Are You Focusing on the Wrong Cost?
And are you willing to pay the price.
Here's a truth that hurts: The world doesn't get to see the best ideas. It only sees the ideas that got shipped.
I've spent the last three years watching brilliant minds come and go online. Writers who could make words dance. Thinkers who could bend reality. Artists who could make you feel things you didn't have words for.
Most of them are gone now.
Not because they weren't good enough. But because they couldn't ship. Yes, I know, the algorithm’s changed and all that. But I don’t think that’s the key part here.
How to Handle That Tool
Here's what nobody tells you about creative work: The thing that makes you great at creating is often the same thing that stops you from shipping.
That sensitivity that helps you notice the subtle shades of life? It also makes you hyper-aware of every potential flaw in your work.
That deep thinking that helps you connect unexpected dots? It also keeps you swimming in possibilities instead of committing to one path.
That perfectionism that pushes you to make something truly special? It also convinces you that "not yet" is better than "not perfect."
I know this dance intimately. Every time I pushed past my comfort zone, it cost me. Every time I hit a wall, it hurt. But I'm still here. And that counts for something.
Ages ago, when I was on a scholarship in China, there was this guy in my class named Yuki. I liked him, he liked me. But he never seemed THAT interested, so I moved on and found a new boyfriend.
On my last day, as I was leaving China with my then-boyfriend, Yuki insisted on helping me with my bags. In the elevator, just before reaching the ground floor where my boyfriend waited, Yuki suddenly kissed me, saying he "had to." Sure, I get it. It only took him 12 months to make the move. The elevator doors opened to my then boyfriend's smiling face, asking if Yuki was our cab driver. Very cinematic, but also kind of stupid. Turns out the distance between the 7th floor and the hall did not give us enough time for the romance to develop.
We think we have time. We think the perfect moment will arrive. We think our work needs to be better before it deserves to exist in the world.
We're wrong.
In today's VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous), waiting is a luxury we can't afford. The world is moving too fast for perfectionism.
Here's what I've learned:
Intelligence without action is just trivia.
Creativity without shipping is just a hobby.
Potential without execution is just a story we tell ourselves.
The most sophisticated among us have the most sophisticated excuses. We're really good at explaining why we're not ready. Why this isn't the right time. Why our work isn't good enough yet.
But "good enough" is a moving target that keeps moving away from us.
You don't need better ideas. You need better emotional resilience. The ability to feel the fear and ship anyway. The strength to be bad at something on your way to being good at it.
This isn't just about productivity. Productivity advice works great for people who just need to organize their tasks better. This is about the deep, vulnerable work of shipping creative work that feels like a piece of your soul.
Most productivity systems are built for people who need to manage their time better. But creative people? We need to manage our hearts better.
There are two types of creative people:
Those who protect their work by hiding it
Those who protect their work by shipping it
The first group keeps their work safe, but at what cost? The second group lets their work live, breathe, and evolve in the real world.
Which group are you in?
When You Dip, They Ship
I've watched too many brilliant minds fade into silence. Too many great ideas die in the drawer. Too many creative spirits crushed under the weight of their own perfectionism.
That's why I do this work now. Because the world needs your voice. Your art. Your ideas. Not the perfect version you're imagining. The real, messy, human version you can actually create.
You can ship work that isn't perfect. You can share ideas that aren't fully formed. You can start before you're ready.
Because ready is a myth. Perfect is a prison. And "someday" is where dreams go to die.
The best way to protect your work isn't to hide it. It's to ship it. To let it find its people. To let it teach you what it wants to become.
Some people will hate it.
Some will love it.
Most won't care either way.
But none of that matters as much as this simple truth: The work you ship is infinitely more valuable than the work you don't.
Stop waiting for the perfect moment. Stop waiting to feel ready. Stop waiting for permission.
Ship now. Learn in the process. Repeat forever.
Because in the end, we don't regret the work we shipped that wasn't perfect. We regret the work we never shipped at all.
Here's what keeps us stuck:
We obsess over the cost of shipping. The embarrassment. The criticism. The vulnerability.
But we never calculate the cost of not shipping. The regret. The missed connections. The ideas that die in the drawer.
We ask "What if they hate it?" instead of "What if they need it?"
We say "I'm not ready yet" while others say "This isn't perfect, but it's shipping today."
We dip our toes while others dive in. We polish while others publish. We wait for the perfect moment while others create imperfect momentum.
Here's the question that changes everything: Which costs more - shipping imperfect work or never shipping at all?
I’d ask Yuki, but I don’t have his contact.
If you recognize yourself in these words, if you're carrying brilliant ideas that feel too heavy to ship alone, I might be able to help. Think of me as your spare prefrontal cortex – someone who can help you navigate the complexity of creative execution while staying true to your vision. Someone who understands both the entrepreneurial drive to ship and the creative's need to protect what's precious. Let's turn your ideas into reality, one step at a time. DM to chat.
