33. In Your Own Way

When you’re about to embark on a new creative project, you might first seek out some feedback on your idea from people you know. Someone more experienced might then tell you that “you need to do it this way.” When you ask them why it must be done in this particular way, they might then tell you “that’s just the way it’s done.”

This well-meant advice is entirely prudent. Human beings are creatures of habit, and if you want to make something that attracts their attention, you’re better off doing it in a way that matches their existing expectations.

But a problem arises when you discover that you can’t do your project in the expected way. For whatever reason, it is not possible for you to do it that way. You are simply incompatible with the usual approach. Now you have to make a choice. You can give up because you can’t do what you’re supposed to, or you can do it in your own way, which will likely be challenging.

Doing it your own way requires confidence. You’ll be venturing into the unknown and you can’t know in advance what will happen. But giving up is even worse, because it means abandoning the opportunity to create something new and exciting without even trying.

When you decide to press forward in your own way, you might now hear opinions like “that’s impossible” or “it simply can’t be done.” You’ll be forced push past these solemn declarations as you blaze your path into the unknown. This burden is a lot to carry while you’re also carrying the weight of realizing your new creation.

Perhaps the best course of action is not to seek advice. Just make the thing. If it fails, then so be it. But it can also succeed, and it will find the greatest success when you do it in your own way.