BIO: Sheryl Garratt is a coach who helps creative professionals do their best work - while also living their best lives. She was a journalist for more than 30 years, the editor of The Face and The Observer magazines, and has published several books, including Adventures In Wonderland, a history of British nightclubs.
STORY: Sheryl’s perfectionism, which she wore as a badge of honor, has made her miss out on great opportunities over the last couple of years.
LEARNING: Shove your ideas out there and see what happens. In business, you should be iterating often.
“Shove your ideas out there and see what happens. If you just sit there reworking the same thing repeatedly, you’ll overwork it and kill the life out of it.”
Sheryl Garratt
Guest profile
Sheryl Garratt is a coach who helps creative professionals do their best work - while also living their best lives. She was a journalist for more than 30 years, the editor of The Face and The Observer magazines, and has published several books, including Adventures In Wonderland, a history of British nightclubs.
Sheryl has a free 10-day course to help writers, artists, musicians, designers, makers, and creatives of all kinds grow their creative business. Sign up for it at free 10-day course.
Worst investment ever
Sheryl’s perfectionism has been her worst investment over the years. She used to wear her perfectionism as a badge of honor and thought that meant something exceptional. But it only cost Sheryl dearly. It stopped her from doing things that might have been fun and wasted a lot of her time over the years.
The ideas that Sheryl spent so much time trying to perfect are the ones she never completed. She must have had over 100 book ideas she never wrote because she couldn’t perfect them. At one point, a major publisher offered Sheryl quite a lot of money for a nonfiction book and asked her to pitch them ideas. By the time Sheryl had honed all those ideas, that editor had moved on and wasn’t working at the publishing house anymore. Sheryl has also had prestigious magazines ask her to send ideas so she can work for them. She’d take too long to work on the ideas, and the magazines would change direction.
Lessons learned
- Shove your ideas out there and see what happens.
- Pitch to people you think are way out of your league and see what happens.
Andrew’s takeaways
- In business, you should be iterating often.
Actionable advice
Do it quickly and set restraints on whatever you’re trying to do. For example, if you’re trying to write something, give yourself an hour to write it, and then put it out in some reasonably low-risk outlet such as a blog or Medium. Then do it again the next week, the week after that, and the week after that, and you’ll get better. But if you just sit there rewriting the same thing repeatedly, you’ll overwork it and kill the life out of it.
Sheryl’s recommendations
Sheryl recommends her free 10-day course that outlines how to set up and grow a creative business. The course is relevant for those starting out and also for more established business owners who want a business health check. The course is just 10 emails in 10 days.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Sheryl’s number one goal is to finish her book by the 31st of December this year. Ready or not, she’ll publish the book next March.
Parting words
“Just do it.”
Sheryl Garratt
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