Perfect Timing: The Myth

So how many times have you had an idea or goal and conjured up this immaculate plan and had these grandiose hopes for your idea but never jump-started your plan because it was “the wrong time” or things weren’t “lined up perfectly”?

Here’s the thing, there will never be a perfect time to do what God has called you to do. I’m a spiritual person and I truly believe that God places obstacles before us to test our faith. If the journey were a road filled with roses we wouldn’t need faith, nor would we have a testimony to inspire others who also face obstacles.

Things don’t always go as planned (hey D’mani, thanks for stating the obvious), yes this obvious but I think this is something that creatives and entrepreneurs must constantly be reminded of. If you fear things not going perfectly, you will never give yourself the opportunity to learn on your journey because you will have never made mistakes to learn from. “Oh my gosh D’mani, why would you encourage making mistakes?”

Mistakes are inevitable, failure is inevitable; those who have never failed have never tried and this is coming from a person who has tried, failed, tried again, failed and tried a(damn)gain until my L’s became W’s. I learned so much during the process of my magazine, while there were some people who would support me and provide me with constructive criticism there were those who would only provide criticism. I even had people telling me I should put the magazine to the side until all of my “ducks were in a row” but I had a gut feeling that if I instead analyzed my weak points and approached the next issue with a thought out game plan, I’d make progress.

I look back at my September 2015 issue and cringe, the graphics were horrible, the images didn’t match up to what I’d originally imagined and I simply wasn’t getting the views I’d hoped for because I did a rush job of promoting the issue. I went back to the drawing board and said “after my December issue, I won’t drop another issue until the summer and I will dedicate that time to promote my magazine and develop an interesting topic.” I’m sure you’re tired of me talking about this issue but I am beyond proud of it. I came up with the “Melanin Is Magic” issue, celebrating the diversity of black beauty and culture. For the topic, I noticed the decline in the representation of positive black couples and black love. I not only got my peers and community involved in this discussion via social media, but I got the courage to ask Numa Perrier of Black&Sexy TV and Will Catlett for an interview. Their perspectives were extremely insightful and interesting considering they’re both involved in independent productions displaying positive imagery of black love.

The issue was a success considering it was the first one I made a profit off of, as well as the first issue where I was successfully able to engage my audience.

I’m saying this to say, that it is not failing that hinders you, it is the attitude you have after failing that does. I know so many artists, musicians, writers, etc. who have archives of great work they’ve never released because they’ve made up this idea in their head that it’s not the “perfect time” to release it. I know so many budding artists who have great potential, great ideas, are visionaries and they haven’t even begun their creative journey because of “perfect timing.”

I am not telling you to aim for perfection, but in the words of Andre 300, “ You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.” Be prepared to weather the storms, because clear skies are not promised. What are your goals? What is your game plan? When are you going to make them happen?

P.S. “When the time is right” is the wrong answer.

If you don't like who you work for, find a way to make it work for you! In the meantime, YOU BETTA WERK BOO!

-XoXo,

Mani

XoXo,

Mani