Grey Baker

A start

01 Sept 2012

Starting something new is hard. It's especially hard if, like me, you're obsessive.

I've always found starting new things hard. Being bad at things frustrates me, and I find it hard to justify how inefficient I am while learning something new. They're short term frustrations, but the short term matters.

I also struggle with a need to be proud of everything I do. Poor quality work haunts me, and the fear of it adds to the downside of starting something new. If I'm not certain I can do it, and do it well, I almost certainly won't start it.

Sometimes that obsessiveness is good: it drives me to produce great work. Sometimes it's bad: I learn slower because I worry too much about making mistakes.

Twelve months ago I decided I should write a blog. Twelve months later, this is my start. I'll make some mistakes, but hopefully I'll learn a lot.