“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.”
― Charles de Gaulle
I’m not as great as I think I am.
I know that, of course, but I forget sometimes. I’m not great. I’ll always know I’m not perfect, but I’m not great either.
When I remember this and realize what a pretentious fool I am, my self-esteem swings over to the other extreme, but-
I’m not as bad as I think I am either.
I want to be great. I want to get better in my craft. I don’t want to be sidetracked by my delusions of grandeur, nor depressed by my realizations of worthlessness. I want to get at the writing without all of this piling up on me.
I want to tell myself every day, before I start writing: “You aren’t great. That’s why it’s okay to fail.” Because, when I think I am great I need to be great or perfect or marvelous or whatever. I get hung up over the details. I stop writing because I’m done, I’m great, I don’t need to get better.
And when I think I’m awful, I don’t even want to try. Why on earth should I? I’ll never be great. So-
It’s okay to fail.
Perfect is a myth. Failure is human – it means you’re on the right track.
It’s okay to fail.
You’re not as great as you think you are.
And that’s fine.
Because you’re getting there.
What’s Going On?