After posting WIBTAL 34: The Hammer Salesman, I received feedback that it was my best WIBTAL yet. While the comments felt reassuring, I found myself paralyzed for weeks, unable to write anything out of fear of not meeting this new standard.

In conversations with artist and founder friends, I learned they face similar creative blocks after success. They feel that their next piece or business must be better and it prevents them from working on ideas that, at first glance, aren't as good as the last.

You should fight this reluctance and give yourself permission to fail because it's what allowed you to create in the first place. The entrepreneur who quit his legacy software job before creating a successful business, believed failing on his own terms was better than succeeding in an unfulfilling job. Such willingness to risk failure often paves the way for our groundbreaking achievements.

It wasn't until I reminded myself why I was writing that I was able to produce again. I was writing to improve my skills, not to have others perceive my writing as good, and that allowed me to begin again.