PP 032: You’re Doing the Best You Can - You Got This
The Powerful Combination of Imagination & Resourcefulness
It’s easy to get caught up in thinking you don’t have the best tools, resources and skills at your disposal. It’s even easier to let these “obstacles” hold you back from pursuing or sticking with something that’s important to you.
When in reality, it’s rare that someone has the skills or resources right out of the gate. I know I didn’t.
At the end of the day, it’s about doing something instead of nothing and realizing you’re doing the best you can. That’s all you can and should expect from yourself.
When you stick with it and look back on the progress you made, you'll realize that imagination and resourcefulness are a powerful combination.
This episode is a daily reminder not only to you but to myself when I get caught up in letting that inner critic convince me that I’m not doing enough.
Figuring Things Out
One of the most challenging thing in pursuing something important like your creative career is that you don’t always know the exact direction to go.
What medium should you create?
What style should you share?
What should the name you create under should be?
On the flipside, one of the most exciting things is that you don’t know the right answer.
As a creative, you’re a problem solver and this is what you do best.
You have to experiment and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly, you’re figuring out yourself along the way too.
Blending it All Together
Something I struggle with is showing the true foolish side I have in my writing and speaking. I feel this is due to my extensive background in sports, coaching and training because I’m a coach and an artist at heart.
Sadly, I’ve had “anonymous” emails telling me that I’m trying too hard and it cuts deep because I am trying. I’ve been blogging for over 2 years now, speaking for 1 year and podcasting for about 8 months. There’s still a ton of room for improvement and I’m far from being an expert.
I’m still figuring out how to inject my humor into my monologs while getting my point across. It’s easy in my art because I don’t have to speak or write and I've been doing it my whole life.
I want you to know the goofy side of me:
I love puns
I’m addicted to everything pizza
My wife and I hold conversations with our cats in weird high pitched voices
I like to shred the dance floor at weddings or in my kitchen
Weirdly enough I love to freestyle (give me a beat and let me do my thing)
When someone bends over, I like to make fart noises out loud or in my head
You know, I’m a downright fucking fool sometimes but you don’t always see or hear this side of me. I’m still learning how to blend all of this together...but I’m doing the best I can.
The Tools Don’t Make the Artist
I’m guilty of thinking that I needed the best pencils, pens, paper or equipment to get me on the level of the people I look up to.
No longer do I think my drawing utensils are the key to unlocking artistic greatness—I could create a masterpiece with a crayon because the tools don’t make the artist.
However, I’m still hard on myself for not having the money nor resources to have the video / photo equipment and skills I feel I need to stand out.
I have to constantly remind myself I’m doing the best I can right now with what I have.
I saw a post recently that convinced me there are plenty of ways to shine without the fanciest equipment.
Pin Koro posted a video of her writing the word pizza in a simple san serif with a sharpie. She then turned the word into a pizza illustration.
Extremely simple yet extremely creative.
However, the video was not high quality and there was a lot of flickering which can be distracting.
You think that stopped this video from going viral?
I’m literally seeing this all over Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
This is a prime example that you can use your phone and your creativity (resourcefulness and imagination) to stand out amongst the sea of noise on social media.
Right now, I’m a content creator and artist on a budget. I would give anything to have a high-end camera and an amazing rig setup to record my work but it’s not in my budget.
Doing Your Best With What You Have
My ghetto video recording setup consists of my phone tripod / socialite tripod and my cracked screen iPhone 6 Plus.
For my podcast, I have a very basic setup too. I don’t have all the fancy equipment I thought I needed and my office is far from soundproof. However, I put a lot of attention into getting the best audio quality out of my mic and learning how to edit properly so this doesn’t sound like turds on your end. :)
What I do is far from perfect, but I can’t let not having the fancy tools and resources hold me back from starting or sticking with it. At the end of the day, I’m showing up and doing something rather than nothing.
Give yourself permission and accept that you’re doing the best you can with what you have at your disposal. Imagination and resourcefulness are your secret weapons during these stages.
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="1c1c1c" class="" size="32"]Give yourself permission and accept that you’re doing the best you can with what you have at your disposal.[/perfectpullquote]
You’re Human and You Got This
Please remind yourself that you’re human. You’re going to deal with these phases of doubt and feeling you need more to stand out.
I deal with them all the time.
During these times where you want to quit or feel like you’re not doing enough, remind yourself you’re doing the best you can.
You got this.
Takeaways
It’s about doing something instead of nothing and realizing you’re doing the best you can.
Imagination and resourcefulness are a powerful combination
You’re figuring out yourself along the way.
The tools don’t make the artist.
Make the most of what you have at your disposal during this stage of your career.
Shownotes
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CREDITS
Music - Blookah
Executive Assistant - Paige Garland
Photo & Video Specialist - Colton Bachar
Social Media Coordinator - Hannah Schick
Animation Specialist - Greg D'Amico