My dad once told me:
“Make the best decision you can make with the information you have, put your heart into it 100%, and never look back. Sometimes you will fail, it’s inevitable. In the long run though, you’ll learn from your mistakes and succeed.”
The entrepreneur/artist’s journey is a long, windy road in the fog towards the mountain peak, but it’s a great adventure. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Coping with the uncertainty, the public nature of creating art, and the seemingly infinite possibilities for both success and failure can become quite disorienting, if not overwhelming.
The following videos helped me gain new perspectives on some of these issues. I hope you’ll enjoy them too.
“Why You Need to Fail” by Derek Sivers
Derek Sivers has an amazing blog, which I have been following since 2007 or so. I learned so much about marketing and creativity from it over the years.
In this video, I particularly enjoyed the last story starting at around 13:09, which suggests that doing more experiments, creating more volume, is a faster way to raise the quality of your work than trying to get it right from the get go.
“What’s Your Gobi?” by Stéfan Danis
So many “gurus” out there tell you to “listen to your gut” and do what you really feel your calling is.
That works for the big picture decisions like whether to take a corporate job or be an entrepreneur. But once you know your goal, you don’t go from zero to success by doing what you want whenever you feel like it.
In this talk, Stéfan Danis suggests doing the exact opposite. Do the things you know you need to do even when you don’t want to. Especially when you don’t want to.
“The Creative Process” by Ira Glass
This is the video you want to watch when you’re feeling like you’ll never be good enough.
“The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz
Ever heard of “analysis paralysis”? Barry Schwartz’ talk first introduced me to the concept of decision fatigue in his 2007 talk “The Paradox of Choice” and it was a big AHA moment for me. So that’s why I don’t enjoy shopping so much!
It takes too long to compare too many options only to feel that you ended up buying the wrong one anyway. More choice, in theory, should result in more satisfaction, but the opposite is true.
My husband and I have downsized a few years ago. We realized we had a lot of stuff we could have done without in the first place. Now, we take a more minimalistic approach to shopping.
These days, we rarely ever go into a physical store. We only shop when items need to be replaced. Even then, we mostly just re-order the same item. I have now bought the same swimsuit three times since 2014. This spares me time, money and aggravation. My resources are better spent creating than consuming.
That’s it for today!
How did you like my picks? What are your favorite YouTube videos that gave you a new perspective on life? Share with me in the comments below!
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Sherry-Lynn Lee 