The year was 2008.

My mum was working late and 9-year-old me was hanging out at my friend Riley’s house like I did most Tuesday nights.

But this wasn’t most Tuesday nights. On this fateful Tuesday night, Riley had just gotten the Skate game on Xbox.

As a young aspiring skater, this game was breaking new ground. We fired up the Xbox 360, saw the spinning white sphere get filled with the glowing green X and then… the iconic Skate game intro played (for a bunch of pro skaters acting, this is pure cinema).

From the moment I popped my first ollie with the right thumbstick of my controller, I was hooked on this game and as the sequels rolled out; skate 2, skate 3 - I kept buying, playing and completing the games.

But in Skate 3, they rolled out a new feature that, for some reason, has stuck with me.

They called it “Kill the Spot”.

Own the Spot; Kill the Spot

You see, in the first two games the huge maps had hundreds of “spots” marked out for you to own. To own the spot, you had to hit a certain score with your trick sequence and, if you did, you’d earn points towards your skate career.

In Skate 3, you had to own the spot and then they offered you a second challenge. A more difficult, higher benchmark for each spot.

Some of them would take hours to complete. There was blood, sweat, tears, broken controllers, frequent yelling at a screen, and more often than not, a level of hyperfocus I am yet to replicate in my adult life.

But when you got it…

It was palpable. You just f#*kin killed the spot. That spot was yours now.

(Sidenote: When writing this article, I had to check that it wasn’t just me who struggled with some of these spots and I found this on Reddit)

You should Kill Your Spot

The whole point of killing the spot was to level up.

Imagine if, in your work or passion, there were tiny little checkpoints scattered around you that said “Why not try it this way?” or “Ok, let’s dial it up a notch”.

Would you accelerate your career or hobby? Would you be closer to doing the things you want to do?

Well, I’ve got good news (hopefully good news; really depends how you answered those last questions. If you answered with “Yes” and “Yes”, then this is good news. If you answered “No” then this probably isn’t the article for you.)

The good news is: these checkpoints exist. You just gotta toggle them on.

Here’s how.

1. Find a Guiding Light… or Two

“Killing the Spot” is subjective. Sure, a game can put a score benchmark to it but even then, how you hit that looks different for everyone.

If you want to feel like you’ve nailed your work, you gotta know what success looks and feels like. So, immerse yourself in work that moves you. Your goal here isn’t technical perfection, it’s finding the stuff that makes you want to pick up the pencil, so to speak.

An important note about finding inspiration — expect your inspirations to change. They should.

When I first started my creative journey, I was obsessed with filmmaking and my inspirations were Casey Neistat and Peter McKinnon. Over the years, my passion has evolved and, while I still love those two characters, I now look to people like James Victore, Brian Collins, and Danny Gevirtz to keep the inspiration well fresh and keep me tinkering.

2. Get Yourself a Hard Mentor

On my first day working in the cafe I used to manage, I was paired up with a barista called Jack. Now I love Jack. But Jack was a hardass. He had no concept of settling for less than perfect and he didn’t mince words.

I spent months working my ass off just to earn my first shift on the coffee machine. When I got there, he carried me through the Saturday rush and firmly (nicely, but firmly) laid out the 4 things I wasn’t doing good enough.

I was too slow. My shots weren’t consistent. I didn’t arrange shots well enough for him. I was too slow.

I was crushed. But the next day we showed up and went at it again.

After 6 months of working side by side with him almost every day of the week and many, many, many remade coffees - we were an unstoppable team behind the machine.

Then he took off for Germany and the rest was left in my hands.

I had confidence, I had skills, and I was ready to find my next mentor.

That’s what a good mentor does. They push you and challenge you but they don’t let you flounder by yourself.

To find a mentor like this, you have to pick out someone who looks like they know what they’re doing and stick to them like glue. Don’t worry too much about being their best friend, just worry about being their teammate.

3. Learn the Rules to Break Them

We all know the character journey turning point when they turn away from what they’ve been told and trust their instinct.

Now is your time to do this.

The only way to truly excel and find what is YOU is to fail at it relentlessly. Because failing means you’re trying something that isn’t just a tried and proven pathway.

Once you’ve soaked in the way others do it, you’ll notice tiny idiosyncrasies in how you do it. Things that are uniquely yours.

The more you operate without overwatch, the more those idiosyncrasies become your signature.

Pro tip: If you want to explore your unique way of doing something, do it purely for yourself at one point. Blue sky, no expectations. (That’s what this writing is for me 😲)

4. No One Knows What Perfect Is

One Direction illustrated it best when they said “Everyone else in the room can see it. Everyone else, but you, ooh”. Profound lyrics.

Don’t overanalyse your work into a frenzy. It doesn’t serve a purpose. If you’re striving for perfect, you’ll be there forever. Perfect just doesn’t exist.

Quality work is important. Making work that makes you say “Hell yeah” is important. But staring at one canvas for too long will drive you mad. Pour your love into it, say “Hell yeah”, do your victory boogie and move on.

We can idolise mentors and inspiration but at the end of the day, no one knows wtf is going on. You’re the only critic.

I say this, but I struggle with it just as much so if ya ever wanna chat about it with someone, hmu 😊

Rinse and Repeat

Yay! You’ve made/done something you’re proud of! Congratulations, that’s a massive step. But practice makes more practice.

Take a moment to bask in your glory… and do it again. I’ll be right there with you.

The goal isn’t to be perfect, the goal is to look back on the instant replay and say “I killed it”.

Hey, I’m Harry

I’m a creative generalist with a pinball machine for a brain.

I'm passionate about building creative communities and reinstalling creative intelligence in our rapidly updating humanOS.

My work has taken me through a bunch of arenas. From delivering leadership workshops across the country to building communities in startups and VC (with a few fun pitstops along the way).

I share stories of things I’ve learned, wild theories I’ve tested, and random pieces of information I need to get off my brain to clear the hard drive.

Follow for more and if you ever wanna get a coffee (in-person or virtually), hmu. I’m always keen. ☕️