The Work Doesn't Need to Be Good… It Just Needs to Be Made

**Matthew Gottesman** (0:02)
Welcome to The Niche Is You. My name is Matt Gottesman, at Matt Gottesman on Instagram, and this is my daily podcast where I create short, quick hitting episodes to help you uncomplicate life, creativity, and the pursuit of your highest self. There's only main character energy here. Now let's get into it.
Welcome to episode 820 The work doesn't need to be good, it needs to be made.
And the focus here is why the obsession with making good work is probably the very thing keeping you from ever making any at all. Listen, I've consulted with tons of people and brands from around the world and some of the most creative, talented people you could possibly imagine. And it's interesting sometimes to watch creative blocks from very tapped-in people, very strategic, creative, intuitive people. And it happens. It's a very normal thing. It can be. And so I want to give a little bit of grace for everybody there that sometimes the obsession with making good work is just simply getting in the way of just doing the thing in general. So we begin to overanalyze, we begin to overplan, we begin to overproduce, we begin to think about every single thing. And it's been interesting also watching several other creators online talk about this where they say things like, you just got to make the thing, man. You just got to put the thing out there. And then they show that they're becoming successful just doing that. And so there's a barrier sometimes in us that is keeping us from maybe expressing the thing or creating or thinking like, oh, that's too public, it's too visible. And it's also funny because at the same time people want the visibility. I'm like, which is it? Do you want the privacy first of just kind of like, not privacy, but if people aren't really watching your stuff yet, good. It allows you the ability to build in public while you continue to create and work on your craft, right? But the point is, is are you sharing your work with the world? And when we remove this barrier of like, oh, but social media and it's got to grow. And yet, no, you were told that with social media, growth is the is the focus. I'm telling you, mission is the focus. Growth is the byproduct. Okay? It comes from you simply iterating your work and it purposefully contributing to the world. That's it. So in this episode, I want to talk about why we've been lied to about how creativity actually works, how the obsession with making good work is what's preventing you from making anything, why creative blocks are almost always perfectionism in disguise.
Not always, but a lot of times, you know, other creative blocks obviously could also be related to just overwhelm and pressure, urgency, urgency culture, hustle culture, being in the thick of all the different things, not making enough space, not making enough time, whatever it might be, right? But creative blocks, a lot of times, perfectionism is, you know, kind of maybe blocking it. Like, oh, well, when I have this, when it gets this, when I get to this level, I'll launch this. And the funny thing is, is like, people don't even want polished anymore. I don't think they ever did, but now they really don't. So we're gonna also talk about real creators aren't more talented. They're just more willing to make bad work for as long as the good requires. That part. Real creators aren't more talented. They're more willing to make bad work for as long as the good requires.
If you like your work, you'll love working on it. Right? If you like your work, you'll love working on it, and you'll love seeing the evolution of it. You're not alone. Other people want to see the evolution of it as well. And that's the part that sometimes people miss, right? I also want to talk about the discipline of showing up before you know what you'll say. That's a big one. I've actually made a career out of that. A lot of times, the videos you guys like on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, a lot of times I go into the studio with my crew, and what do you want to talk about? I'm like, the usual topics. Just start firing off questions and we'll go from there. You know what I mean? I don't always know what I want to say, but I know what I will say when we're conversating and having great conversations about all the things that matter to us, right? I also want to talk about what happens when you commit to making, instead of making well. So let's jump into it. The work doesn't need to be good. It just needs to be made, right? So if you've been sitting on something you want to create, or if you've been waiting for the right idea, the right moment, the right inspiration, the right version of yourself, that's a big one, right? No, that's coming. Not first, at least, not first. But it can't because it's actually the by-product of making, of being out there, of creating, right? My best ideas come while I'm in the middle of creating. The best moments happen because I'm in the middle of them, right? They're already happening. The inspiration comes because I'm actually moving energy through a creation, right? Good work shows up on the other side of the willingness to make the bad work first, or just anything, really, right? So let's talk about the lie, number one, the lie about how creativity works. Most of us have inherited a totally idea of how creative work actually happens. We were taught it comes from inspiration. And yes, of course we get inspired. Of course we do, right? There's flashes of inspiration. There's the muse arriving at the right moment. And, you know, I feel like if we're not careful, that lie can stop many from making things more than anything, you know, more than any other belief, right? And I've mentioned this several times, but it's always worth repeating. Countless times I'm asked, like, oh, well, or told, well, I'd rather just create when I'm inspired. And I said, well, I'm inspired daily. They're like, well, you know, you know, how did you get there? And I was like, well, I was like, do you do love the ideas that come through? Do you love the creation? Do you love that thing? And they're like, well, yeah. And I'm like, what if you made more time for it? And so I always say how I purposely make two hours every morning for it automatically on my calendar. And I said, oh, so you're always inspiration when you wake up and do it. I'm like, no, but I schedule time to dedicate toward it. So that way I am actually looking at things that inspire me or researching or reading or discovering or writing or, you know, trying, you know, different things within my work on it. And so because I scheduled the time, it became a muscle that got built more and more and more. I didn't have to wait for inspiration. It was just happening all the time. Right? We're sold a romantic version of creativity. Like, you know, the artist receives and the muse strikes and the masterpiece just all of a sudden appears. Yes, yes, that does happen, but we don't have to wait for it. It's sort of like God's waiting on us. And we think we're waiting on God. God's waiting on us, right? God is waiting on us to step up into it and start creating. And then all of a sudden, things start kind of coming and flowing, right?