LinkedIn Post: Let Some Dreams Die

Source: /opt/gcv-portfolio/captions/8SG5mFgERXo.en.vtt — GCV production talk (showcase videos + Detroit Action), ~37:03–38:33

We were talking on the show about a guy who dug a tunnel. Twelve stories deep, and actually pretty smooth, which is the wild part. Somebody made that hole by himself, chasing something he'd decided was down there.

The only problem is he fell in and died.

The whole thing sits wrong with me, and I said it on air: at some point, and this is a real lesson, work for your dreams. Dig for your dreams. Do what it takes. But once you get twenty feet down and there's no gold, stop digging.

It's never shameful to give up on a dream that isn't real. Let some dreams die. You don't want to be the cautionary tale on somebody's internet talk show.

That's the opposite of what we get told. "Never give up," "grind," "don't let the dream die." So people dig twelve stories into the ground because stopping would mean admitting they were wrong about the spot.

Here's the part I actually believe: the person who can say "this one's not it" and walk away is the one who still has hands left for the next dig. The dream isn't the scarce thing. The willingness to keep showing up after a dead end, that's the part worth protecting.

You don't have to dig for gold alone either. If you've got a creative thing you're working on, find people to build it with. That's the whole reason we started a company for this stuff.

But before any of that, you've got to be able to put the shovel down. Let the dead one go so the real one gets a shot.

draft from corpus — based on Brandyn's GCV production talk (8SG5mFgERXo.en.vtt)