There's this cycle of agreement amongst creatives, I believe Marcus Romer tweeted 'The Creative Process: 1. This is awesome 2. This is tricky 3. This is shit 4. I am shit 5. This might be ok 6. This is awesome'. This tweet was shared thousands of times and posters have been made out of it. People are actually making money from this statement, which means a lot of people agree with this process. Ever just get stuck between 3 and 4?

I do, all the time.

On the one hand, I embrace my self-doubt because it actually pushes me to explore more options, go the extra mile to do better because better must exist but on the other hand it can be paralysing, where you don't actually get a lot done and you're just having a pity party staring at the work you've done wondering if it'll ever be good enough - if you'll ever be good enough.

I'm working on a project right now where just such thoughts are holding me back. There is a massive learning curve involved in this project and there have been some pretty late nights trying to push past the self-doubt thoughts, watch tutorials and accomplish something I've not yet done before all the while making it meet the aesthetic needs of the brief. Functionally I can get something done, it just doesn't look so great. How do you make something look creatively beautiful whilst learning on the go? Give me branding to design any day, because I know where I stand with that, I have the skill and the experience, but this, this code is like a big hike up a steep hill.

I'm not sure if I'm going to reach 5 and 6 of the cycle. I may just have to accept my limitations and time constraints. (You can tell I'm still between 3 and 4 even just writing this post!) I'd love this to be a post about overcoming self-doubt, but I'm yet to figure that out. Right now I'm just trying to own where I am at and meet the impending deadline doing the best I can with what I have and seeking knowledge where available. I can only offer one piece of advice if you feel the way I do -  be kind to yourself.