The Practice: Shipping Creative Work

by Seth Godin

One way to avoid criticism (and to distrust our own voices) is to sound like everyone else. When we mimic talking points or work hard to echo what the others have said, we’re hiding. We’re doing it with the support of the system, the one that would prefer we be a commodity, an easily replaceable cog in the factory.

Reassurance is simply a short-term effort to feel good about the likely outcome. Reassurance amplifies attachment. It shifts our focus from how we persistently and generously pursue the practice to how we maneuver to make sure that we’re successful. We focus on the fish, not the casting.

Reassurance is helpful for people who seek out certainty, but successful artists realize that certainty isn’t required. In fact, the quest for certainty undermines everything we set out to create. Hope is not the same as reassurance. Hope is trusting yourself