021: The first pancake
As it turns out, pancakes are the perfect metaphor for our work, trying anything new, shitty first drafts and creativity in general.
Episode transcript:
Good morning, and a very happy Wednesday to you. You are listening to The Daily Pep, the only daily podcast for creative and multi passionate women who want a bit of morning rebel rising. So a couple of weeks ago, I listened to the final episode of the Good Company podcast with Grace Bonney. And, seriously, it was so good. During the episode, Grace shared her experience of choosing to close Design Sponge and what she's learned along the way. During the episode, she referred to the first pancake and how it relates to failure, and that's exactly what we're diving into today. You might be wondering what the hell even is the first pancake. So if you've ever made pancakes, you'll know that the first pancake always goes to shit.
Maybe the temperature is too high, maybe the mix was lumpy, maybe you use too much or too little, and basically it always burns. It's always wonky and something always goes wrong. And that is just part and parcel of making pancakes. The ones after that generally turn out pretty great, but that first pancake, well, it's nothing to write home about. But here's the deal, in order to have those other pancakes, you have to move past the first shitty pancake and just continue. You have to just get to the second pancake. And when you do that, not only do you, shock, horror, get to have pancakes, but you also realize that this is all just a part of the process. Ultimately, you have to make pancakes enough time to know that the first one's gonna be pretty shit, but it means, generally, the rest will work out okay.
And you only learn this when you've done this time and time again. You have to move past the failure and instead accept that the crap pancake is just part of the process. But you only learn this when you've made enough pancakes, or at the very least, you decide to carry on and you don't throw the pancake mix into the bin after the first one has failed. So as it turns out, pancakes are the perfect metaphor for our work, trying anything new, shitty first drafts, and just creativity in general. The thing is we get so caught up in making the first pancake the most wonderful, fluffy, cooked, perfect thing that ever existed that when it doesn't turn out right, we assume that we just can't do it. We think that our first drafts have to be the best thing ever. And so often, we give up at the first hurdle because it just didn't turn out how we envisioned it. What if you accepted your first pancake as carving the path of future great pancakes? What if you saw shitty first drafts as the first step on the path to doing work that you're proud of? And taking that a step further, what if you came to expect the first failed pancake as just part of the creative process? Just imagine for a second what this would do to your process, your body of work, and your ability to start and finish projects.
Now I don't know about you, but I would rather have a whole heap of failed pancakes and a mountain of second, third, and fourth pancakes than no pancakes at all. So dare to see past the first pancake. Dare to make the second and the third and the fourth. And dare to repeat the process time and time again because that's where your best creative work lies. If you are enjoying the daily pep, I would love it if you could go over to iTunes or upper podcast and give the podcast some love to help more women who need the podcast find it. So until tomorrow, have a wonderful day, and I'll see you back here bright and early.
Episode transcript produced automatically by Castmagic.io
ABOUT THE DAILY PEP! PODCAST
A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!
The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women.
If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own worst enemy, this is the podcast for you.
Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines
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