How do you keep going on with your ideas facing many setbacks?

In answer to Quora question: "How do you keep going on with your ideas facing many setbacks?"

Question details: In the process of being a creative worker, you face many setbacks, rejections, and obstacles between your original, exciting spark of an idea and reaching your audience or selling it in some way. When you get there you get vindication that your idea was true and real; until you get there you can easily begin to doubt the quality of your idea, your value as a creator and even sometimes your sanity. How do my fellow creators out there in Quoraspace deal with keeping faith with your ideas??


Thank you for the A2A. Since there are already so many fine answers here, I will just add a few tidbits that have helped me over the years:

1. Try not to rely on any single motivation. Motivations will, of necessity, change over time. So have a quiver full of them.

2. Make sure that at least some of those motivations are grounded in something larger than yourself - a desire to benefit society, a conviction that
creativity is a gift to others, a sense of greater purpose for your skills and work, an attempt to give back for all the blessings in your life, an effort that celebrates the mutual joy of collaborating with others, etc.

3. Don't listen to what anyone says (good or bad) with other than a detached ear; it may be beneficial input or it may not...but it need not evoke any emotion other than gratitude that someone cares enough to share their feedback.

4. Honor the process over the outcome. It's great to have goals, but not if they exhaust or abuse your muse.

5. Avoid taking yourself seriously, even if you take your work quite seriously. Separate the two, cultivating humility even as you pursue excellence.

6. Be willing to let go. Always. Be willing to disengage from the process at any time, rather than be emotionally overcommitted or obsessive. And once your creation is complete, move on to your next project.

7. Do other stuff. Mix it up. Make sure all of your dimensions of being are being nourished so that your creative engines don't become depleted.

8. Sometimes setbacks signal that we are actually on the wrong course...so there's that. Knowing if our course is sound requires discernment, perspective and maturity. These form over time and can't be rushed, alas.

9. Make sure you embed yourself in a community and relationships that share your values - and value your creativity.

10. Remember that the Universe owes you nothing. Absolutely nothing. And that success of any kind (even being able to bring your vision to completion) has more to do with timing, relationships, and dumb luck than anything else.

My 2 cents.

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