SUCCESS ISN'T AN OPTION - Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #29
There’s a new Canada Last Week podcast out. It’s less than 5 minutes long because I’m testing the format to find the perfect length. You should listen to it. It’s like if Weekend Update did Canadian news stories. Listen here: CanadaLastWeek.ca
SUCCESS ISN'T AN OPTION
It’s a common trap.
Anyone who makes anything that other people will see and inevitable judge as good or bad… has at one point, if not repeatedly, fell victim to this trap.
The notion that something has to be ‘perfect’ before you release it into the world.
This irrational fear that you will create something that will somehow be both so successful that it will occupy everyone’s attention and simultaneously so awful that you will become a pariah.
It ain’t gonna happen.
Here’s a pro tip from someone who lives and dies by what he creates… you can’t pick your hits.
No matter how hard you work at making something ‘perfect’, no matter how technically correct something is, no matter how stringently you’ve followed guidelines or roadmaps to success… it could all be a flop.
In fact, it probably will be… and that’s okay.
It’s a trap.
There is no perfect. What’s perfect to you is probably not perfect to me and you can extrapolate that out to the entire world.
All you can do, is listen to advice, learn as much as you can, be mindful and then just… create.
Success isn’t an option you can choose.
Success is built on a mountain of flops.
More times than not what I assumed would be laughable failures have turned out to be success stories. Initially it makes you angry, because nothing makes sense, but then you learn that what’s important is that you made something in the first place.
If it’s a success and people like/enjoy/use it, that’s just gravy.
Highly motivating gravy, but just gravy.
I’m not saying abandon all reason and create things for no one and have no direction. I mean, you can but ignoring end use is probably not going to increase your chance of success. If success doesn’t matter to you, great.
Otherwise, be smart when you want to create something… but don’t fall into the trap of waiting for perfect. It’s never going to come.
Perfect doesn’t exist.
Create and get it out there. Someone in the world might be waiting to love it.
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Behind The Scenes of filming Hotel Bellacombe. A highly successful flop.