This talk investigates the premise that failure is an essential ingredient in the journey to becoming successful - and yet our brains are loaded with a treacherous arsenal designed to sabotage this process in it's desperate attempt to avoid failure at all costs. The talk tries to arrive at an understanding of why traits like perfectionism and procrastination spiral out of control, especially when the stakes are highest and we are working on our passions and reaching for our dreams. It then suggests strategies we might use to overcome this creative paralysis. The focus is naturally on creating games, but will be relevant to anyone who struggles with creative endeavours.

1. The Psychology of
Why We Fail to Fail.

2. What is this talk about?
I don't know the key to success, but the
key to failure is trying to please
everybody.
-Bill Cosby

3. On being a successful person?
"Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the
rest of us just get up and go to work"
- Stephen King
"I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-
one pages of shit. I try put the shit in the
waste basket"
- Ernest Hemingway

4. On being a successful person?
"Just make something, Don't worry about it,
just make it. Stop overthinking it. Just make
and put it out..."
"...you go 'thats easy for me to say', then
you have no idea! If you're 27 now that
means I still had 5 years of complete and
abject failure to go. So you're doing great!"
- James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem)

5. On being a successful person?
"Get going and just turn off thinking.
Thinking is often demotivational when
you're prototyping. Don't try to work
towards something specific, the journey is
what's important, don't forget the
destination is not set."
- Vlambeer

6. On being a successful person?
"...and Jan Willem being a guy that made
300 tiny prototypes a year"
- Vlambeer

7. On being a successful person?
● Creativity
● Passion
● Curiosity
● Working hard
● A large body of work
● Iteration

8. On being a successful person?
● Creativity
● Passion
● Curiosity
● Working hard
● A large body of work
● Iteration Learning from failure

9. The Fear of Failure

10. The Fear of Failure
Failure is an emotionally painful experience
In our efforts to avoid this pain, we form
elaborate defense systems
Whilst they limit our exposure to the risk of
failure, they also limit our exposure to the
personal growth necessary for success.

11. The Fear of Failure
What we’re actually afraid of is the
judgement of others.

12. The Power of Fear
Humans evolved as social creatures who
depend on others. Evolutionarily speaking:
Social exile = death.
Defense systems are powerful brain hax
with root access.

13. The Manifestations of Fear
● Perfectionism

14. The curse of Perfectionism:
Only able to see the flaws in your "babies":
Gives perfectionism the power to sour
achievements and goals.
Which is, ya know, kinda really tragic.

15. The curse of Perfectionism:
Perfectionism is a self-destructive belief
system that places undue emphasis on
the image of perfection as a measure of
our value and worth as a person.

16. The curse of Perfectionism:
The cognitive dissonance caused by
perfectionism can lead to:
● Anxiety
● Depression
● Addiction
● Life Paralysis

17. The curse of Perfectionism:
When faced with a blank canvas, the
perfectionist feels there are no limits, and
therefore no excuses for failure.
Absolute perfection becomes the only
acceptable result.

18. Photo by Flickr user Viktor Hertz

19. The Manifestations of Fear
● Perfectionism
● Procrastination

20. Procrastination != Laziness
When faced with a difficult or
insurmountable task where the outcome is
uncertain, procrastination protects you
from the discomfort of uncertainty.

21. Procrastination != Laziness
We have a biological bias to
favour immediate
gratification.
This was an evolutionary
advantage in a time when
things with sharp teeth
didn’t want to be friends
Photo by Ryan Somma

22. Procrastination != Laziness
The internet is information pornography

23. Procrastination != Laziness
A never ending, feel good hit that satisfies
our brains craving for certainty and
perceived learning/progress

24. Procrastination != Laziness
Repeat the process enough times and it will
become habitualized as an addiction.
Ever opened your favourite site without
even realising?

25. The Manifestations of Fear
● Perfectionism
● Procrastination
● Busy Work

26. Busy, busy, busy!
Keeping ourselves busy with irrelevant
work is a great way to feel that sense of
certainty and accomplishment we crave.
“I want to make a game, so I’m going to
start by building my own engine”
“I haven’t made a prototype, but here is my
500 page design doc”

27. The Manifestations of Fear
● Perfectionism
● Procrastination
● Busy Work
● Workaholism

28. Work is My Life!
Workaholic warning label:
● Burnout
● A life of regret - a business won’t keep
you company on your deathbed
● Physical Injury (RSI)
● Stifle creativity

29. Work is My Life!
"Creativity is not a talent, it is a way of
operating."
-John Cleese
● Open mode (prototyping): Childlike state
of play.
● Closed mode (implementation):
Knuckling down and working. Hint:
Creativity is impossible here.

30. Work is My Life!
5 conditions to encourage the open mode:
● Space
● Time
● Patience
● Confidence
● Sausages

31. Work is My Life!
5 conditions to encourage the open mode:
● Space
● Time
● Patience
● Confidence
● Sausages Humour

32. The Manifestations of Fear
● Perfectionism
● Procrastination
● Busy Work
● Workaholism
● Flawed beliefs

33. The Lies We Tell Ourselves
● “I’m just not the creative type”
● “I’m not talented”
● “One day, when [the house is paid off, I
have more money, the kids are older, I
have more time]”
● “Nothing has inspired me yet”
● “I’ve got a great idea, I just need
someone to build it for me”

34. The Lies We Tell Ourselves
Self deprecating behaviour and learned
helplessness is a preemptive strike.
You can’t hurt me because I’ve already hurt
myself.

35. The Lies We Tell Ourselves
You might be struggling with important
work, because maybe it’s the wrong thing
for you.

36. Motivation and drive:
Extrinsic Rewards:
● Money
● Status
● Job Title
Intrinsic Reward:
● Autonomy
● Mastery
● Purpose
Hint: You want the second one!

37. Motivation and drive:
Flow:
Losing yourself in
your work, being
"in the zone"

38. How can I help myself?
By doing a lot of really boring lame stuff

39. Helping your body:
● Exercise
● Eating Healthy
● Quality Sleep

40. Helping your mind:
Time Management Tools:
● Get things done, Pomodoro technique
● RescueTime
● Subdividing tasks
● The Anti Todo List
● Pay yourself first

41. Helping your mind:
Meditation:
Lesson anxiety and develop focus.
Tighten the feedback loop:
Gamejams!

42. Helping your spirit:
By practicing awareness and mindfulness -
keeping a journal, introspection etc
Learning to regard yourself with love,
compassion and generosity instead of
criticism.

43. Helping your spirit:
Accepting and coming to terms with your
inner sense of shame.

44. SHAME

45. Shame on you
Shame is the inner fire that fuels the fear of
failure.
It is the voice in your head that says: “You’
re not good enough.”
It runs so deep you might not even notice
the ways in which it shapes you.

46. Fin
There are no easy answers.
This is possibly the most difficult journey
you’ll ever undertake.
The reward is a life well lived.

47. Thank you and good luck!
by Peter Cardwell-Gardner
@thefuntastic
www.thefuntastic.com
www.madewithmonsterlove.com