Mini Series: Practice to Professional (4 of 7): Lie More.
Vol. 060
Lie More.
Jumping before you’re ready to help push perfectionism and overthinking to the wayside.
Mini-Series Schedule:
A 7-week series dissecting the 6 main points of my keynote speech: Practice to professional: manifesting your ideal creative career. This mini series culminates with a live webinar and Q&A where I talk through actual examples of how I applied these 6 main points to grow a 6-figure + creative business. You can rewatch the webinar through the link in week 7 below.
Week 1: You are your brand
Week 2: Free and underpaid work can be okay*
Week 3: Never Stop Experimenting
Week 4: Lie More
Week 5: Your Network is your net-worth
Week 6: Chasing the fog
Week 7: Watch the Webinar and Q&A!
Continue reading below…
The power of a good lie.
I want to first explain: there is a difference between “good lies” and “bad lies” in reference to client and creative work.
A bad lie would be an instance of true dishonesty or malice, or jeopardizing the investment of your clients or customers. We’re not here for that.
A good lie, on the other hand, can take many forms, and maybe could be better described as “jumping before you’re ready.”
Far too often we procrastinate taking action on things that we want to do because we think we’ll be more prepared in the future. In reality, there are too many damn variables to ever account for. The process of simply taking action and then course correcting thereafter is oftentimes the best approach to take.
For me, good lies have come in the form of “yeah, I know how to paint a mural” (No I didn’t.) Or, “Yup, I love teaching workshops” (I’d never tried). Or, recently, the lie to myself: “I feel adequately prepared to hire someone full-time.” (Sure don’t, but ya better damn well believe I’m gonna figure it out and it’s all gonna be okay!)
I’ve experienced a good deal of success from lying my way into situations that I feel scared of. But, this approach isn’t necessarily unique to me. Facebook popularized the mantra “move fast and break things” referring to the idea that if you’re not breaking anything, you’re likely not delivering enough value.
I.e., if you’re not messing up — if you’re not lying yourself into uncomfortable situations — you’re not allowing yourself to grow as quickly as you could.
Fast Company also talks about the idea of jumping before you’re ready, noting that perfectionism is not only hindering your growth, but it’s also causing you to give your opportunities away to your competition.
These are good lies in the sense that they all forced me to jump into situations or opportunities that I didn't necessarily feel ready for….but in reality, I was. I
These “lies” open up opportunities for growth and learning, and have functioned as moments for me to venture further into the fog along my journey.
Through these little lies, I started hand lettering, mural painting, modeling/acting, teaching, stop motion videos, making commercials and hiring my first employee—you name it, I’ve lied my way into it. I could have obsessed over each of these services, ensuring I knew exactly what I was doing before I ever did it for a client. However, I took a different approach. I was interested, and I went for it! Ready, Fire, Aim, as they say...
Lying has truly pushed me as a graphic designer and creative entrepreneur. Because I’m self employed, I don’t have a boss to force me to do things that scare me or that I don’t want to. However, through pushing myself to lie my way into situations that force me to level up and learning something new, I’ve grown immensely and learned a ton.
Force yourself to be uncomfortable. Force yourself to learn something new. Force yourself to leverage your intuition and your fundamental knowledge of your craft. Force yourself to jump before you’re ready by lying more.
You’re more prepared than you think.
