November 15

It’s Going to Be OK

Inevitably, every creative pro reaches a moment when they begin to think that maybe they’ve lost their touch. What came so easily just a few years before feels more challenging, and what once would have felt intuitive now takes a while to understand.

It’s going to be OK.

One of the blessings of inexperience is naivete. You don’t know what you don’t know. Everything feels so intuitive and clear and black-and- white. As you gain experience, things begin to appear grayer. The curse of experience is that you know all the things that could go wrong because you’ve seen it all before. By the time the newcomer shouts “I love it!” you’ve already subconsciously concocted ten ways the idea could go off the rails.

You haven’t “lost it”; you’re just more nuanced in your thinking. You see things as they are—shades of gray. You realize that life is a probability set, not a clear-cut math equation. That is valuable. It doesn’t feel as good in the moment, but it’s far more valuable than wide-eyed optimism.

Experience brings wisdom, which brings the curse of knowing that life is a probability set, not a clear-cut math equation.

QUESTION

Have you ever felt like you’re “losing it”? Where have you seen your experience pan out when less­experienced pros thought a different direction to be best?