“It’s one thing to fall in love. It’s another to feel someone else falling in love with you.”
– David Levithan

 

I just attended a wedding this weekend.  Can you tell?

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This is a long overdue Weekly Findings, but this one is inspired by the start of Autumn.  The colder weather  makes me want to stay in bed  snuggled in my sheets, wear fluffy socks and sweaters, throw on big hoodies, and drink hot chocolate out of big mugs.

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This article is a great reminder to put your ideas onto paper and not just let them sit in your head.  I continuously remind myself to do this every time I start on new projects or even day to day tasks when I feel stuck.

“McDonald’s Theory”, by Jon Bell.

Projects start in different ways. Sometimes you’re handed a formal brief. Sometimes you hear a rumor that something might be coming so you start thinking about it early. Other times you’ve been playing with an idea for months or years before sharing with your team. There’s no defined process for all creative work, but I’ve come to believe that all creative endeavors share one thing: the second step is easier than the first. Always.

Dive in. Do. Stop over-thinking it.

The next time you have an idea rolling around in your head, find the courage to quiet your inner critic just long enough to get a piece of paper and a pen, then just start sketching it.

Stop sabotaging yourself.

It takes a crazy kind of courage, of focus, of foolhardy perseverance to quiet all those doubts long enough to move forward. But it’s possible, you just have to start.

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
– Ira Glass

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Here are my recent favorite articles that I always come back to to get myself back on track when I’m feeling a little lost.

“Finding Happiness vs. Finding Meaning”  via 99u

“Good Work isn’t Enough” via happycog

“Advice to My Kids” via zenhabits

“You Never Win Playing Someone Else’s Game” via 99u