study in English.
I saw it as the language through which I could speak and listen to the world. Today I write novels and speeches in English about love, imperfection and desire. My last novel Torn Treasure, set in Rome portrays two young lovers tied by desire, fear and bravery. After having published two books one in Italian and one in English and I am working on Torn Treasure’s sequel- I am currently rereading its last chapter. This new novel will reveal, challenge and enchant. The project’s symbol is Paris. I can’t wait to share with you my portrayal of the French capital’s hypnotic, cold and loving character.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Bravery, curiosity and public speaking are three skills that helped me and that are key to success.
A very important quality is bravery. Chances are going to come. You may not feel ready but you must take them. I wasn’t ready to go on national television when they called me. I was 25 and I was scared. And yet I did it and that helped me develop my artistic career, people suddenly knew my name. I had reached notoriety in my field. Be brave. Cowards never really succeed. I have one regret I had the chance to come in contact with a famous writer in New York, I was scared, too scared. I hesitated and I lost the chance. Be brave and step up to the challenge. If you succeed you will be happy and if you fail your are going to learn. Only the brave reach their goals and realise their dreams. Be brave.
Curiosity was definitely a key quality and skill that helped me reach my goals.
Curiosity allowed me to learn and improve my craft. It also gave enthusiasm and dynamism to my writing. To find out things about me, about my characters to read about the contexts I was writing about- like fashion for example- allowed me to make the story more credible. Read, research, learn. Be curious. It makes everything more exciting and interesting and helps you push through. When you are curious you discover new solutions, new options new possibilities that can help you create a better, more interesting and fascinating story, project or artwork. Explore it. Curiosity will help you give more credibility, charm and depth to your work. It will make your creation vast and fascinating.
Public speaking was a very important skill for me. It got me on national television and helped me fund my second novel. Whether you are looking for funding or pitching a book to a publishing house, you need to fascinate your listener. Public speaking helps you do that. Watch ted talks, do a college course if you can if not there are plenty of books on the subject. Public speaking teaches you how to focus and impress, communicate and convince. Practice it. You need to be noticed and public speaking will help you get the attention of crowds and individuals. Communicating the quality of your work is essential to success.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I have read many books but the one that has taught me the most is the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. That wonderful book taught me that sharing love is the most important act in our entire lives. That the beauty we admire today is the work of countless lovers and it’s our responsibility to share it with future generations. Its portrayal of the history of people who have loved and cared about beautiful artworks, just to hand them over allowed me to feel all the love, hope and gratitude that we manifest through art. The novel taught me that people have loved and cared about beauty through time with tender care. And feeling all that ancient, sacred love I asked myself if we could love and care about each other in the same way. If our love for art could teach us how to love people so genuinely, then we could give life to a wonderful, magnificent world. Works that show us the love hidden in our society really change our lives for the better. They give us glimpses of a better world. They make us eager and willing to love. Art can do so much more than just entertain or delight. The Goldfinch’s teaching is that art can be a vital source of lasting hope, gratitude and love.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://Ludovico.cris
- Linkedin: Ludovico Crisanti Cucchiella
Image Credits
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