Bravery vs. Perfection
Wow, my first real post! Took a lot of work to get this far, though.
There might be something to that.
My name's Graham, and I've been a content creator for over six years. Six years is a while in terms of being an Internet Personality. Most of us sell our cameras, key lights, and performance PC parts around the 30-month mark. I've managed to stick around not because I have "unmatched tenacity" or a "drive to succeed," but more likely my "willingness to settle" is responsible for the length of my career.
In the spring of 2018, I was fooling around with the idea that teaching myself how to make ramen noodles might make for an interesting video series. At the time, I was considering edited content on YouTube, but a friend advised me to give livestreaming a shot instead. Six years later, thousands of followers, a bunch of new friends, and $75,000 for charity later, it's easy to think of it as one of the best decisions I've ever made.
But back in 2018, I had no idea any of that was going to happen. I wasn't even sure I'd last the summer. I'd never engaged in any creative endeavor before, and had no idea how to process my feelings on getting starting at age 35. I pictured myself being years (if not decades) behind others doing the same thing as me, and nearly called the whole thing off.
Thankfully, I'd sought the advice of a longtime friend; she herself being a creator, risk-taker, and teller of stories had me believing that she'd probably been in my situation before.
I was on the money.
I asked how I'd know when I was ready to start creating. She distilled her advice down to a single sentence, easy enough for even me to understand: "Don't be perfect, just be brave."
"Bravery" wasn't one of the things I thought I needed, but I did. Allowing yourself to be imperfect in front of others requires a great deal of it, and I'll admit that historically this isn't something I've been great at. But a few days later, when I had my webcams in hand and a defrosted duck on my counter, it was time to be brave. Or at least, willing to settle.
The stream went great, even though everything went wrong. The duck wasn't thawed properly, the noodles were horrible, and I was live for three hours longer than I expected. How could it not have gone wrong? It was my first time!
Coincidentally, I've just this evening forwarded a Profit Plan for a startup business in Japanese to start my visa application for moving to Japan in 2025. I spent over six hours writing the email, hoping it was perfect. I forgot to hit "Reply All" before it left my Outbox. Seven people who were supposed to receive the e-mail, didn't.
The humor of the situation is not beyond me. I am once again starting a new creative enterprise, I'm not sure if this post is really meant to teach the reader anything, but I hope you can at least remember it the next time you make a mistake.
I can't tell you yet what I have planned for this coming year, but rest assured it will not be perfect.
