Creative Success is not defined by how much work you're putting out.

There is this idea that we need to post as much as we can to capture the biggest audience, a notion that is a bit self-destructive if you ask us. Because yes, in the past we advocated for not looking for perfection when putting out work, but at the same time, success by itself is not strictly defined by how much work you put out. That distinction led us to write this essay today, as we get irritated every time we open the feed lately, especially on our MacBook (swear it’s a different algo there). So, what is the difference between someone who’s dropping a collection every season versus someone who’s dropping every other season? Or an artist dropping one album every year versus someone who drops one every three years? And how does it connect to creative success? All that and more in today’s essay, courtesy of the company of course, as always.

So, what is the difference between someone who’s dropping a collection every season versus someone who’s dropping every other season? Or an artist dropping one album every year versus someone who drops one every three years? And how does it connect to creative success? All that and more in today’s essay, courtesy of the company of course, as always. At every stage in life, people always said: the more work you put in, the more luck you have. They are right, the surface covered by more work can breed more opportunities for luck. But luck and success are two different things, and it’s better if we differentiate them for our sanity, because many will try to conflate them. Luck, by itself, is an external force that can be skewed through actions. Success is an internal mechanic that asks one to understand what their message is, their idea of it, and what they are trying to achieve. Those things can’t be attributed to luck, right? Right. That’s why we’d rather not see this argument in the comments if someone thought of bringing it up. We love you, but not today please. That’s why you see people exhausting trends, obsessing over metrics and numbers on their dashboard. It’s always more, more, more, but never looking for better. And not better for the audience, better for the creator. Because if you are not fulfilled with the work you put out, it don’t matter how many accolades you are going to get from the audience, the establishment, or Mickey Mouse, for that matter. If you don’t feel fulfilled by it on a personal emotional level, it’s not success. And we are ready to die on this hill. Oh no, tech bro knocking on our door, no Bob Dylan involved… With AI, and all the other tools that you can hear about at your local Cava or Dig, Sweetgreen for the extremists (who goes there still? crazy), all those tools allowed everyone on earth with a stable internet connection the option to pump out loads of work, and creatives are using them too. Does that mean they are successful? Simply because they worked on something with a machine, gave it a script and sent it out there to the world? You tell us. When we start to believe that we must post more and more, we lose the connection with the purpose of the work and why it’s there in the first place. And like we said before in one of the letters probably, without purpose there is no intent, and without intent, guess what? Success is impossible to achieve, because it’s not filling an emotional hole for human beings. Can’t stress this enough. Just because you post more, you are not becoming more successful, because at the end of the day, are you feeling fulfilled? If not, you have the answer. The answer that invites you to look deeper into why you are even creating in the first place, and that act by itself is a form of success, more than just pumping out work. Because when you question your reasoning, you achieve more than an AI tool could ever achieve for you. The real you. Success arrives when you know why you are creating in the first place.

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