Advice: Don’t hold on to things

This is just something that’s been on my mind a bit lately. I feel like i’ve learned this lesson several times over, and would like to pass it along. It seems like we as humans have a tendency to hold onto things. This seems like a good thing up front, but it really isn’t. Down the road you may regret it. This isn’t to say that some things shouldn’t be held onto, but things need to be balanced. Here are a few examples from my own life & experiences that illustrate this point a bit more.

Don’t hold on to your ideas, concepts, and designs

This one is pretty straightforward. It’s detrimental to your work to “settle” on a design too early. Many times i’ll start on a project, and get halfway through it without questioning myself. I’ve never ever been disappointed with going back and trying something new with the design. It can be really hard to do because it requires a lot of motivation, questioning yourself, and many times you’ll already be happy with the design you’ve created. Give it a try sometime.

Don’t get attached to technologies

This one is super easy to do. People everywhere have their CMS, programming language, or platform of choice, and don’t want to question that. I was personally very attached to PHP and ExpressionEngine, since that’s what I knew comfortably. Other people are super attached to Wordpress, Drupal, Ruby, etc. I was scared to learn something new at that point, but once I gave it up and started learning other systems i’ve been much happier. Now I know Ruby, Sinatra, Rails, and am hoping to learn more languages in the future. Learn new technologies. You’ll be much happier.

Don’t get too attached to your tools

You’ve probably seen my posts lately on Fireworks. I was totally into Photoshop for the longest time. I never imagined i’d be trying Fireworks in a million years, but here I am, giving it a shot, and I’m loving it. This doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be better for you, but being stuck in whatever tool you’re currently using is not good. It’s not the tools that matter, it’s the talent.

Where else could this apply? I’m sure in many other areas of life. These were just 3 examples from my life. It can be very tough to let something go and try something new, but it can also be very rewarding. Give it a try sometime. I dare you.