When trying to get moving toward a goal, project, business, etc. it can be frustrating.
Especially so when you’re on the threshold of a new project and you see where you are right now and you compare it to where you hope to go, and it feels unsurmountable.
Why spend a disproportionate amount of time and energy getting something to be just right when we know that at some point we are getting diminishing returns on our time?
Ira Glass explains the answer, well, perfectly. If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the video above.
Something I’ve heard Ryan Levesque say so many times is that “you don’t have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going.”
Shipping a non-perfect product is better than not shipping.
If you watched the Ira Glass video, you’ll know he says that the most important thing you can do is to produce a huge volume of work.
Ahem…
The most important thing you can do is to produce a huge volume of work.
As a creative person, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in the end product. You have this idea — this clever, beautiful, amazing thing you see in your mind. And you want to make that. Anything less is unacceptable.
The problem, however, is that this clever, beautiful, amazing thing you see is completely unreasonable as the first version.
The first version is the baby version…
It’s small. It’s naked. It will cry at its first contact with the real world. It needs to be nursed and continually cared for and swaddled. It poops its pants whenever you’re not looking. It won’t even let you sleep through the night.
But with proper care and feeding, your baby will grow up. It will mature. And, over time, it will learn to stand on its own.
If you’re in it for the long run, be encouraged…
Starting small isn’t something you “settle” for. Rather, it’s the proper way to get going.
When you commit your time and energy to your creative goals, you will see progress.
