Fail at it, but make it quick
This email might as well be addressed to myself, as it’s something I also struggle with:
Whenever I come up with a project idea, big or small, I try (and often fail) to act on it immediately.
I always tell myself I’ll do it when I have time, but unless I make time for it, it just stays on the back burner.
I do this all the time. Here’s a screenshot of my projects on todoist. Each number is an idea that I’ve been putting off in different areas of my life.
My brain constantly tells me that it won’t be worth it, that I’ll have to refine it more, that it’s not the right time. And even - what will people think of it?
It’s so easy to go into analysis paralysis and staying exactly where we are.
It’s true that most ideas fail, but it’s so much better to let them fail and clear up mental space than to leave them lingering in our inbox. Plus, they only truly fail if we learned nothing from them, which is rarely the case.
If you’re on Twitter, you could not have missed Elon Musk trying out every idea that crossed his mind in real time. Some stayed, many didn’t. But the ones that worked maybe wouldn’t have, had he not failed with the others.
Whether you disagree with his decisions or not, you can’t deny the velocity and initiative he shows. Most established businesses in the same sector would take decades to test as many features as he did in just one year
Of course, this strategy shouldn’t be applied to everything, and he was heavily criticized for doing it with Neuralink.
But the point here is that he’s great at quickly cycling through ideas and “seeing what sticks”, and If he can do it with the whole world watching and with sky-high stakes, why can’t we do the same with our relatively inconsequential ideas?
Anyway, I’m making a conscious effort to change and thought I’d share it with you as well.
Mac Shortcuts That Actually Make a Difference
My Favorite iPhone Accessories - 2024
Monthly Picks
A handful of new finds that I think are worth sharing.
Awesome Habits - A fantastically designed habit tracker, that I wish had been available on Setapp before! If I could only have one subscription, it would be Setapp, and it’s not even close. Get 30 days of free trial for Setapp instead of 7 here.
The War of Art - There are a handful of books I reread every other year, this is one of them and ties in perfectly with the topic of this newsletter. Planning on rereading it this weekend.
Hoto Box Cutter - Really enjoying this brands’ products. Great minimalist design, high quality, and not outrageously priced.
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Thanks for reading :)