{"id":5683,"date":"2024-03-08T08:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/?p=5683"},"modified":"2024-05-09T23:51:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T15:51:11","slug":"the-gap-and-good-taste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darylchow.com\/frontiers\/the-gap-and-good-taste\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gap and Good Taste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Note: This is originally from Frontier Friday<\/a><\/strong>, a weekly Substack published, originally released on 08 Mar. 202<\/em>4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Improve Your Taste, Not Your Ability<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

I recently heard Cal Newport<\/a> on an interview with Brent McKay. Cal is known for his books on productivity (e.g., Deep Work<\/a>, Digital Minimalism<\/a><\/em>) and his older work on So<\/a><\/em> <\/a>Good They Can\u2019t Ignore You<\/a><\/em> (a line borrowed from the great comedian Steve Martin). Cal was on this podcast for the fifth time, now promoting his latest book, Slow Productivity<\/a><\/em> (yet to read it).

Why I\u2019m pointing out this particular interview was because of what Cal said towards the end of the interview. He was making the case of not only saying no to non-vital things and slowing down from the psuedo-productivity treadmill, but also<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Obsessing over quality<\/strong>\u2026 it is like the glue that holds these principles together.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cal elaborated on how to get better:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can\u2019t get better unless you know what better means.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He went on to describe the now famous quote by Ira Glass, author, creator and host of the podcast, This American Life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. <\/strong>For the first couple years you make stuff, it\u2019s just not that good. It\u2019s trying to be. It has potential. But your taste<\/strong> — your taste is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting creative work went through years of this. Our work doesn\u2019t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you\u2019re just getting started or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it\u2019s normal, and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline, so that every week, you will finish one project. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap and your work will be as good as your ambitions. <\/strong>It\u2019s gonna take awhile. You\u2019ve just gotta fight your way through.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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The Gap by Ira Glass<\/a><\/h4>

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