What it takes to become a successful animator

I dusted off some notes from my 1st year  AM mentor Anthony Wong as he was giving advice that he had taken from a Glen Keane talk.

1. Imagination - most important in this creative career.
2. Critical of ones own work.  Always aim for better and not perfect.  This is important perfection can lead to stagnation.  We want to be critical but not in a way that cripples your production.
3. Embrace the challenge.
4. You got to have heart and along with it a good dose of personal expression.  This is putting yourself into the character and not settling for those first ideas that pop into your head.
5. Being a good draftsman.  Now with 3D we can say that this is creating great story-telling poses that are both informative and appealing.
6. A desire to entertain.
7. A desire to communicate with simple clarified direction.  I think this idea can ripple into many meanings in animation.  From the overall idea to each individual story beats of a scene.  Be aware of having enough time to deliver your intended meaning.
8. Be a good team player.  No one wants to work with a jerk.
9. Developing and becoming your artistic signature.  This is how you are recognized by others around you.  As an artist this is what we strive for to be unique.
10. KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.  Simple does not mean dumb it down.  It means be exact, clarify with whats needed to push your story forward.