The Power of Failure and De-Fu

The Power of Failure and De-Funking Yourself

So much has been written on why we should ‘just do it’, the benefits of going outside of your comfort zone et al. Great, thanks captains obvious and wow-I-never-knew!

The Power of Failure and De-Fu

Right, we all know the adage “If you’re too afraid to try, you’ll never succeed”, or something in that line. Thing is though, it goes much deeper than not wanting to give it a try. So much has been written on why we should ‘just do it’, the benefits of going outside of your comfort zone et al. Great, thanks captains obvious and wow-I-never-knew!

Instead of highlighting the benefits of making the first move, it might be time to take a deeper look into why we struggle to get going in the first place. So, there’s this seriously cool gal, Kim Werker, who’s take on work, creativity and our hesitation to try new things is pretty damn enlightening, you can have a look at what she has to say here.

If that’s not enough, however, we’ve got a few more tips on how to de-funk your process and at least get you started on the right path.

Clean up the social media clutter

Despite what you might have been made to think, your social feed, even with all its ‘breaking news’ updates is nothing more than a distraction. 28 Kittens with facial expressions to sum up any life event and United States bombs ISIL targets in Syria don’t go together on a news site, and chucking them all together on your news feed isn’t doing you any favours. If you’re looking for creative inspiration, open a site that challenges your creativity; same goes for current events. Challenge yourself by reading up on what others are getting stuck into, you’ll thank us later.

Switch off the TV

Unless you’re re-watching Pulp Fiction or the original Star Wars trilogy; you’ve got no business wasting your time being fed what others consider to be entertainment. This has been repeated ad infinitum, sure, but that doesn’t make it any less true. How’s about finally fixing that broken drawer in the kitchen or, if you’re that way inclined, finishing off your vertical veg garden so you can brag to your friends how self sufficient you are for three days a month – even that is better than trying to milk inspiration from what is essentially mass-produced

Magazines are NOT your friends

You cannot write if you don’t read. You can go as far as saying that you cannot create if you don’t read. Not the celeb section of a weekly mag, no. Read, as in challenge yourself and cultivate lateral thinking. Trust us, you’ll see yourself grow in confidence when making decisions, solving complex problems and generally just being a free-thinking, independently functioning human being. Read a book, even if it’s only 300 pages long…you know what, we’ll even help you out…stay tuned folks, we’re going to bring you the ten best books to help you clear up that miff mind.

Right, there you have it. Have a look at Kim Werker’s talk, you’ll thank us for that one; and if you’re still stuck in that rut, why not try one of our tips. Your work doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as you gave it your best and you’re willing to keep at it. Our biggest stumbling block is not that we’re afraid to fail, it’s our intrinsic fear of what others have to say about what we produce…that’s why we never even try.