Your Work Doesn't Need To Be Justified By The 'Struggle'

3 Jan

Truth time ::

Your work isn't justified by the amount of 'struggle' you had to go through to create it.

I've heard other creatives talk about this over the years, but it's something I've been thinking about more lately. Of course this isn't black and white and there's layers to it... But, I reckon it's SUPER important, so I wanted to dish a little on my experience, and see if you have any to add, too.

As creatives, and as business owners, it's pretty standard that there's a shit-ton of work involved in getting your work out into the world, and more-so, selling that work or making a living off it. And we're always told how hard we need to work and how much we need to 'earn' our success, and while I def agree with that shit (to a certain extent), there are times where we have to let the work be easy — especially when you've been honing your craft for years and you're in your zone.

Real life example — I'm working on a couple really awesome client projects at the moment with some rad women, and last week I was working on some initial designs for both projects. I've been procrastinating a fair bit on some work stuff lately, and I do have a reasonably 'full' (aka full for me) calendar for the next month or two, but last week I got my head in the game and committed to working on these designs.

They were both first drafts, and guess what? They were kinda easy. I had a lot of fun working on them, shit was flowin', and they didn't feel like a struggle. I went through a few different variations of the work and eventually I came to some 'final first drafts' that I was pretty stoked on. It crossed my mind whether I needed to take a break and then come back to them the next day with fresh eyes and 'put in more time', but in the back of my mind I was like nope, these feel like they fit the brief + the vibe and I decided to send them to each of my clients. I was also on a roll + some tight timelines, so I wanted to send them asap.

And... Both of my clients were pretty damn stoked. Obvi there was a few small minor changes (like there always is with first drafts), but it was a solid reminder for me that there doesn't always have to be such of a fucking struggle to 'do the work'.

I also had to remind myself that I know what I'm doing, and my clients invested in me for a reason. They didn't hire me (solely) for my time (these are flat rate projects, not hourly ones), and they're not paying me for the struggle or the ease or whatever it takes to do the work — because that's not their responsibility. They're paying me for my experience + everything I've done to get to this point in my biz, and to collab with them to create some really cool shit for their businesses that's on-brand + on-brief.

So... Yep. It can be easy, if you let it. You gotta trust that if you've been doing the work, doing your time, and honing your craft, that there will be times where it feels effortless — and that's a-fucking-okay. And kinda fucking awesome, too.

Will it always be like that? No.
But should we take a fucking chill pill when it is? Yes.
Especially if we're committed to being pro's at our own game? Yes.

If you know me, you know I'm very (very) anti-hustle, and I literally couldn't give two fucks how 'hard' you claim to work, or how many hours you put in to what you do. What matters to me is how you feel about what you do, how you show up in your work, and how committed + devoted you are.

So, yep. You can't let the struggle or the hours you do justify the work. You don't always need to try so fucking hard. Think about how it would feel if you let it be easy... even just sometimes.

...'Cause hey, letting your work (or yourself) be defined by the shit you had to slog through to get there is kind of a dangerous place to live. I dunno about you, but I do not want to make a home in that. It is absolutely a part of what leads us to where we are + what we put out into the world, but I never want it to be the focus or the main drive behind what I do.