#SoG36 — Great is the enemy of good.
I have this friend who wants to become a professional photographer.
And I have this friend who wants to be an artist.
And I have this friend who wants to be an author.
And another who wants to be a stand-up.
What is common to all of these?
Apart from the fact that they want to become artists?
That they have their day jobs that keep them busy for more than 10 hours in a day. And thus they dont have the time for their “vocation”.
When I talked to them, I realised that the real reason why they’re not able to “make it” or “get noticed” is not because they are not good. They are fabulous!
But EACH of these people is chasing perfection. Or a variant thereof. They are chasing that magnum opus. That mic-drop moment. That magic potion that will get the world to notice them. That overnight success.
The strange bit is that each of these is very smart. Like street smart. And educated. And well-read. And they know that overnight success often takes decades of persistent practise. And yet they miss the point for some reason.
What do they miss?
The point is that each of these people are trying to create that one thing that will catapult them to success. And that ladies and gents, never happens! Sorry to pop the bubble. You can NOT aim to create that great piece of work.
Rather what you could aim to do is create a million pieces of work.
And then let factors that are beyond your control to decide the fate. One of those million pieces could be a breakout piece. Someone eccentric may discover what you do. Heck, in the process of creating these million pieces, you would be forced to look at experimenting with your craft.
Lemme repeat. The core point is that to be succeed in a “creative” endeavour, you need to get persistent and focus on quantity and NOT on quality. And while you are at it, you have to make the act of creating more important than the output. In my case, I have ensured that I clock in about 1000 words EVERY day (on an average). And these words WILL add-up with time and make me a better writer. And some day I WILL reach millions and impact those billion people!
Thats about it.
Here’s your homework. Choose one. Or more.
Go click that one picture a day.
Go write those 5 new jokes. Better, perform on a stage EVERY day.
Go talk to one stranger each day.
Go sketch one doodle
Go do those 100 push-ups.
Go find your quantity target with that thing that you wish to do.
Mine is 1000 words a day. What is your “1000 words”?
And I am here to help!
Lemme know what would you do. And I promise to give you prompts and ask you if you did your task for the day. Harshit has a whatsapp group where each person reports if they’ve done their thing for the day. I report on it after I send my letter. I can get you added on to it. Game? Got balls? Want to REALLY create something magical?
I’d end this one with that quote that I plan to hang on the walls of my office. Perfect (Excellent / Great) is the enemy of good.
Oh and there are multiple pieces that support the argument in favour of quantity over quality. Here’s a list.
- There is research that says that people who focus on creating quantity often get better with time and beat people who are obsessed with quality. James Clear in Atomic Habits talks about an experiment where two students were asked to click photos. One was asked to click as many as they could and other set was asked to click the best they could. When they evaluated, the quantity group had better photos! See this tweet. In fact thats where I got the idea to write this one.
- Malcolm Gladwell talks about a variant of this in Outliers. He says that to become a “great” you need to put in 10000 hours of deliberate practise.
Thats about it for the day. All the best for your “1000 words”.
Thanks,
PS: Of course there have been people that got success with the first thing they ever did. They made the money and fame and all that. They could focus on art. And did not have to work for money at all. But like with all things, what do you think is the probability of that happening to us?
PPS: While we are at it, please do read the following pieces:
- 1000 true fans by Kevin Kelly
- 7000th post by Seth Godin
- Sex and Cash Theory by Hugh McLeod. You may want to read #SoG24 that was inspired by Hugh’s post. In short, it says that a creative individual must have a day job that pays the bills and a night job that pushes his / her art forward.
Tags: Seth Godin, Deliberate Practise, Malcolm Gladwell, 10000 hours, 80-hour-club, Art, Hugh McLeod, Sex and Cash, Luck, Kevin Kelly, 1000 true fans.
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