Rome started with one person laying one brick

There is not a creative professional among us who hasn’t had a crisis of confidence.

Everyone assumes their stupid little project is never going to succeed at one point or another.

But one of the most encouraging things about making art is, you don’t need that many people to believe in you. Innovation is a numbers game. You only need one person to buy into your idea, and if they are the right person, there’s no telling what kinds of traction you can get from their support.

Even the smallest shred of encouragement or validation can create a burst of momentum that fuels you for a long time.

Several years before Prolific even launched, I facilitated a workshop for a large corporation on the same topic. My client, the director of learning and development, told me afterwards that my system was fantastic, and exactly the kind of open curriculum that the world needs more of.

Her single remark still gives me motivation today. Whenever frustration or doubt plagues my mind, whenever I’ve convinced myself that nobody out there is going to buy my piece of crap technology, I remind myself of one thing.

There is a smart, successful, powerful, experienced professional out there, someone who works for one of the most innovative companies in the world, who has believed in my idea from day one.

It’s funny, venture capitalists always stress the ever elusive proof of concept when it comes to their investments. They want the evidence from your pilot project that helps demonstrate its feasibility.

But before the entrepreneur even reaches that point, the first thing they need is proof of confidence. They need at least one individual who is willing to hand over the emotional capital of trust. The value of that exchange is priceless. You can build on that foundation as your idea scales and more people buy into the vision.

Proof of confidence can give you the momentum required to get proof of concept, minimum viable products, prototypes and so on.

Think of it this way. Rome may not have been built in a day, but it still started with one person laying one brick.

Take your confidence wherever you can get it, and use it to propel you forward.

Who would be the best cheerleader to support your project today?