A lot of people never start because of the fear of imperfection. But when it comes to creating, something is better than nothing.
That something could be as little as a blog post — private or public — a diary entry, a podcast, a simple doodle, or if you prefer to speak through images, an Instagram post.
The habit of making and sharing your art builds confidence. Of course, there will always be others that want to put a dent in your endeavors but most people are encouraging.
Show up and do the work
Even more, two things happen when you show up to produce every day.
1. Your craft improves.
2. You establish an archive of work to pull from.
Once your daily practice of making art is set in the stone and you’ve kicked down the frustration barrier that prevents so many from being consistent, then you can go back and pull inspiration from your work.
“The unknown was my compass.”
Anais Nin
New ideas will bloom from the stems of your first drafts, especially the shitty ones. You’ll start making connections and flag concepts that need further elaboration or clarification.
The best thinking emerges when you give your work time to breathe. Reflection increases the sophistication of one’s knowledge and experience.
Through this journey, it’ll start to become clear what types of trade you enjoy, what you want to be known for, and where you want to spend the most time improving.
Creativity is not rocket science. But it requires diligence, impatience with action, and patience with trial and error.
The professional shows up on both the good days and the bad days to hack away at their inner genie. There are zero shortcuts to building quality and long-lasting output.