“An artist never works under ideal conditions. If they existed, his work wouldn't exist, for the artist doesn't live in a vacuum. Some sort of pressure must exist. The artist exists because the world is not perfect. Art would be useless if the world were perfect, as man wouldn't look for harmony but would simply live in it.” – Andrei Tarkovsky, Born Apr. 4, 1932.
A lot of people put off writing, or launching a product, or starting their business. Indefinitely.
There's always a story about why. A circumstance. A situation.
“The timing isn't right. It'll be better to start a little later. Things are so busy right now.”
I hear those words. Often. If I was one of those life coach types I might point out that you're just making excuses.
But I'm not a life coach.
And from my point of view, you're not really giving me excuses. What you're really doing is avoiding asking yourself some fearful questions.
“What if it's hard? What if I mess up? What if I suck? What if I fail?”
It's not knowing the answer to those questions that make people hesitate. We fear the unknown. We avoid it. That's why we make excuses so we don't even have to ASK those questions, much less undergo the risk of finding out answers.
So let me alleviate the unknown for you. Let me answer for you.
It WILL be hard. And you WILL fail. Worse than you fear to before you start. It will hurt. You will be let down. You will let yourself down.
But it's OK. It really is. It's better. That's the good news.
Because a normal person would be smashed under the weight of certain hardship and failure. That makes normal people hopeless and paralyzed.
Not me. Not you.
Because mistakes are what MAKE us. It's an opportunity to create something that hasn't ever existed before. A problem forces you to use your own unique genius for solving problems in YOUR way.
And when you have a SOLUTION, you have something you can SELL. When you have a UNIQUE solution, no one else can compete.
And so you can sell your solutions to people who, like you, have faced this problem and need help.
And you can also sell it to people who were like you used to be. Afraid to even start. Afraid of those uncomfortable questions.
Because owning a solution for potential problems helps your customers overcome THEIR fear. It's a tool they will add to their chest and have handy when they need it.
One day. Eventually.
Until then, there's always another tool to buy.
So become the creator and seller of new tools. But first you'll need some problems to work on and solve.
And there's never a more ideal time to start making mistakes than right now.