Say you've hit an impass. You've tried everything: gone back through the creative process to fix what's wrong, stayed motivated, tapped into the expertise of others... You realize you're at the end of the road for this project.
After the time, passion, and effort you put into this, that can hurt. You may be tempted to hang on and refuse to give up, even when you know in your heart that it's all over. You also may be tempted to indulge in "sour grapes", and pretend you just don't care about it any more. But if you do either of those things, you'll be missing a valuable opportunity to learn and grow from this experience.
Instead, try the following three steps:
1) Take a short break to calm down, then go back over what worked and didn't work. What can you learn from what went wrong? What can you learn from what went well?
2) Get feedback from those you trust, just to be sure you're seeing it from other angles. Ask for positive feedback as well as their critique. You don't have to agree with them, but be open to their perspective.
3) Then, when you understand what happened, take that understanding and acknowledge it as a new strength. What can you do with what you've learned? Where could this new perspective lead you?
If you are able to get past the two traps of hanging on and throwing the good out with the bad, your experience will actually make you better at being creative. And that was worth everything you went through.
After the time, passion, and effort you put into this, that can hurt. You may be tempted to hang on and refuse to give up, even when you know in your heart that it's all over. You also may be tempted to indulge in "sour grapes", and pretend you just don't care about it any more. But if you do either of those things, you'll be missing a valuable opportunity to learn and grow from this experience.Instead, try the following three steps:
1) Take a short break to calm down, then go back over what worked and didn't work. What can you learn from what went wrong? What can you learn from what went well?
2) Get feedback from those you trust, just to be sure you're seeing it from other angles. Ask for positive feedback as well as their critique. You don't have to agree with them, but be open to their perspective.
3) Then, when you understand what happened, take that understanding and acknowledge it as a new strength. What can you do with what you've learned? Where could this new perspective lead you?
If you are able to get past the two traps of hanging on and throwing the good out with the bad, your experience will actually make you better at being creative. And that was worth everything you went through.
No comments:
Post a Comment