What a Creator Should Stop Doing Immediately

There is a quiet habit killing more independent creators than bad writing, bad art, or bad luck. It is so common it feels like professionalism. It is so ingrained it masquerades as responsibility.

Most people who practice it believe they are being prudent, patient; even virtuous. In reality, it is the single most corrosive behavior an indie creator can still be indulging in.

Waiting.

Not waiting to improve your craft. Not waiting for the right moment to release a finished work. Waiting for permission you are never going to receive.

For decades, creators were trained to believe that legitimacy flowed from institutions. A publisher’s logo on the spine. A studio credit. A festival slot. An editor’s nod. These were treated as proof of seriousness. Even creators who claimed to hate the system still measured themselves against it in private. The rejection letter hurt not because it delayed a deal, but because it felt like a judgment on worth.

That reflex is now lethal.

The old filters no longer function as talent selectors. They function as ideological firewalls and risk-avoidance engines. They reward neither initiative nor competence. What they reward are compliance and predictability. Continuing to orient your behavior around gatekeeper approval is like calibrating a compass to magnetic north after the poles have shifted.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Many creators still structure their lives as if a breakthrough from above is imminent. They keep polishing a pitch. They persist in revising a manuscript to satisfy an imaginary gatekeeper. And all the while, they tell themselves that once the right person sees their work, everything else will fall into place.

Years pass. Output slows. Energy drains away. The work never meets the audience it was meant for.

That’s why the first thing to stop doing is optimizing for hypothetical acceptance.

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