Things not happening fast enough?

Befriend the crickets / Issue 1,176

Oh, hi friends!

Art almost never works as fast as you want it to.

And the more you need it to work, the slower it happens.

—The Icarus Deception by Seth Godin

This might as well be my life’s mantra.

We want everything to succeed ASAP. Don’t we?

Because when we do the hard work of having the idea, honing and sharing the idea, isn’t it natural to assume everyone else is going to be just as crazy about it as we are?

Yes and no.

It can take a long time for people to listen. To show up. To engage.

Consider how many new ideas you’re presented with every day: shows, courses, articles, songs, resources.

How do you decide what to let in? Decisions can be arbitrary. Or gut reactions. Or maybe you have a spare 30 seconds so you click “reply” or “buy” or “more info.”

But we want our art to work faster.

Luckily, there are solutions.

1. We can look for new language to describe the work.

2. We can connect with more adventurous users.

3. We can embrace consistency. (Be freakishly, devotedly consistent.)

And your people will show up. They will say, “This is exactly what I was looking for.” 

But they can’t find you if you quit. 

Patience is all.