“This might not work,” Seth Godin writes in his blog post, “Out on a limb.” (It’s one of my favorites, alongside “Talker’s Block.” ) It’s fascinating to see this idea make it into a key part of his book The Practice, which I recently picked up and find myself liking a lot.

If you pick it up too, you’ll find Seth planting that species of idea often in your mind. This might not work. There is no guarantee with creative work. Assurance is something that you give to children to encourage them.

From this perspective, imposter syndrome naturally is a part of creative work. “I feel like an imposter often,” Seth writes. “That’s because my best work involves doing things I’ve never done before.” 

A creative practice looks very different from brain surgery, electrical engineering, or even accounting. The latter all require high degrees of confidence—which comes from doing something over and over again and developing expertise and competence. 

Because good creative work requires exploring new territory—doing something you haven’t done—by definition you won’t feel confident in your creative practice. You need to find a different anchor. Seth writes, “Confidence isn’t the same as trust in the process. Confidence is a feeling we get when we imagine that we have control over the outcome…. The alternative is to trust the process, to do our work with generosity and intent, and to accept every outcome, the good ones as well as the bad.”

One of my favorite parts—very reminiscent of Creative Doing—is Seth’s advice on deciding to become an artist. He writes, “Do the work, become the artist. Instead of planning, simply become. Acting as if is how we acquire identity.” A fashion designer shows up to the marketplace with a new collection every season; that’s how they earn their job title.