Pitch When You’re Confident. Stop When You’re Not.

Pitch when you’re feeling confident. Stop pitching when you’re not feeling confident.

Pitching is difficult work. It takes unrealistic confidence and a total disregard for the feelings of failure. On some level, it’s crazy. It’s not guaranteed. There isn’t a road map. Failure is likely. 

Most people in America never have to pitch. Most people work in organizations where other people do the pitching. So naturally, when you’re developing a pitch for your creative project, you’ll hear imaginary voices from people who never had to pitch. 

Pitching is simultaneously crazy and completely necessary. The only way you’ll get hired is if you pitch. So if it takes crazy confidence to pitch, and it’s totally necessary, you need to learn when to stop listening to negative voices. 

Especially when those negative voices are coming from your own head. 

If watching a motivational speech, listening to pump up music, and drinking too much caffeine is what it takes for you to feel confident enough to pitch, then do that. Then, when those feelings wear off, stop working on the pitch. Do a little more tomorrow and a little more the next day until it’s done. Send it when you’re feeling confident. 

Then, when the negative voices return, choose to stop listening. Ignore them on purpose.

Pitching takes insane confidence. You need to protect that confidence at all costs. 

Good luck out there.