Gordon Meyer

Do what you love, then kill it

Joan Westenberg's essay "You Don't Have to Monetize the Things You Love" is worth reading (if you're able, see below). But it's the ending that really struck me: it's OK when something reaches an end.

This is important to keep in mind for any creative endeavor. It can be psychologically and socially difficult to stop an activity in which you invested your creative energy and soul. It's even harder if that project was successful.

But things run their course, and interests and circumstances change. The world that inspired you, and the world in which you released your creation, simply don't exist anymore.

Or as I would phrase it, do what you love, then kill it. Move on. Take a moment to acknowledge your accomplishment, then use what you learned — and be the person that you are now because of it — and do something else.

If I haven't convinced you, consider the quote from Steve Jobs that adorns a wall at company headquarters:

"I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what's next."

Postscript: Unfortunately, the author of the essay about not needing to monetize everything you create moved the article from her public website (where I read it) to Medium.com, where it's only available if you're a paying member.