Getting guaranteed results in just about anything can be very easy…
Never hit “publish” on the blog post you’re unsure of.
Never launch your start-up.
Never finish writing a book.
Never read another book after school.
Never create anything.
Never put 100% into anything.
Never do anything without permission.
Never take initiative.
Never do anything that makes you uncomfortable.
Never take full responsibility so you have an alibi.
Never stop dreaming that your big break is around the corner when you haven’t taken a single step toward that goal today.
Never have a goal.
Never ship.
The results are guaranteed – nothing.
Most people prefer doing nothing. Most people just exist. They just want to live a comfortable life. They might want more out of life, but will never do the actual work. We like to keep two feet in the future, dreaming about how things are going to change without ever doing anything to make it happen.
I had a open-ended temp job where I did data entry for 9 months! That’s a long time. Every day I sat down at a desk and did exactly what I did the day before – brain dead work. I kept expecting some developer to walk in the door and hand over a program that did the work for us while everyone was then let go and put out of their misery. All I did was hit Copy+Paste for 8 hours a day. It wasn’t all wasted time though. I used that time to listen to 3-4 audiobooks a week. That was great and everything, but it didn’t accomplish anything. I wasn’t proactively doing anything to change my situation. I did nothing and got nothing. So there went 9 months. They comfortably slid by.
Why Don’t You Ship?
This:
I spent around one or two years writing a book. That’s what two people think. Not only is the book not funny. It has the worst humor. I do appreciate the reviews, even if critical. Rebeca’s review is 100% accurate too. If you hate dry observational humor, you would hate my book.
and
Granted, there are only 2 negative reviews and 39 positive reviews on Amazon right now, but this is what stops people from shipping. Fear that their work will be seen as a failure, that they’ll have wasted their time, that everyone will point and laugh, and they’ll lose their jobs and have to move back in with their parents and borrow money.
It’s very likely that some people won’t enjoy your work. And they shouldn’t. No product is for everyone. There isn’t a joke in the world that everyone thinks is funny. Someone didn’t like my dry humor. There isn’t a product or food everyone can agree on. Not even bacon.
If you want guaranteed results, do nothing and you’ll be guaranteed to get nothing.
The alternative? Ship.
Risk people hating what you do. You can’t have it both ways. The only way to do meaningful work is to be willing to be misunderstood and have your work rejected.
Put up the emotional risk in hope of the reward or do nothing. Your choice.
Say hi to me on Twitter: @BenNesvig or read my book on Amazon
Chris says
Not even Bacon? I thought Bacon was good with everything. How dare you smear the reputation of Bacon. That’s Bacon with a capital B. For Belly, Pork. The wonderful dirty smelly and yummy Swine. Aside from the religious zealots that don’t know what they’re missing, I thought everyone loves bacon. My god, even Burger King sells an ice cream and Bacon concoction. I might just be a reincarnated Boar. (That would make me a cannibal. But that’s another story.)
Melanie Crutchfield says
Ugh…THANK YOU. Wise words indeed. I think I’m going to write some out in crayon and put them on my fridge. Maybe then I’ll go buy your (clearly) terrible book.
Laurent Dubois says
Good words… inaction is the devil in disguise indeed.
orjueladiego says
This blog post sucks. No seriously though, thank you for wording this thought so well. You are absolutely on the money and I congratulate you on being able to be so honest and transparent.
Christopher Valencia says
This is really inspiring, thanks!
Rob says
Awesome post dude, makes you want to act! Nice blog too, I use the same theme, although heavily modified!