What if you believed?

What if I could guarantee you that the 150th thing you made would be both brilliant and wildly successful?

It's like a fantasy story, right? A magical fairy appears before you and announces you that you can have your wish – “Make me a genius creator!” – but there's a catch. The catch is that you can't have it until you make 150 things. That’s a lot of things! But they promise that when you reach the 150th your magnificent creations will take the world by storm. The fairy sincerely guarantees it.

What would you do?

Let’s say your medium is video...

If you're like me – you'd want to get through those first 149 videos as quickly as possible. You'd start with the barest of materials, the tiniest inspiration. You'd ask, "How short and shoddy can a video be to count as one of the 149?" And you'd find out. You'd set yourself a challenging pace, make 21 videos in the first week, and pat yourself on the back for being so clever.

And, if you're like me, you'd attach an intro to each of those first 149 videos. You’d say something like...

Please forgive the lack of polish on this video. The audio isn't great and the lighting is terrible. I shot it on my phone in a vacant lot near my house. But see – I made a deal with this benevolent fairy, so I'm just doing these first 149 videos as fast as I can. That's the only reason this video is as bad as it is. Please don't laugh at me.

And then, just as you're about to upload your videos to the internet, that tricky fairy appears and says "Not so fast, my dear. There's one more catch. You can never tell anyone about our agreement.”

And you beg and plead with the mean fairy, “But these videos are terrible! They're embarrassing! Everyone’s gonna laugh at me! Please, I can't do it like this!”

But the indifferent fairy just shrugs and flies away.

So what then?

Do you share those 149 far-less-than-perfect videos?

Could you live through it?

In a long-ago play on a long-ago stage, I said →

Pick something that you love and do it like a bad habit, for ten years, and someone will want a piece of it. The only catch is – sometimes it takes much less than ten years. And sometimes, it takes much, much more.

What if you believed that along the way of those 149 attempts you’d eventually know what you’re doing, and even feel good about it? If you could trust that, would you be able to walk down that long road of uncertainty?

What if I told you that there is no magical fairy, but you can still be amazing? You just have to live through those first 149 attempts. (Give or take a few.)

If you believed me – what would you do?