Four different kinds of finishing
Oh, hi friends!
There are degrees to finishing, right?
There’s the Here’s my first draft, I hope it’s palatable!!
There’s the Umm, I read this over twice and I think it’s OK?
Then there’s the I actually spent weeks (months?) polishing this.
Finally, there’s the Welp, this is the absolute very best I’ve got — and it sparkles.
Those final steps — that extra polish, that added sparkle — are often hard to reach.
You need time. You need focus. You need coffee.
But they’re always worth it, aren’t they?
Even if you’re the only one who notices.
You know you got there.
“Fear wants to be a headwind. If you could practice judo and make it a tailwind, it's so powerful. You gotta get it to push you forward. Be willing to fail. The greats have failed. You get punched enough times and you say, I lived through this. I'm going to take the fear and I'm going to go. You can get that fear behind you. Bruce Springsteen is as afraid as any of us, but he knows how to conquer it. If you're great, that means you're freaked out that the next day you're not going to be great. You keep trying. Never be satisfied.”
I like this reminder from music producer Jimmy Iovine. “The greats have failed.”
THE GREATS HAVE FAILED.
Wow! You really did have four minutes!
In yesterday’s newsletter, I included a lil’ Google Form with four short questions about Brass Ring Daily.
What an incredible range of answers, both from people I know and many I don’t — 238 people in total! It helps so much to understand what you value most. And one unexpected benefit of asking for feedback was feeling even more connected to your projects and what you’re all working towards in 2020. THANK YOU.
(This makes me want to solicit feedback for other projects! If you’re seeking clarity in a piece of work right now, maybe that’s something you might be able to do, too? Email a friend or call over a colleague and ask, “Can I get your thoughts on this?”)
And if you haven’t ventured to the form yet, I’d still love to get your thoughts right here. (This'll be the last time I bug you with this!) Thank you for your time.
Do you like these daily emails? Please share with a friend!
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara