I always framed this more as
‘the tools will not save me’. A better pen won’t make me a better illustrator, no system/framework/methodology will take in garbage and spit out gold. But, in retrospect, I think I should partly blame seeking a foolish level of preparedness. I’ll try to recognise/abstain from this ‘preparbation’ in the future.
I’m absolutely not gifted when it comes to manual crafts, but I’ve found having the right tool for the job brings me from shamefully incapable to acceptably competent.
For example I got into book binding a while back and while I started freehand I quickly built a jig and it vastly improved the quality of the work.
This is true, but still has limits. Moving from Reaper to Ableton Live made music easier to make. But then there's the tendency to wonder if I made the wrong choice between the handful of comparable DAWs like FL Studio or BitWig. The fact that I'm absurdly productive in the one I picked can only do so much to stop that thought process that starts any time one of the others goes on sale.
Yes, there is a deep meta-skill around distinguishing "Am I seeking a better tool because it will help me solve my problem?" or "Am I seeking a better tool to avoid the fear of making difficult design choices?"
Preparbation is a great term :-) I always try to conciously remind myself to avoid diminishing returns when doing this kind of stuff (i.e 80/20 rule), but that sums up nicely with just the right amount of sting.
Successful people (judged by their own metrics of success) are generally willing to make short term sacrifices for long term gains.
My reluctance / fear / discomfort often isn’t even recognisable to myself for a while. If and when I do act on it, it quickly subsides and I can do stuff I that’s in some sense still uncomfortable, but that I seem to genuinely enjoy even in the moment - making things, experiencing novelty, being challenged etc. And yet my brain hasn’t put that together.
I sometimes set a repeating personal alarm* that just asks ‘are you doing what you’re meant to be doing?’. I’ll try framing some of how I answer that around discomfort / sacrifice from now on.
*I usually use it when talking with people who meander/derail conversations as much as I do, and we recognise it’s a problem.
