Nobody wants to start out working on the wrong thing. We all want our first idea to be the right one, our first attempt to be the big one that hits.

But creativity doesn’t work like that. You are going to make plenty of wrong turns. You’ll start many a project that goes nowhere. And when this happens, you have to remind yourself that you’re not wasting time.

Because every “wasted” project and dead-end idea quietly moves you closer to the work you’re really meant to do.

These aren’t mistakes. These are detours that help you build the instincts, skills, and judgment you’ll need to recognize that one creative project that will come to define your life.

It’s okay to quit when you know you’re wrong.

One of the biggest creative myths is that if you quit a project, you’ve failed. That’s not true. Quitting at the right time is a skill. It’s the moment you stop pouring energy into the wrong thing and free yourself up to build something better.

Earlier this year, Tara and I started writing a TV pilot. About two months into working on it, we got an idea for a movie script we were super excited about. Once we had the movie idea, we had a LOT of trouble working on the TV pilot. The movie idea was pulling us like a rip current dragging a swimmer out to sea. We couldn’t resist it.

So, we abandoned the TV project and started working on the movie. And the work suddenly became much easier! It took us about a week to get to the same point with the movie that it took a month to get to with the TV pilot.

But here’s the thing: the pilot wasn’t a waste of time. It was actually super useful to fill the space before we got our next great movie idea. It kept us in the creative mindset. Kept us engaged.

Now, the next time Tara and I start something we aren’t completely in love with, I’ll ask the question: do we really want to write this, or are we filling time for our next great idea to come along?

Every project you abandon sharpens your instinct for spotting what’s actually worth doing. If you’re brave enough to quit when you know it’s wrong, you’re actually speeding up your path to the thing that’s right.

Connections made during “failed” projects often outlast the project itself.

Tara and I recently shot some sketches with a new friend. After about a month of shooting and editing, we realized that it wasn’t the best creative partnership.

It was really no one’s fault. Our creative impulses just weren’t in-sync, and because comedy is so subjective, if you don’t share the same taste as someone else, it rarely works.

But that wasn’t a wasted collaboration. First, he’s still a good friend and someone we can collaborate with in the future.

And secondly, it fueled the impulse for Tara and I to go all in together to make sketches. We had to collaborate with someone else to realize that Tara and I aren’t meant to be second fiddle. We vastly prefer to have full creative control and get very frustrated when we don’t.

So, this “failed” collaboration 1) made us a new connection that will be valuable in the future, and 2) redirected us to the right path where we have full creative control of the stuff we make.

The lessons you learn from failure fuel your success.

When people see someone succeed — land a book deal, launch a hit product, sell out a course, whatever — it often looks like it happened fast, almost overnight. But what nobody sees are all the “wasted” projects that came before it: the abandoned blogs, the half-finished apps, the scripts that never got made, the businesses that never broke even.

Each of those abandoned projects wasn’t wasted. Even though Tara and I have yet to get one of our movies made, the years we’ve spent learning to write haven’t been wasted. The years we spent learning to collaborate with producers haven’t been wasted. The years we spent honing in on our voice and tone haven’t been wasted.

Everything we’ve learned from failure will fuel all the success we have in the future. I wrote a few months ago that most of your progress is invisible… until it’s not. And it’s true.

What looks like “overnight success” is actually the hidden compound returns of all your “failures.”

So don’t be afraid to fail. To be afraid to quit. Letting go of everything not meant for you only leads you closer to the projects and people that need you the most.

Go find them.

Thanks for reading.

- Thomas

P.S. I read this newsletter every morning. It’s how I…

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