It doesn't get any easier

Sorry to break it to you.

But you know the pain and misery you feel every time you’re faced with a new creative challenge? The feeling that no matter how hard you work, no matter how inspired you feel, that the end result will end up a big fat stinking pile of hackery?

It never goes away.

Ever.

Five years. Ten years. Twenty years. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the business. Every time you’re staring down the barrel of a blank sheet of paper, you remain convinced that you will never be able to fill it with anything other than amateurish drivel.

And the worst part?

Ninety percent (if you’re lucky) of the time, you’re right. Almost every last drop of ink you put to paper will be complete crap. And that crap will taunt you, staring back at you from the page mockingly as it whispers “you’re a complete fraud” over and over again.

Now, here’s where I’m supposed to say that all you have to do is stop listening to the mocking voices and you’ll be able to rise above and create something magical.

Sorry.

It doesn’t work like that. Instead, the voices get louder and louder, leaving you convinced that you will never, ever again create anything of value. “Did I ever create anything of value? How can I remember anything with these incessant voices telling me how much I suck?”

But then, suddenly, a thought crawls up the back of your neck and seeps into the dark recesses of your feeble mind. A germ of an idea that may just somehow, against all odds (shout out to Phil Collins!) develop into something you can share with other human beings without fear of being laughed at.

So you scribble some notes, throw together some sketches and start turning that unhatched notion into an actual thing. And it feels good. For about a second. Until the next blank piece of paper comes along.

But that’s okay.

Because in advertising, like life, it’s the small moments of victory that matter. Those delightfully rare occasions where it all comes together even better than you’d hoped. You won’t always get there, but if you bust your ass and fight through the pain, you will be continually surprised at how often you do.

Now get back to work. Hack.