Why We Don’t “Do”

Oct 21

Oct 21 Why We Don’t “Do”

Aspirations, Careers, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Strategy

“What it boils down to is this: there’s a legitimate fear that if we actually make something, we’ll have to face the true state of our skills and accept how much improvement we still have ahead of us” Chase Jarvis - Creative Calling

This is the hard part about creating - particularly for the very first time, when we’re trying something brand new.

It’s hard enough to muster the courage to do it, but then having to face the fact that we’re actually at the bottom of the hill, with plenty of work to do, is another thing altogether.

More often than not, it stops us in our tracks. After all, if it remains in our heads, then reality won’t intervene and the idea will remain as pristine as we imagine it could be. (Which is to say, pretty damn good.) That’s what stops us from the “doing” of the work so much of the time.

So to get past this, we need to tackle two things - judgement and effort.

Judgement is the hard one. It’s true that our early work won’t be good, in all likelihood, nowhere near where we want it to be. That’s ok. We need to start somewhere, so let’s accept that and give ourselves a break. Let’s recognize that this is a journey and success should be defined simply as forward momentum, regardless of the actual pace. If we can find it in ourselves to be more forgiving towards ourselves, then we’re in a good place. (As a result, the opinions of others become irrelevant. Be your own judge, always.)

Effort is the second point, driven by how much we want whatever it is that we’re doing. This is relatively easier to deal with because it’s really about putting one foot in front of the other. That is, to get better, requires elbow grease, discipline and persistence. And it all starts with our ‘why’ - being clear on why we’ve set out on this path in the first place. Put simply, if we don’t really want it, we won’t do it.

So if we’re stalling, if we’re putting off that project that’s been on our minds for so long, it’s worth asking why, and if it isn’t one of these two things holding us back.