When I’m working on a photo shoot and I finally get the lighting just right, it’s tempting to rest right in that spot and get the photos we might get. And those photos would be good enough. Good enough pays the bills and good enough gives you moderate success.
If “great” is the end goal, however, the first creative breakthrough we have rarely is the best we can do. We must continue pressing beyond the first exciting moment. That is the moment to which we must not be a prisoner.
When I write a blog post and finally get it all to fit together, the temptation is to publish it right away. However, if I go back and re-write the post, it is better the second time around 98% of the time.
I believe this is true with virtually everything you can do in life. It’s just very difficult to enter back into the uncomfortable position of not knowing how it’s going to work out when we’ve already discovered a solution that seems good enough.
I re-wrote this blog post (it’s much better this time,) I re-light photoshoots all the time, I rebuild scripts for videos, I re-edit video productions I’m working on, I re-wrap gifts, I re-read books, and I re-tell stories. They’re always better the second time around.