From Perfect Dreams to Messy Reality: The Truth About Why We Don't Ship

Here's a fun fact about me: I used to sell hair towels on Amazon. Yep, I invented a hair towel for curly hair and sold physical products I could touch, package, and ship without a second thought. Ship it and forget it - that was my motto. (Funny how now in the digital world, "shipping" means releasing our work into the wild - pushing publish, sharing content, letting our creations see daylight. Same concept, but if you ask me, way more nerve-wracking).

But now? Now I create digital things. Writing, Songs, Videos. Little pieces of my soul wrapped in pixels and prose. And suddenly, hitting "publish" feels like I'm about to jump out of a plane without checking to see if my parachute has an actual parachute. 

I've been thinking a lot about why this is so different. Why shipping physical products felt like business, but shipping creative work feels like baring my soul to the internet gods and hoping they're in a good mood today.

Then I read something that hit me like a ton of perfectly arranged but never-published bricks: Procrastination isn't laziness. It's protection.

Stay with me here, because this changed everything about how I view my resistance to shipping creative work.

See, in my head, everything I create is perfect. That song I made with Suno AI? It's basically Grammy material (move over Kendrick). That article I've been "polishing" for three weeks? Pulitzer-worthy, obviously. The creative empire I'm building? Get out of my way, insert-famous-person-here.

And as long as I don't ship it, that perfect dream stays intact. No reality checks. No "0 views, 1/2 a-like" to burst my bubble. No algorithm personally deciding today's the day to test my self-worth.

This is why "I'll do it tomorrow" feels so good. Tomorrow is safe. Tomorrow is perfect. Tomorrow never shows up with a messy reality to ruin our flawless vision.

But here's the truth that's harder to swallow than my Yerba Mate Tea with a scoop of collagen peptides (which I’m out of btw, because I’ve been procrastinating on buying it): When we protect the dream, we kill the reality of what could be.

I know this because I work a 9-5 in Property Management. Every day, my soul is sucked dry and reminds me that another day of not shipping is another day stuck in this safe but unfulfilling loop of what-ifs and somedays.

The shift happened when I realized something: With my hair towels, people were judging the product. The Amazon reviews were either “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen to I love them give me 14 of them right now!” With my creative work, it feels like they're judging ME - my thoughts, my feelings, my creative insides after tearing off the digital bow of the package I just gave. 

No wonder we hesitate. No wonder we protect. No wonder "tomorrow" feels safer than today.

But here's what I'm learning (and by learning, I mean having to remind myself every time I hover over the publish button):

The dream only breathes when we let it leave our heads. Perfect is just procrastination wearing a fancy hat. Every piece of ourselves we ship makes the next one easier.

So here's my new daily non-negotiable commitment, and I'm writing it here because public accountability is like having your upper lip threaded, painful but oh so necessary:

• 30 minutes of creating before the world (and my job vampire) takes my energy 

• One small piece shipped every day - even if it's not perfect 

• No debating, no negotiating, and absolutely no overthinking - shipping is my new power pose!

Here's what I finally understand. That perfect dream? It's actually keeping us from the imperfect reality that could grow into something better than we ever imagined.

I'm done letting my creative work collect dust in the safe space of "someday" and my computer desktop. Done and done with letting procrastination protect me from the growth that only comes from shipping.

Will everything I ship be amazing? Nope. Will some of it flop harder than my first attempt at making my g-ma’s homemade yeast rolls? Probably. Will shipping get easier with practice? That's what they tell me.

But I do know this: A year from now, I can either have a collection of perfectly preserved dreams in my head, giving me a migraine, or a body of real, messy, imperfect work out in the world.

I'm choosing messy reality. Who's with me?

P.S. Yes, I finally shipped this piece. And yes, my brain tried to convince me to edit it "just one more time" about 37 times to be exact. But here we are. Progress over perfection, right?

Ready to develop your own shipping practice?  If you are into talking to robots, here's a conversation starter for ChatGPT or Claude that can help you create a sustainable shipping schedule that works with your life:

Prompt: I want to start shipping my creative work consistently. Here's my situation: [Describe your work schedule, energy patterns, and creative goals]. Can you help me design a realistic shipping schedule and set of non-negotiables that won't overwhelm me but will keep me moving forward? Include specific times for creation and specific actions that count as 'shipping.

Remember: Your schedule should work for your life, not someone else's highlight reel. ChatGPT and Claude can help you refine and adjust what works for you until it feels right and doable.

Let's turn those perfect dreams into messy, beautiful realities - one little “ship” at a time. 

If this hits home, reply and tell me: What’s one thing you’re committing to ship this week? 

Want the quick-hit version of this story? Catch me on Medium where you’ll get these same truths with a little extra zip and zero fluff. Because sometimes you need the deep dive, and sometimes you need the espresso shot!