Thought for the Day

Or, given how infrequently I post on this, maybe it should be titled, "Thought for Whenever."

Here's the thought:

When one has finished building one's house, one suddenly realizes that in the process one has learned something that one really needed to know in the worst way - before one began.


This is from philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche by way of creativepro.com to their Wacky Web Site of the Week, losanjealous.com where they post random "Family Circus" cartoons with random Nietzsche quotations.


I think the reason this one stuck with me is because over the years, I've heard many students say a variation of this at the end of the semester. This is especially true of the Advertising Campaigns class. I've heard from students many times, "I wish I knew then, what I know now." Welcome to life.


You're not building a house, but building a campaign or an ad. Frequently, it is after building it that you know what you needed to know in the worst way before you began.


That shouldn't stop you from building the ad or the web site or the campaign. Because, unlike a house that you build once, you will have the opportunity to build a whole subdivision of ads or web sites or campaigns. Each one of these you build should enhance your skills, and you become better and better at it. If you're paying attention. You probably learn more from the struggles than you do with the successes. In spite of that, of course you don't want to aim to struggle -- at least all of the time. And, if you aim for success, you might not get it every time, but if you aim at getting better, you probably will, every time.


Challenge yourself. Each time you start a project, try to do it differently than you did before. If you're really good at Photoshop, switch to Illustrator. If you really give good print ads, switch to television. Or, radio. I think I learned more about visualization and creativity by writing radio copy than any other medium. But, I wouldn't have learned to be a good radio copywriter,  if I had thought that I didn't have what I needed to know, and simply didn't start.


I've told you in class and below how dreadful that first attempt at radio was. But, I learned from it. I can't tell you that the next one was better than the first, although I hope it was. With each script I wrote and produced, it got better.


Maybe tomorrow I'll be inspired by something else Nietzsche said. I know you can't wait.


Dr. P