When is enough “enough”?
We create and we tweak and we refine, but at some point we have to stop typing, designing, animating, etc., and say “enough.”
Sometimes the decision is made for us by clients, managers, etc. (OK…time’s up…let’s see what you’ve done.) But for many of us who are juggling multiple projects and trying to balance doing our best work with bringing it home on time, the decision to say “enough” can be one that strikes to our core.
Is it excellent enough? Is it reflective of my abilities? Does it meet expectations?
Or the ever-plaguing, “what does this work say about me?”
This last one is a real zinger, because so often we find it difficult to separate our work from our identity. (I wrote about this one in our Battle Lines series.)
Whenever we are making something up - I mean TRULY making it up - we have nothing to rely on but our own instincts. Sure, we can rely on standards and practices and draw from the well, but realistically each new thing we make depends on our own instinctual ability to guide it to the target. When we distrust our own instincts, we will often find that we lack the desire to create. We have lost traction. We’ve become disconnected from curiosity. We’ve become pragmatists.
The creative act is fueled by possibility. When we self-limit these possibilities because we mistrust our instincts, we continue to drift and experiment and experience significant discontent with our work. It is never “enough.”
Why should you trust yourself? Well, that’s a question that YOU have to answer. I can say that for me, it has little to do with accomplishment or experience or even skill development. It has more to do with curiosity, passion and a willingness to fail. If these things are all present, the odds of success increase exponentially. And when that trust is lacking, I will tweak, experiment and change things endlessly until all of the soul has been sucked out of the project.
Trust thyself. Seriously. Fail magnificently.
It takes intentionality to engage with creative projects on our own time - they don’t just make themselves. In this episode, we talk about some disciplines that can help us creatively engage and get moving on our “pet” projects.
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