It's okay to share Sh*tty work
In elementary, we all made macaroni art to give as gifts to our parents. I wanted to do a good job so I could present something nice to my parents. I made sure to pick the nicest-looking noodle and drew out what I wanted so it could form a nice rainbow. Once class was over, I saw that I wasn’t close to being done so I tossed it, thinking that an incomplete macaroni art wasn’t worth sharing.
I looked over at this kid’s art and it was a mess. It was like a Rorschach test with the glue, and broken pieces of macaroni everywhere like he took a hammer and smashed the pieces. When his parents came, I saw how happy they looked when the kid gave it to them. He said he’d make a better one next time.
I believe that’s the key mindset in getting better and even more importantly, getting started. It may suck now, but next time, I’ll be better. That’s why we should just do or share things despite it not being our best work.
The fear of judgment
Even at a young age, I quickly learned that I shouldn’t do certain things because other people would think I’m weird. That was certainly the case with this one kid who would like to sing sentences at every opportunity that she could. If she had to get by someone, she would say “Excuse me” but make it as theatrical and Broadway as possible.
The other kids made fun of her, but she didn’t care. She was too happy to notice.
We fear judgment so much that we would rather not be ourselves or hide what we like to do for people who don’t care about us. Even with people you know or complete strangers, we rather not get started than risk some form of criticism.
Which makes sense from an evolutionary point of view. You needed to fit in way back in the day to survive starvation and sabretooth tigers. Stand out and you’ll get expelled from the group which means a doomed fate.
But nowadays, it’s just made-up scenarios in your head or exaggerated consequences that may or may not happen. The biggest consequence is you look stupid for a few minutes then life goes on.
If you end up not doing it, you’ll have regrets like everyone else does. I have no shortage of this feeling. A life of regret and fearfulness of judgment isn’t a life worth living.
You don’t learn this skill of expressing yourself as a kid going through school. No one ever really tells you to double down on what you love or to take more risks in school. Maybe not in the public school where I attended. You either pick something everyone else is doing or get stopped because others don’t like it.
You don’t learn long-term thinking unless you were lucky enough to have adults instill it in your life, or if you just by chance figure it out. I was not one of those teens that figured it out as there were more pressing matters to focus on like prom and making the basketball team.
We had a kid who would spend most of his time in the computer room just tinkering and on the web. This was in 2004, and you can guess that went on to have a pretty successful career. Like a stereotypical movie, he was made fun of. The meanest insults came from people who didn’t have any purpose and were often in groups.
The look on his face was reminiscent of the joy on that child’s face as he gave his parents the artwork. When something brings you that much happiness and curiosity, double down and explore it some more.
Do it and see what happens
I started to write articles as a way to learn more about myself and other interesting topics. I figured it was a fun way to articulate and learn how to think better. Almost every single article advised me to make sure to create multiple iterations and to proofread it—ensuring it was perfect.
That’s not a bad idea, but when I implemented it, I found myself taking so long to make all of the edits that I kept pushing the release date back for months.
I was so afraid of putting out a bad product that I figured I’d rather not put anything out. Thoughts crept in like what if people don’t like my articles, or what if it’s bad writing, or if it’s a redundant topic that everyone has written about already?
Turns out, I’m not writing for thousands of people. My goal is to write for myself and if someone else enjoys the article, that’s great.
So I posted my first article, why go above and beyond, and focus on trying to put out a better article every week. It’s been two years and writing is still one of the best decisions I’ve made.
I’m nowhere near the level I want to be, but with every single article I write, I inch a little closer to my goals.
I don’t recommend this method for everything you do, especially when you’re graded or expected to put out a good product from the start. Researchers have to meticulously and carefully ensure their methods make sense before they spend time and money running the project.
If there is something you can just start with no repercussions, you should just do it regardless of how bad it is. The goal is to get momentum and improve upon it every time.
I’ve heard of don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness, and it holds for actions like this. Don’t ask others for permission to do something you like, only ask for forgiveness to your future self that you didn’t start sooner.
It’s only crappy, for now.
Check out my last article on the right questions to ask*
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