Are You Making Something Wonderful

Alright, so this is going out to all my creators and entrepreneurs out there. I was listening to a podcast the other day. I think it was Rick Rubin, I think that’s his name. He wrote the book. He wrote a new book like the creative way. I haven’t read it, but everybody is talking about it, says this great book. He’s been doing all the podcast tour, and I generally haven’t consumed a lot of content from this guy. But I caught this one clip where he was talking about the act of creation and us, our role as creators, what we should be focused on.

Because a lot of times you hear that you need to start with the audience in mind and like you’re creating something to be consumed by somebody else. And that then kind of shifts the focus from the input to the output. And a lot of times when we create something, we do get stuck into this loop of thinking, well, what are other people going to think about this? Will other people like this? Will they think this is good if it’s a business, if it’s a product that will think, will they want to buy this? And those are important questions before you go and investing tens of thousands of dollars into things. But the idea that Rick, I can’t remember if it’s Rick or rich, sorry, whatever your name is. Mr. He’s got a big bushy white beard, kind of bald head, very, he’s from the music industry, from what I understand, and helped with a bunch of musicians and producing music over the last couple of decades. But his point is when you focus on that, you’re focusing on something that’s entirely outside of your control. And when you’re creating something, your only focus should really be on creating the best thing you can.

That’s it. And if you create the best thing that you can and you put it out there into the world and nobody responds to it, then you take that as a data point, you go back and you make the best thing that you can again. But really, I found this to be, it kind of hit home for me because a lot of times when I create content, it can get easily into the trap of tracing the trends, chasing the algorithms and saying, oh, are we thinking that we’re making this because it’s going to go viral? Because we think people are going to respond well to it. And that sometimes robs me of the passion to create the thing in the first place. And when I go rewinding and I say, I’m just going to focus on making a thing that I love, make the best thing that I can, and create it because I’m the only one that can create it and because I want to see it exist. Those tend to be the pieces of content that maybe don’t necessarily perform the best, but they are the ones that resonate the most with me, and they give me the most fulfillment in the moment of creating them. And after having created them, they’re the things I tend to be the most proud of as well. So I’ve just been reflecting on this recently and reminding myself, your job is to make the best thing you can.
That is it. Just make the best thing you can. Everything else will take care of itself if you just show up every single day and make the best thing you can. So that’s my encouragement to you today, is to think about, what am I making? What am I creating? What is the thing that’s consuming my time and my energy that I’m putting so much of myself into? And am I doing it for the right reason, to make it as good as it can be? Or am I doing it so I can get to done and then put it out there and get the external output or whatever the thing is that you’re doing the thing for? Sometimes you do need to just say, one is better than none, and say, screw perfection. It’s got to go out. Real artists ship, but these are all dichotomies to be managed. It’s never a black and white binary thing, but it’s just something to keep in the back of your mind is that your foremost job is to make something awesome. As Steve Jobs would say, go make something wonderful.

And I love that idea. Just go make something wonderful. It’s your gift to the world. A way of giving back and saying thank you and showing honor to the people around you that are taking the time to consume the thing. Just go make something wonderful. So that’s it for me, guys and gals. I hope this hits you right in the heart today and you can take it forward into whatever it is that you’re creating in this world to make your lasting impact. I am so psyched, as always, to have you here.

Thank you, and we’ll catch you on the next episode. But until then, stay hyper focused, my friends.