It’s normal to feel like all the effort you put into a project, relationship, creative efforts can feel taxing on you. It may feel like your head is about to explode or the disease of writer’s block as stopped you in your tracks. Seth Godin did a podcast with Brian Koppelman and brought up a compelling point about doing creative work. He said “its always easier to talk about what we’re doing rather than doing the work.”
We feel safe when we say that we are working on something to someone, they ask us what it is and we say in return I can’t tell you. Where we feel uncomfortable is if we were to admit that we’re writing a novel or working on an idea and we’ve thought about quitting, that we think it sucks and no one will read it or want to see it. Trust me, I often experience this everyday when I write create. It’s natural as a creative to think your shit sucks.
But it’s usually worth it. If you think about quitting, that means you’re putting yourself into your work. If you think it sucks and no one will want to see it (trust me, someone will) that means you are emotionally invested.
If it gets so tough that you don’t know where to turn for answers or who to ask for help, then that means its worth it.
Everything worth doing is tough. Every time you recognize that its easier to walk away (otherwise known as Resistance, coined by author Steven Pressfield,) that’s when you should really grind.
The juice is always worth the squeeze.
Originally published at medium.com