Passion and enthusiasm are awesome tools we can wield to build whatever form of greatness we envision, but, like any tool, they have to be used correctly, as I found out to my dismay this morning.
As I sat down to write yesterday, a chaotic swarm of ideas filled my head and I quickly tried to get all the little bits recorded before they faded away.
Waking today to review my ramblings, I realized that’s exactly what they were. A mishmash of disjointed nonsense that had no real coherent flow or underlying theme.
My eagerness to hit the publish button prematurely left me feeling a bit embarrassed to have rushed something that I normally would have spent far more time nurturing and perfecting.
But this is the essence of BonerFruit.
Yeah, I fucked it up. I unleashed a less than perfect mess of words for the public to see, and I can’t undo the emails that went out to faithful (and mega-awesome!) subscribers.
But you know what? Big fucking deal. I spent the morning rewriting the piece and put aside enough ideas for 10 new posts. I republished something a little more focused and learned some really cool things in the process:
1. Passion and enthusiasm are your allies when seeking excellence, but they need to be respected. Rushing something you love doesn’t get you farther ahead. Eagerness can make you sloppy and careless – it should be used to get you moving on a project, but not to finish it. Passion can throw blinders on the fabulous steed you’ve chosen to mount on your journey to greatness – its value should be to enhance your vision, not narrow it.
2. Never beat yourself up when you fuck up. Mistakes will always happen while you continue to practice and hone whatever craft inspires you, so don’t get too worked up about. Errors can be corrected.
3. When you care about your chosen art form, you will always be your harshest critic, but this is a good thing. Worry more about what you think of your craft than what others do. Do the things you do out of love for the process, not to have your ego stroked by family, friends, or strangers.
4. Sometimes it is nice to be stroked by strangers.
Keep doing the things you love. The more energy you put into something, the faster it’ll grow. Don’t let anyone discourage your dreams. The crazier your plans, the more rewarding and fun the journey will be along the way.
Your fuck ups only make you better, provided of course you don’t keep repeating the same fuck ups over and over. Embrace your mistakes and let them be your springboard toward something grander.
To err is human, to boner, divine….