The Weekly Proof: Your Plans Mean Nothing Until You Publish
No one cares about what you plan on doing.
Not really.
Most people care only about what you’ve done and how you make them feel. It’s been said they forget what you tell them and what you do for them. Which sucks a ton already, but that’s life.
So, I spend my time focusing on how I make people feel.
And most importantly, how they make me feel.
I have a list of things I want to accomplish. I don’t have time for people who don’t feed into me and allow me to feed into them.
I told my best friend today that I wanted to cultivate a village of creatives. People who have shared in the struggles and joy of the process. The one thing that puts a lot of people off.
We all desire the result without the process, or else fear that we cannot meet our expectations given our current skill level.
The Tension
The very first post I published for The Potential Paradox concerned the execution gap.
The time between getting an idea and executing on it.
Over the last four years, I’ve been trying to close that gap for myself.
When I get an idea, I test its importance and impact on me and my audience. Mainly a game of benefits versus drawbacks of the idea. Then I decide whether to work on it now, later, or never.
If I decide to work on it now, I will develop a version that is more of an experiment. A way to test a set of hypotheses. And then I try to ship or hit publish as soon as I have a satisfactory output.
Now, if I decide to do it later, I file it away.
If I decide never to act on the idea, it gets forgotten... unless it comes back. A potential indication it really wants to be made.
That all sounds wonderful, but it took twenty years of talking about what I wanted to do before I gave myself permission to act on those dreams and desires.
No friend, family member, teacher, colleague, boss, investor, etc., gave it to me.
You have to seize it for yourself, and wield it often.
What?
Your ability to create the type of proof that encourages you to keep going--if you enjoy the process.
Because you have to enjoy the process; otherwise, you’re wasting your time.
The Lesson
In the beginning of your creative journey, no one will care.
It’ll be when you’re steeped in your craft, publishing work weekly, responding to your growing audience, when everything changes.
Not because you were disciplined, but because you took your time to design systems that worked for you.
You have to love the process, but more specifically, your process.
It doesn’t matter how many people are watching.
Do the thing if it brings you joy, and always, always hit publish.
It’s all about proof with these people.
So the more of it you have, the more likely they are to take a peek, take you seriously and see you as you are, not as you want to be seen.
Success is slow, and then suddenly it rushes up on you.
The real lesson here is to create as much proof as fast as you can without compromising the quality of the work.
You will suck in the beginning. There’s no avoiding that. But the sooner you embrace the fact and start creating some proof, the faster you’ll naturally close your execution gap.
The Proof
This week’s proof lies in The Potential Paradox.
It’ll be two years in October since I first hit publish on this newsletter. September 11, 2026 will also mark the 200th issue published.
With so much behind me, and so much more ahead of me, I want to reflect on how far you’ve come on the projects you can’t get out of your head.
Ask yourself: are you doing enough?
I always ask myself this question, and from time to time the answer is no. But when it’s a resounding yes, I feel great.
No anxiety, no worries.
And I didn’t even start with two issues a week. I started out with one a week, averaging 1,000 words. One of the earliest experiments was testing out two issues a week.
Yes, it was more work.
But it did help me grow and test out other ideas faster.
So I kept it up.
And many of you have expressed how much you enjoy this new format.
Another successful experiment, no?
These are just a few pieces of proof you can look at, both from the past and more recent stuff.
I’m always trying things, but I recommend only testing one thing at a time. Otherwise you’ll never know what factor resulted in the most positive change.
The Forward Motion
In next Tuesday’s issue, we’ll dive into discipline as design.
In the coming weeks, I plan on introducing a new way for you to gauge your creative identity. Stay tuned.
If there’s anything you’d like to see, please leave your suggestions and thoughts in the comments below.
I’d love to hear from you.
Even if you’re not subscribed.
Final Thoughts
The biggest takeaway from the material: the faster you create proof (and close your execution gap), the better you get and the more eyes you’ll have on you.
You just have to remember to hit publish often.
My favorite part of the newsletter was you building a village of creatives. Making art can feel pretty solitary so it’s nice to hear someone talk about creating alongside people who understand both the excitement and the frustration of the process. I also appreciate you sharing that your current approach came from years of experimenting instead of pretending you had it figured out from day one. Thank you Idris Elijah for bringing us into that process and Happy Friday to you!
I respect you saying that it took twenty years to give yourself permission to act on your ideas. That’s something people don’t admit very often and I appreciate the honesty. It’s been fun watching these newsletters evolve because you’re not just teaching the ideas anymore. You’re showing us what they look like in real life and inspiring us in the process. Thank you Idris for letting us see that side of the journey and Happy Friday!