The Gap Between Execution and Taste

"When you first get started making creative work, there's a gap between your taste and what you're actually able to make."

Ira Glass - American public radio personality

One problem I had when I moved from being a consumer to being a producer was that I'd expect my work to come out perfectly the first time. I was so used to seeing others create amazing works of art that I thought creating was easy.

But once you begin to create (whatever that means to you), you begin to discover that it's not easy.

Your first episodes aren't masterpieces.

Your first drafts are illegible.

Your first releases get zero views.

It's discouraging. But it's also a right of passage.

As I embedded myself deeper into the creative community, I began to understand that everyone goes through that exact same experience.

I'd hear creatives that I admire and who's work I put on a pedestal openly talk about how they struggled with an idea.

I began to understand that the creatives who seem like they have it all together are just calm ducks with their legs beating viciously under the surface of the water.

And the creatives who have had breakthrough success? They often attribute that success to having produced more failures than the next person.

With practice, your ability to execute on your vision will improve. But at the same time, your taste will continue to grow.

It's best to get used to that tension and just focus on creating.

THE GAP by Ira Glass from Daniel Sax on Vimeo.

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