Do the Thing You'll Be Bad at First

You already know the work you avoid.

It sits at the edge of your skill set.
It looks clumsy in your head.
It threatens your reputation.

So you polish the safe work instead.

That choice feels sensible.
It feels professional.
It keeps things tidy.

It also keeps things static.

Every meaningful shift in a creative career starts with visible awkwardness.
Not privately.
Publicly.

In work other people see.

Early failure does not signal incompetence.
It signals entry.

Designers who progress fastest accept this earlier.

They begin while the edges still show.
They release work before mastery.
They learn in motion.

Avoiding embarrassment feels like protection.
In practice, it narrows range.

Why early awkwardness matters

Skill grows through feedback.
Feedback arrives through exposure.
Exposure arrives through action.

Skip the action and the loop never begins.

When you attempt something unfamiliar, gaps appear quickly.

You notice weaknesses in judgement.
You see habits that limit you.
You recognise missing references or tools.

Planning rarely reveals this with the same clarity.
Doing does.

The myth of readiness

Readiness feels responsible.

It feels careful.
It feels strategic.

It also delays movement.

Many designers wait for confidence before starting.
Confidence follows repetition.

The first poster in a new style looks wrong.
The first outreach email feels forced.
The first 3D render lacks weight.
The first long essay wanders.

That outcome is predictable.

The response to it separates growth from stagnation.

One path hides the work.
The other improves it.

Professional embarrassment is survivable

Fear exaggerates consequences.

You imagine reputational damage.
You imagine lost opportunities.
You imagine judgement from people who rarely think about you at all.

Reality is quieter.

Most people scroll past.
Some respond kindly.
A few offer useful critique.

Silence dominates.

No serious creative career collapses because of imperfect early work.
Many stall because of prolonged delay.

Starting earlier changes trajectories

Beginning while unskilled creates time.

Time compounds.

Early attempts clarify direction.
Direction sharpens effort.
Effort produces progress.

Designers who experiment publicly build pattern recognition faster.
They understand what resonates.
They refine sooner.
They reposition earlier.

From the outside, improvement appears sudden.
Inside, it feels gradual and expected.

Safe work numbs ambition

Safe work earns approval.
It rarely creates leverage.

When output stays inside known boundaries, feedback becomes predictable.
Growth slows.
Motivation thins.

Riskier work provokes reaction.
Reaction produces insight.

Creative satisfaction often rises with stretch.
Comfort dulls it.

Early work is not a verdict

Early attempts do not represent your ceiling.
They represent direction.

Judging early output as a conclusion interrupts development.
Seeing it as information accelerates it.

Professionals separate identity from iteration.

Quality improves through exposure over time, not through avoidance.

The quiet pattern

The work avoided today often becomes the work regretted later.

Embarrassment fades quickly.
Missed years do not.

Progress tends to reward action taken before confidence arrives.

The designers who move forward are rarely the most ready.
They are the most willing to begin before readiness appears.

Thanks for reading.
Gary