You Can Fail at What You Don’t Want
Why Playing It Safe Won’t Save You
Have you ever felt like you were playing it safe, only to end up exactly where you never wanted to be? Jim Carrey once shared a story about his father, a man who dedicated his life to a job he didn’t love, thinking it was the “smart and sensible” choice. But despite playing by the rules, he was laid off. That’s when Jim realized something crucial:
“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
I can relate. Every job I took for the paycheck instead of the passion eventually led to one inevitable moment—I was laid off. Multiple times. And believe me, it stung. Being laid off bruises your ego; it makes you feel like a failure. But the truth is, more often than not, it has nothing to do with your worth or work. It’s a reflection of where the company is headed, not where you are.
Looking back, those layoffs were the best things that ever happened to me. They were the world’s way of telling me: You’ve stopped growing. It’s time for something new. At the time, I thought they were the worst possible outcomes, but in reality, they were exactly what I needed to break free from stagnation and pursue what truly mattered to me.
So, ask yourself—are you growing, or are you just surviving? If you’re feeling stuck, maybe the push you’re resisting is exactly what will set you free. When the world nudges you out of a situation where you’re no longer evolving, it hurts, yes. But that nudge also heals the soul. It’s a chance to start fresh and focus on what ignites your passion.
Take that nudge as your sign to stop settling. It might bruise your ego, but it’ll open the door to something far more important—your chance to do what you really love.
Keep creating and repeating.
- Zack
Links keeping us creative:
📕 Public.work: A search engine for public domain content. 📕
📹 John Cleese on Creativity: John Cleese on how creativity is not a special talent or a skill but a way of life.
💭 Is Efficiency The Enemy of Creativity?: American technologist John Maeda gives insights on why we should embrace uphill thinking in a world optimized for shortcuts.
🎨 Lessons.design Design Advice from Fabricio Teixeira.
Create.Repeat is a community for creatives.
The Create.Repeat Substack is a project designed to be a weekly diary on creativity. Sharing inspiration for artists to keep creating and repeating.
Written and curated by Zack Evans & James Warren Taylor
Each week we will be sharing recent thoughts on creativity, some links helping us stay creative, and soon will be including a talent show featuring an artist from the community. Thank you for engaging with us.
History repeats. Create the future.
Some Final Links:
