Focus on the Idea, Not the Result
What would you try in your professional life if you weren’t afraid of failure? Would you finally write this book of stories? Cross out and open your own store? Convincing your manager that you deserve to lead a large team?
For Eva Ewing , teacher, artist and writer, the possibility of failure is part of the process. “Small failures and setbacks, I think, are really fruitful,” she says in an interview with The Creative Independent , in which she talks about how to let your ideas guide you, share creative time, the temptation to do work that you don’t really want to. do for a reputed employer, and that when you have a bad day, remember that it could be worse – you can pack meat. Her advice is for creative people and writers (Ewing published Electric Arches last year , a hybrid of prose and poetry), but much of it applies to anyone looking to quit their job.
“There is something in our culture where people are focused on achievement and not on the art or idea itself,” she says, detailing how she wanted to write something – such as poetry, an essay, or the next Great American Novel. – and beat yourself. When she hadn’t published something by the age of 17, she just had no idea, and because of that, becoming the author she wanted to be was, well, well, well, difficult. Then, when she had an idea for a poem that began to turn into a story, a form that she did not consider her strength, she simply agreed with it.
This is one of the simplest, most enjoyable, and best books I have ever written. It was also a pretty enjoyable experience that just happened. All those times when I tried to write fiction, I was defeated. This confirmed to me once again that you cannot be obsessed with form or function; there must be a concept underneath. And when you have a concept, it just goes away.
It was okay for me to say, “I don’t have a good idea for fiction right now,” and I should have just said it and allowed myself to ease my suffering and self-flagellation. But I was amazed, it challenges my self-image and what I can do.
It further explains the benefits of trying things beyond our comfort zone, in order to achieve small successes on the path to greater success or hone a specific skill. To understand that we may not be able to do everything right away, and that’s okay as long as we’re trying to “get a little better the next day.” For her, one of those activities was knitting, which may not seem like the most instructive example of overcoming failure, but taught her a lesson that applies not only to the craft, but also to other aspects of life (emphasis mine).
When you make the mistake [knitting], you have two choices. First, you can agree that the final product will be imperfect and may never be seen by anyone, but you will always see that there is a small hole right there. Another option is to start over. And any of these options are perfectly normal. I knitted and said that I was wrong three rows back and pulled them out. And people watching me will ask: “How can you ?! They just saw me working on buttonhole after buttonhole for clothes, which was ridiculous, right? How can this be undone? And I always said, “Well, I did it once, and I will do it again.” Now I’ll do better.
It all comes down to accepting failure calmly, perhaps trying more things you don’t like. You may fail more often, but you may also succeed more often than if you played carefully.
Natural talent – I don’t even know how much I believe in it. I know there are things that I will work hard on and that I will get better. 2018 will be the year of writing a lot of different things that I’ve never done before. I write a lot of things that I have never done.
This is 2018, when you focus on the idea, not the desired result, and step outside your comfort zone.
Read the full interview here .