Being quiet and slowly building mastery and expertise doesn’t pay off much at first. So many creatives must make a calculation: Do I want the short term, could-go-viral-at-any-second thrill of being a vocal expert in my field? Or am I more content playing the long game? More people are incentivized to choose the former — and it’s getting crowded in here.

~ Sean Blanda, from The Creative World’s Bullshit Industrial Complex

This is closely related to the bit the other day from Offerman. In fact, it’s closely related to anyone’s journey of self-discovery. It is directly related, and critically important, for creatives to understand the trap of the idea of there being a possible short-term payoff. There is no short-term payoff. It exists, in the same sense that car accidents exist: Yes, but we don’t hope for that. We don’t set out trying for that.

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