← all posts
Make things better by making better things.
Steve Pressfield writes, “There is no worse feeling for a writer or any artist than to see their book, their film, their comedy, their music go out there and die. Or worse, go out into the world and nobody even knows they exist.”
That pain only really lands if the goal is to sell your book, become famous, or go viral. If you're measuring your work in clicks or sales, you're almost guaranteed to be disappointed by what comes back.
The work is the work.
There are many ways to measure success: shipping on time and under budget, trying something new for the first time, the delight on one person’s face, or simply feeling satisfied and proud of crossing the finish line.
Yes, it stings that most people don't know who you are. But that isn't the point when it's time to make something. The point is that you get to make it at all.
Most work disappears. The real question is whether you can make peace with that before you start, not after.