“Create something today even if it sucks”
Jumping over creativity’s hurdles, but taking a break when you need it most.
Firstly, if you haven’t heard of ‘Momentum’, please download it onto Chrome. It’s a plug-in that personalises your browser homepage with a beautiful photo, it makes you write out a daily productivity target, and it shoves an inspirational quote down your throat. And who doesn’t love an inspirational quote?
Anyway, today I opened up a new tab. Or twenty.
My daily quote went a bit like this:
For anyone whose not-so-smartphone won’t load the above screenshot, it says: ‘Create something today even if it sucks.’
And it got me thinking.
We all have those days. The days of writer’s block; the days of beating ourselves into the ground over not being able to produce. When we think every piece of content we create is terrible. When we think our mind is letting us down.
It’s natural to get frustrated — we like to be good at things. We enjoy the things we’re good at. We thrive on success.
But wait.
There’s no need to think in such extremes. It doesn’t have to be black or white. Quality content doesn’t come from perfection. An all-rounded person doesn’t come from perfection. So what’s to say a ‘rubbish’ piece of content won’t be loved by someone out there? And even if it’s not, haven’t you achieved something by just creating in the first place?
Give yourself more credit. Be kind to yourself.
It’s natural to produce below-than-par content. No one is great everyday. No one is superhuman. No one is Oprah.
The main thing is you’re still writing. Didn’t Woody Allen once say,
“Eighty percent of success is showing up”?
Are you capable of changing your perspective?
The real test is how you cope in those times of frustration.
Do you embrace it? Do you take on the feeling of ‘failure’, the feeling of producing content that sucks, the feeling of being a bit rubbish? Because once you do, you’ll realise that you’re not actually failing. You’re just going through the natural process of creativity.
And then…
Do you continue to write? To draw? To dance?
Do you continue to create?
Creation Takes Practice: Roger Federer
We often forget that being good takes practice. Consistency requires dedication. Dedication to the craft, and dedication to yourself.
Look at Roger Federer. Sure, he’s the best tennis player in the history of the game, and sure, he was born with a gift. He’s got the most beautiful serve to grace the court, he pirouettes from line to line, and he styles a bandana like no other. But Federer isn’t lucky to have 18 Grand Slams under his belt. He worked for those Slams.
Federer trained. Consistently. Racket drills, non-racket drills, jump-rope, ice baths. Warm-ups, upper body, zig-zags, mental discipline. Hours and hours away from the tennis court. Federer took Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘10,000 hour rule’ and ran with it. Almost literally. Professional for two decades, but starting years beyond that.
You don’t see the roots of a tree. The bottom of an iceberg.
And Federer would’ve faced bad days. He definitely still does. Days when he just can’t get his throw right. Days when he just can’t execute the perfect slice.
But the next morning, he’ll get up again. And he’ll keep on training.
Be the Roger Federer of your craft. Be disciplined to master your art, and don’t let the bad days break you down. It’s a test of character, and it’ll only make you better.
Who are you creating for?
Every time you think your latest article isn’t good enough to be part of your collection of masterpieces, you’re hitting a hurdle. You’re hitting a hurdle when you wait until the next spark of genius to add to your collection. You’re hitting a hurdle when you give up entirely and move onto the next craft.
Every piece of content you produce is a masterpiece. Every creation is both an outcome and a process.
What does this mean?
- It’s an outcome for your audience. Be it on Medium, Instagram, Facebook, your blog etc. Your audience reads the content — the fruits of your labour. Fruits that are visible, tangible, and easy to appreciate. What you produce can be both measured and valued.
- It’s a process for you. Hard to recognise because it’s intangible. You won’t see the effects on yourself; the intrinsic value of your work. The outcome is proof of the process, but the process is just as important. It teaches you more than you think — that you’re just as important as your audience.
So ask yourself:
‘Who am I creating for?’
Reassess who you’re trying to impress. Remember, you’re writing for yourself just as much as for your audience.
By producing piece after piece, you’re setting yourself up for future victories. You’re identifying your strengths and weaknesses, how you function best, what circumstances you thrive under. You’re identifying your creative hours.
You have the opportunity to make yourself into a champion of your field; a Roger Federer of your craft. The process of content creation is an investment for the future, and everyone knows we learn best from failure. So take it.
It’s also a question of self-deprecation. Are you willing to admit that you can’t always be great? That there’s always room for improvement? That perfection is rare?
And who cares what people think, right?
Take a break when you need it most
If we go by Woody Allen’s quote, the rest is pretty straightforward.
But what if it’s not so easy? What if we can’t just ‘show up’?
In an ideal world, we’d dedicate all free time to creating. To pursuing our hobbies, and to maximising our creative potential. To having fun.
Not everyone has that luxury, though. People have kids to look after, duties to satisfy, ends to meet. And sometimes, you just won’t want to create.
That’s OK.
Breaks are necessary. Endless content production is tough — it requires a great deal of mental energy. Go overboard and you’ll burn out. You’ll stop loving the craft you once did.
It’s like the run-up to exams. Work ten hours a day, four months before the big week, and you’ll peak too early. Take breaks. Consistent breaks. And then keep training. But use your judgement to assess your state — whether you can hack another article, or whether you really just need a bit of a pause.
Taking a break isn’t laziness. The crucial thing is how you come back from that break.
Final Remarks: What will you choose?
You’ve got two choices here.
1. You can stop. You’re not producing the content you wanted to, so you give up. No one’s forcing you to be consistent.
OR
2. You can persevere. Continue to remind yourself why you’re creating, what it brings you; that it’s a long-term investment.
Hopefully, you’ll choose the latter.
Because remember – you can keep creating, with breaks along the way. But don’t take breaks because your content sucks. Take breaks because you need a mental pause. Take breaks for the right reason.
And for those who don’t pause, push through the writer’s block. Keep creating content that sucks. Because it really doesn’t suck all that much, and you’ll appreciate your better pieces more. You’ll find that you produce less and less ‘rubbish’ content.
Practice makes perfect. Or close to it.
You need to decide whether you really care about your art. If you do, you’ll be writing consistently no matter what. You’ll stop caring what people think. You’ll be writing for your audience, but you’ll equally be writing for yourself. And you are just as important.
Don’t let the fear of a blank page, or a blank mind, stop you from consistent creation. Keep on writing, drawing, dancing — you’ll thank yourself in the long run.
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And I’m thanking you now! Thank you for reading — if you enjoyed, please hit the ❤ and follow/share/comment! All very appreciated :)
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