Measure Your Progress in a Non-Judgemental Way

This road is long.

You don’t have to love what you write, and Joss Whedon might agree.

Well, Joss Whedon hated his movie. I could only wish Joss Whedon read my stories. I would pay him to be my biggest hater and it’d be a good deal.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

First made vogue by President Theodore Roosevelt and now hundreds of LinkedIn users and Twitter quoters.

I don’t disagree.

It applies to so many aspects of life and just about everything a person does. But it just seems like this issue is magnified when it comes to creative endeavours such as writing.

I HATE almost every piece that I’ve written.

When somebody says to me that they’ve read something that I’ve written, the butterflies in me wake up. Not those pretty and gentle ones, the violent ones.

Even if that person is somebody whom I trust and they’re actually being complimentary.

I just can’t accept the fact that I’ve actually written something good.

There are so many things in that certain piece that I could have done better. And then there is that part of me that wants to go back to that piece and edit it over and over again. Even when they genuinely liked my work.

Is this just me?

The thief of joy

The thing is, that I immerse myself with the best writers in the world. I spend so much of my time consuming content from the top writers in the world. Both to see what they have to say and to figure out how to write just a little more like them.

From Sean Kernan, Tim Denning, Jessica Wildfire and Karen Nimmo to the genius/mastermind movie directors like Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino and James Cameron.

At the highest level where these guys are playing, it’s the tiny details that really stack up. Tim’s 7 years of writing aren’t just a number to flaunt. The 1.01% improvements that they made each day practising their craft have all piled up to make that massively separating difference between my basic piece and their masterpiece.

Stair step up

If there is one thing that being a guitarist has taught me, other than the fact that I can’t sing, is that there are always levels to everything. And there is always someone that is better than me, no matter where I am and what industry I’m in.

I can supercharge my brain with 5 cups of coffee and give my 110% but I’ll still never match up to Ed Sheeran. He can demolish me with just a guitar and make an entire song with just that one item while I struggle to simply stay on beat.

It’s the same with writing.

There is a master at the very top of every industry. And for the people that I assume are the masters of the industry, there are still people ahead of them that they look up to.

Gentle reminder

It’s just that sometimes when you read all these amazing articles, it’s easy to forget the backlog of articles that didn’t go viral, the years of experience doing one thing, the time and money invested in the craft and that they too came from the same place I am.

The truth is that I’ve only read a dozen of their best work. Then I use them to directly compare with my work. And what eventually happens is that it made me feel inadequate instead of trying to learn from them.

Acceptance

At times, can be all doom and gloom, but the reality is that this is just a learning process. I’m not talking about the writing, but the acceptance of your work.

Obviously, the cliche answer would be to just stick with it and it will all go away. Work hard, focus, be consistent, push yourself, and just about everything Tony Robbins will tell you.

After that, sure, of course, you’ll improve, get better, and maybe come up with some amazing content. And hopefully, you’ll stop hating your work at a certain point. That’s the goal, at least.

But the issue is that you’ll still hate your work. No matter how much success is behind you.

• “I think that did a disservice to the movie and the studio and to myself.” Joss Whedon said in regards to the film he directed — Avengers: Age of Ultron. He even mentioned that he would not make another movie again despite Mark Ruffalo asked him to do it. I, on the other hand, had a lot of fun watching it. It wasn’t as good as Endgame, but it wasn’t bad by any means. But all Whedon could see was his flaws, despite everything that went well. Sun’s getting real low, I guess?
• That song Sweet Child O’ Mine. Love that tune! It’s one of the greatest hits on the planet of all time! But you know what? Slash, the lead guitarist, hated that song initially and said: “Something didn’t rub well with him.”
• Sean Kernan mentioned in an interview with Sinem Günel that he still thinks his writing is not good enough. But from my perspective, he’s one of the writers that I really look up to and would love to be in his spot one day.

Perfection doesn’t exist

Seeing this group of high performing people having the same thoughts as I have led me to think that maybe there is no end to this. That maybe it doesn't matter where we’re at. That maybe this is what success feels like. That like happiness, there is no crossing line where one will be satisfied.

Maybe, hearing myself say: “I’m still working on it,” is the only sign I need to know that I am taking that one step forward.

Maybe the wise words from Miley Cyrus are true after all: “Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.”

We don’t have to love our work. Instead, love the fact we’re failing forward.

The goal post will always move as you improve. But it’s important to take a step back sometimes and just acknowledge the progress that you’ve made and that you’re still striving to be better every single day. Success is a state of mind.

This constant striving for perfection never ends. Perfection doesn’t even exist. And that done is better than perfect.

So, I really hate to say this cliche phrase but all you can do is compare yourself to your past self. As long as you’re putting one step ahead of another, that’s all that matters.

Hating your writing or cringing when you re-read them doesn’t mean that it’s bad. It’s actually the true sign of progress. That means that you’ve outgrown that phase.

And for me, I would be nothing if I didn’t have this backlog of articles for me to cringe at.

As weird as it sounds, I am looking forward to cringing over these words in the future. What about you?

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