Rejection, failure, and sharing

Episode #5 of the course The random word doodle: boost your creativity and exercise your mind by Rich Armstrong

We, as humans, fear rejection and failure. We want to fit in. We want to be liked. But the only way to move forward is by trying new things, and by sharing them, testing them, putting them to the test. Waiting for perfection is debilitating. Rather, try, share, and try again. Another word for sharing is shipping. It means getting it out. Continual sharing will make you blind to the opinions of others and will bleed fear of failure and rejection out of your system. It will invite constructive criticism and inspire others to share and ship. If you don’t face failure and rejection head-on and put yourself out there, you can say goodbye to an interesting life. You’ll always be a fitter-inner.

When the pressure to succeed and fit in disappears, we’re more likely to try new things. And this leads to fun, different ideas, and change! And a great way to do this is to start with things that don’t really matter if you mess up—like daily doodles.

When I was sharing my doodles, my friends and family thought I was nuts on some occasions and wildly brilliant on others. If I had stopped when people thought I was nuts, I would never have gotten to some of my more brilliant pieces.

So post your doodles on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. And if you want, create a blog and post them there. Tumblr and WordPress are great options. Share them with me, and share them with the world! I’d love to see your doodles. Mention me on Twitter (@taptapkaboom) and Instagram (@taptapkaboom) to get my attention. And remember to hashtag your posts with #randomWordDoodle.

And (drumroll) here are today’s words:

1. Heathenish
2. Secret
3. Branchiopoda
4. Progressivism
5. Fluxmeter
6. Hologram
7. Potoroinae
8. Swinge
9. Athanor
10. Roving

So what I want you to do today is to find a word that you don’t know. Research it. Learn a new word. Do a quick Wikipedia read-up, or look in a dictionary, or just Google it. And then doodle something related to it.

Great work! You’re now halfway through the class and have a few more things to learn, but today was a very important concept. Today, of all days, you’ve gotta share what you’ve just doodled! I’m looking forward to seeing it! #randomWordDoodle

Also, have a look at what others are doing on Twitter and Instagram and give them a positive comment.

Recommended book

“Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All” by Tom Kelley

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