The reason you can’t get started

I posted a video this week where I said:

“Anybody that wasn’t creating anything compelling because of AI, won’t be creating anything compelling because of it.”

There’s a ton of fear around AI, the future of the film industry, and the future of creativity in general.

A lot of people are worried that AI now gives anyone access to creating amazing things so how can they possibly compete?

But here’s the thing, most people that weren’t creating things before AI, won’t be creating things now.

Because by and large, it isn’t tools and access that keeps most people from creating things.

It’s that they have an identity problem.

99 percent of people that fantasize about creating for a living, whether it’s filmmaking, content creation, or writing, have the same problem. They’re information hoarders.

Hell, I consider myself someone who executes ideas and even so, my greatest weakness is also information hoarding.

Information and access to it has never been the issue for people who dream about creating but aren’t doing it.

In fact, I’d argue that if anything, easier access to information through AI makes it harder to get started not easier.

Because now you have a tool that gives you infinite possibilities and infinite rabbit holes to go down.

It allows you to plan and formulate, and feel super productive and get excited about things without ever actually doing anything.

It gives you just enough of a dopamine hit that you are finally doing something about these fantasies swirling around in your head that it distracts you from the fact that you aren’t actually doing anything about them at all.

So if it isn’t an information or an access problem holding most people back from actually creating, what is it?

It’s that they have an execution problem.

And at its core what is an execution problem?

It’s an identity problem.

Here’s why. Most people aren’t willing to execute for a few identity based reasons. Who am I to create things? I’m not a creative person (I still struggle with this one myself). I don’t want to be that person, meaning the negative association with being a creator, cringe, or attention seeking. I don’t have anything original to say. I need to learn more first to be ready.

None of these issues go away if all of a sudden the knowledge of humanity lands in your lap.

And I know this because I’ve done it.

I’ve watched youtube videos til 2am so I could “research” what I wanted to do with my channel.

I’ve bought the next piece of gear because then I’d finally have the tools I need to start working on that idea I’ve been putting off. I waited for years to move out of my hometown because I needed more time to be ready, or more money in my savings, or a better plan.

The reality is that I was scared.

I was scared that if I didn’t immediately succeed, this idea of who I could be would evaporate.

I’d have to confront the reality that maybe I wasn’t cut out for a creative life after all. And that’s painful.

When you keep cycling in this state of “almost ready” you get to protect the fantasy.

You get to continue on with the thought “I know I could do that if I really tried.”

Something I know from experience is that these fears will always be there.

I had to face them when I finally did move away from home to pursue the film industry.

And now that I’ve been working in film for years I had to confront the same fears in different packaging around creating content online.

The stunt community can be massively toxic. I’ll put it plainly, people talk a lot of shit.

There’s a massive amount of insecurity, so people being seen trying and failing, especially with something like social media, is like chumming the waters for shit talking sharks.

Fear of putting yourself out there online is already a challenge, but even more so when you’ve sat in the stunt tent on set and heard people you know tearing someone else in the stunt community to shreds behind their back.

But here’s something to always remember:

No happy person that is stoked on their own life is actively tearing other people down.

And the reality is, those people were never your problem. You are.

You get there by not waiting for permission that no one is there to hand out.

By creating your first small thing and realizing that no matter how it turns out, you survive it.

By realizing that no matter how far along you get, what you are putting out will always fall short of where you want it to be, because that’s what passion for becoming great means.

I hope this helps,

Caleb