It’s ok to not push the envelope

It’s ok to not push the envelope. For so many years in my career, every production and every project had to be the coolest thing I had ever done. I wanted to create something no one had ever seen before, and the people I worked with wanted the same thing. 

Until I recently realized: if you’re always pushing the envelope, you’re always stressed about whether you can pull it off. You’re never in the moment, because you’ve never done it before. Personally, I’ve spent almost every production keeping it glued together. In the end, when we pulled it off, I was surprised and relieved. Don’t get me wrong–these kinds of projects are exhilarating. But they don’t keep you in the moment.

I’m on a shoot right now that isn’t pushing the envelope. We’re not doing anything monumental that people haven’t seen before. But we’re in our wheelhouse. We’re comfortable. And we’re in the moment. And this leads to a quality of content that isn’t rushed, and isn’t stressed. We’re able to swim in the space we’ve created. We can respond in the moment and pull out the best possible version of the creative.

When a professional basketball player dribbles down the court, trailing by two with ten seconds to play, he’s in the moment. He’s not on a bigger court, with a bigger ball, with more defenders. He’s in his wheelhouse. He’s done this tens of thousands of times. So when a defender steps to him earlier than usual, he can respond in the moment. He can explode past the defender’s aggressive step and gain a little daylight to pull up just before the arc, and drain a go-ahead three with less than a second on the clock. 

Ask yourself what you do really well. Think about what it would be like if you did that better. What if your work didn’t have the stress that’s usually involved? What if you were completely in the moment, able to respond to exactly what’s happening with creativity and passion? Something special might happen.