Anybody who does anything worth doing knows how difficult it is to get through the early work. 

While you have great taste, your skills aren’t at the level you need to match it yet—so you make work that falls short of your vision. It feels mildly embarrassing at the time, but as the years go by, you want to cringe anytime you think about it.

What was more important is that you practiced doing the real thing, and you put it out into the world. You developed your tolerance for doing this.

Many other people aren’t willing to risk their ego and reputation like this. Instead, they express their fears by making fun of somebody else who dares to try. It’s easy to find someone who is willing to embarrass themselves and laugh at them. It’s difficult to be that person. 

When you cringe at your early work, remember that you made the right choice. You decided to be that person, and it got you to where you are today and where you will go tomorrow.

P.S., It’s never too late to start.

P.P.S., When somebody else is mean to you, just remember they might be even meaner to themselves.