Not Up To Your Standard? Work Harder!

July 27th, 2008

People who produce work of a creative variety have a shared experience. Writers, designers, musicians, moviemakers, chefs, painters, et al. typically get into the game of creating for a living because they love to make things. They know what they like. They create because they love the process, the results, and want to make more of it.

Typically in the process of getting started in a creative career, and even in mid-career, you may find what you are creating doesn’t live up to your standards. It may seem like every piece of work you create doesn’t measure up. It looks, feels, sounds, or tastes terrible—at least by your standards. After a while frustration and depression can set in. Many people at this point quit. In the face of adversity they decide they cannot do it—they cannot persevere. They pack up their tent and give up on creating. The frustration of not producing work up to your taste and standards may seem too hard to get through—so you quit and stop working as a creative professional. It is easier to stop than to continue inflicting more pain. The road ahead looks too long to stay on.

Know You Are Not Alone.

This happens to more people than you can imagine.

• Why do they quit?
• Why do they give up?
• Do they not see the light at the end of the tunnel?

They feel they are going in circles and not creating anything of significance. The whole exercise feels like a fruitless effort, and nothing worse than feeling like you are wasting your time.

How to Transcend

So how does someone get beyond this and break through?

How do you break the cycle? It’s rather simple really.

You must do more work.

You must continue to create. Even when you feel what you are creating isn’t up to par. It’s the process that will eventually produce the results you are after. I have had this happen to me more than once during my career. I persevered and continue to work in my creative field today.

I recently came across a video on YouTube featuring Ira Glass from This American Life. He is talking about storytelling, but what he talks about applies to everyone in a creative profession and their career.

I found it inspiring and it’s definitely worth watching.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE&feature=related[/youtube]

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