You don’t need another article that tells you how to get what you want to get, no other “how-to” or “five steps” guides to determine what you are going to do today.
All you need is a starting point and a destination.
In between is the journey.
Let it be your own story.
We are stuck in patterns.
We do the same things over and over again. React to the same things in the same way. Behave the same way with the very same person. Think the same thoughts, feel the same feelings, fall into the same narratives.
We do this until it becomes our reality, who we are, what we breath. And it is often self-destructive.
If only we could take a step back, point the finger at the pattern, and laugh.
You are never the best judge of your own work. You cannot be.
Sometimes it is because of sunk costs, other times because of laziness, more often than not simply because your perspective is narrow, as it takes an incredible effort to see the world as others might. And so, we are often in tension between judging our work too harshly or too softly. Either way, it is never an appropriate measure for how we are doing.
This is valid also for groups. Going beyond the boundaries of what is known, liked, achieved is extremely difficult. Sometimes, we can mitigate this with diversity, and we should certainly try. But in the long term, a group will always appreciate their work with some degree of distortion.
Of course, this should not stop us from doing the work. Actually, it is an additional reason to put our work out there as soon as we deem it good enough. To see if there’s a fit, if it resonates, if it works, if it can spread. And if the answer is no, go back and repeat.
What we should never do, on the other hand, is protect the work from others, from feedback, from criticism, from admiration. We should not become executors that see a delivery (or a missed one) as the final stage. What we should never do is give that tension too much power, because eventually tension breaks down. You might be too far, too lost, too blind by that time to get back on track.
There is a profound difference between asking “Do you need help?” and showing up with the tools, the mindset, the preparedness to roll up your sleeves and genuinely help.
News, magazines, social media, broadcasters, experts, webzines, blogs, radios.
They are all out there fighting for our attention. And of course they exaggerate the things they say and they write.
Here’s a double reminder, particularly useful in these days of overexposure and quick bursts of fear.
As consumers, we can decide what to dedicate our attention to. It’s often not easy, but we can concentrate on the job we are here to make and cut out all the rest. No matter how dramatic, alarming, important the news of the moment is framed to be.
As content creators, we have a choice to make between trying to shout louder and use a softer tone of voice. If we decide for the latter, it will be tougher at times. But when we go for the former, the message we want to share will simply fade in the overwhelmingly buzzing noise that jams our audience’s ears at all times.
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