“When people say, ‘You can’t,’ what they really mean is, ‘I can’t.’” ⏤Adapted from a quote commonly attributed to Sean Stephenson

A common practice at technology companies and other startups is to put ideas into concrete form as soon after conception as possible. Instead of tinkering with products endlessly before releasing them, the idea is to build them out in rough form and get them into the hands of consumers quickly. If your product is well received, that is your signal to invest more time and money into refining it. If it isn’t, then you haven’t wasted significant resources developing a product no one wants. Releasing products as soon as they are “good enough”⏤versus holding them back until they are “perfect”⏤means you can test many more ideas, move ahead only with those that show promise, and take an iterative approach to product development. 

This principle, known as “failing fast and failing often,” rests on the willingness to create without self-judgement, and can be applied in the professional, personal, and creative spheres. How powerful! If you are a writer and write 500 unpolished words a day without self-judgement, a gem is likely to drop out of the mix eventually. If you are an artist and draw every morning without self-judgement, some drawings will go astray, but others will click into place like they are drawing themselves. Unlike children, many adults won’t do something they aren’t naturally good at, or won’t finish creating something that may turn out average. Cultivating a willingness to fail is an exciting way to create like a child again, no matter what it is you seek to create. 

Action Is the Only Truth

Others will judge you no matter the quality of your work. That is probably why many ideas remain forever in the realm of the imagination. To pull them out and make them real is to lay them before others for judgement and ridicule, yet ideas aren’t real until they become tangible creations and actions. Are you a writer if you do not write? Are you a seamstress if you do not sew? Are you an entrepreneur if you do not put yourself out there? You are the things you do⏤not the thoughts you think. The smallest, slowest steps still move you forward. Action, combined with the willingness to fail and the willingness to set aside self-judgement, could very well be the most powerful form of life alchemy available.

For an interesting and thought-provoking read, consider the Julia Cameron classic: 

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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