Jonathan Fields asked a great question on Facebook awhile back, and it elicited a response that caught my eye. Here’s the question:

“Just curious, if you were just starting tomorrow, would you still seek to build what you’re building now?”

The response that caught my eye was:

“THIS is what prevents me starting, the fear of building something I didn’t mean to…. :(“

A lot of Creative Giants have that fear. Either it’s perfectionism (or a near cousin of it) at play, OR it rests upon the belief that there is some future out there that we’re supposed to bring about. We have a tendency toward perfectionism because we want to be safe, but perfectionism actually keeps us from being safe.

But what I’d like to remind us all of today is that sometimes the things we didn’t mean to build are the best things we could’ve built. We won’t see our big hits ahead of time, but the very best thing we can do is keep the music flowing.

So, rather than being afraid of building something you didn’t mean to, work off the idea that you might surprise yourself with, and build something great that you had no idea you could build.


Charlie Gilkey is an author, business advisor, and podcaster who teaches people how to start finishing what matters most. Click here to get more tools that’ll help you be a productive, flourishing co-creator of a better tomorrow.

Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com

Author(s)

  • Charlie Gilkey

    Author, Speaker, Business Strategist, Coach

    Charlie Gilkey helps people start finish the stuff that matters. He's the founder of Productive Flourishing, author of the forthcoming Start Finishing and The Small Business Lifecycle, and host of the Productive Flourishing podcast. Prior to starting Productive Flourishing, Charlie was a Joint Force Military Logistics Coordinator while simultaneously pursuing a PhD in Philosophy. He lives with his wife, Angela, in Portland, Oregon.