Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Press the button.

Many years ago I was new at an agency and laboring (as I have so often) without a partner. I was in the middle of one of those frightening assignments. You know the type--come up with a campaign the client likes or we'll lose the account.

As I said, I was new at the agency and solo. I was also reporting directly to the president of the place. In short, I was nervous.

In any event I worked all weekend and wrote over the course of those 48 hours something close to 50 scripts that I thought were pretty good.

But I was afraid to send them to my boss. I was afraid they weren't good enough. That I'd be canned practically before I started.

The morning after I'd written all those scripts I spoke to my therapist. I told him I was afraid of sending the scripts.

I'll never forget what my therapist said to me. "Send them, George. Remember, your good is other people's excellent." I went into my office after that and emailed them to my boss. An hour or so later, he told me the dozen or so he liked. I was a "made man."

When you get stuck with an assignment and your brain feels like it's full of cotton balls, when it feels like nothing is clicking, keep going, keep working, keep thinking, typing, sketching, creating. Keep doing, in short, what you've always done to see an assignment through.

Then say to yourself "Your good is other people's excellent."

Then trust yourself.

And press the button.




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