Ship in Six

Lesson #12: Silence Your Fears

Hey there!

Deadlines loom. Time grows short. So this lesson's a shortie.

This time last year, I spent about an hour polishing up an essay. I added a few graphics, tidied a few sentences. Et voila:

How your "F*#! This" moment changes everything

Here's the surprise: This bad boy was first published in January 2014. Last year I published it again. And soon I will be publishing it for the third time. Yes, as if it were new.

This essay was never a blockbuster. The first time I published it, it got about 4,149 views.

But the second time I published it, it got 15,062 views.

And the third time? At this rate, it'll crack 45,000.

Heraclitus famously said, "You can't step in the same river twice." But you can absolutely publish the same essay twice. So I did.

And so should you.

"But… it's already been done…"

You caught me: Today's lesson isn't really about republishing old content or accruing page views.

It's about that nasty little voice, lurking in the seat of your brainstem. It's a lying liar who lies.

Is it whispering in your ear right now? Do any of these sound familiar?

  • It's been done before
  • Somebody else did it better
  • I could never compete with _________
  • They're so far ahead of me, why even bother
  • Nobody will be interested in my little thing
  • If there are any mistakes, people will judge me FOR LIFE
  • It's not done, I can't ship it if it's not done
  • It's too much
  • It's too little
  • I can't do it
  • If it's not an immediate success, I'm a failure
  • "Failure" means my life will be over
  • I'm afraid

I'm here to tell you that every single one of these lines is high steaming bullshit. Yes, that's right, so wrong I had to invent a new acronym: HSBS.

No project has been perfect on day 1.

No project has ever been wholly original.

No expert started as an expert.

Everything grows and changes over time.

If nobody looks at it, you lose nothing.

Nobody who does look will look closely enough to spot the little errors and omissions that loom so big in your mind.

And if people do look at the very first v1 of your project and don't love it, well, you've got yourself some valuable market feedback that some people pay a thousands of dollars for. And you got it for free.

You aren't fighting a dragon, here. You're not leading a cavalry charge. "Failure" means nothing, except that you've learned something. Mistakes aren't bad, they're education. They're opportunity. Even Thomas Edison's first invention was a major flop. It taught him what not to do, next time.

So… do you want to ship? (Say yes!)

Then muzzle that little whispering bastard in the back of your mind.

Double down on That Thing, so it can live. You've got 12 days to get it ship shape.

My next email (on Monday) will help you triage whatever's left and get 'er done.

And remember: My essay didn't "catch" the first time. It worked literally 200% better the second time. And the third time? Watch out, world!

Amy Hoy

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