# The Cult Of DONE


### THE Cult Of DONE

1.   There are three states of being: Not knowing, action and completion.
2.   Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it $done$.
3.   There is no editing stage.
4.   Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
5.   Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea  done, abandon it.
6.   The point of being  done is not to finish but to get other things $done$.
7.   Once you’re $done$ you can throw it away.
8.   Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being $done$.
9.   People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10.  Failure counts as $done$. So do mistakes.
11.  Destruction is a variant of $done$.
12.  If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of $done$.
13.  $done$ is the engine of more.


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<i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x fa-pull-left"></i>
>_Dear Members of the cult of $done$,
>I present to you a manifesto of $done$.
>This was written in collaboration with [Kio Stark](http://municipalarchive.wordpress.com/) in 20 minutes because we only had 20 minutes to get it $done$._

[Bre Pettis, 2009](https://medium.com/@bre/the-cult-of-done-manifesto-724ca1c2ff13)

notes:
The Cult of Done manifesto was written by maker, Bre Pettis and writer, Kio Stark in 2009, and they released it under a creative commons licence.


## There Are Three States of Being

The first principle is that there are three states of being:
1. Not Knowing
2. Action
3. Completion

1. Not Knowing is the initial stage where you are unaware or lack knowledge about something. It could be a problem, a task, a skill, or any situation. This stage is characterized by ignorance, uncertainty, and curiosity.

2. the next phase is action. This is where you learn, explore, work, or take steps to change your state of not knowing. It involves effort, struggle, practice, and nearly always, mistakes.

3. Completion is the final stage where the task or process is finished or the problem is solved. The state of not knowing has been transformed into knowledge or skill through your action.

These three states are cyclical and continuous: after completion, you have a better understanding of the problem, and you very likely have ideas about how to do it again better next time.

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## Accept that Everything Is a Draft

It Helps to Get it DONE

Prototypes make it to production, quick sketches become long-term plans, and things you write down to get them out of your head end up in the final, published book.

This is as true for a painting as it is for a YouTube channel.

What you're doing is just a draft, it doesn't have to be perfect, it never will be, even after it's done.

> _I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu)_

Linus Torvalds, at age 21, changing the world

Some of the biggest community projects in the world started off with just an idea and a draft.

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## There is no Editing Stage

Painting has no editing, if you make a mistake YOU START AGAIN.
Performing music has no editing, if you make a mistake you keep going and hope the audience didn't notice.
And Pottery has no editing, if it comes out of the kiln and you don't like it, smash it to pieces and start again.

> I call it my billion-dollar mistake. It was the invention of the null reference in 1965.

Tony Hoare

This principle models the way the world actually works.
When you release something into the world, be it a book or a program language, you've lost control of it, in a very big way.

Learn to accept this. Don't tweak what you've got, make another one.

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## Pretending You Know what you’re Doing Is Almost the Same as Knowing what You Are Doing

So just Accept that You Know what you’re Doing even if You don’t

And Do it

This is the age-old advice to "fake it till you make it".
I completely agree, this is how I do all my projects, and you should too!

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## If You Wait More than a Week to Get an Idea DONE, **Abandon it**

You don't necessarily have to throw it away, but you DO have to try something else.

When creativity strikes, it flows out of your fingers into your keys, or your paintbrush, or your guitar.

But sometimes the muses don't sing.

If you write a song a week for a whole year, like my hero Jonathan Coulton here did in 2005, you can't procrastinate!

If the end of the week comes without a good finished song, you have to abandon the idea that didn't work, and try the next one.

Ideas in your brain are like a pipe, full of random stuff.
Some of it will be good, some not so good.

If you're not feeling it, don't try to make a bad idea better, try the NEXT idea.

This is the principle that NANOWRIMO encourages its writers with.

Write 1600 words every single day in November, and by October you will have a novel's worth of raw material.

It might be good or it might be bad, but you will have brought out your creativity into the world, and can start editing, or start the next thing.

### The point of Being $DONE$ is not to Finish, But to Get other Things $DONE$

Because the point is not to finish, but to move on to the next one.
You'll be one project better, one project wiser, one project closer to your breakout hit, or viral video, or a beautiful rug that will finally tie the room together.

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## Once you’re DONE, You Can Throw it away

Once you're done, you can throw it away.
You don't have to keep working on it!
You're done!

Smash the pots! Burn the paintings!
The art isn't the art.
The art is never the art.
The art is the thing that happens inside you when you make it and the feeling in the heart of the beholder.

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## Laugh At Perfection, It’s Boring and Keeps You from Being $DONE$

I'm not saying have low standards.
I'm saying "you're done".
Let it go.

> _No piece of writing is ever finished...It's just due._

Bill Condon

Your final goal, your end of the project, your deliverable - the thing you're going to get paid to do, comes after you're finished.

The 80/20 rule comes into play here too, don't obsess over the final details, make 4 more.

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## People without Dirty hands Are Wrong, Doing Something Makes You Right

Life is full of small-minded people with narrow horizons.
And they're all trying to kill you.
They'll kill you with words like "be reasonable", "play it safe", and the worst, "stay in your lane".

You don't have to listen to these people, you don't have to listen to anyone.

I recommend listening to the people who are building the things you love, painting the paintings you love, and writing the music or stories you love.

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## Failure Counts as DONE, So Do Mistakes

Failure is good.
if you don't try you can't fail
It took me a long time to realise this.
But failure shows you tried.
And you know what NOT to do next time.

An entrepreneur who succeeds with their first company has learned NOTHING.

Someone who fails a few times, has had much better lessons.

> _"Taylor Swift telling you to follow your dreams is like a lottery winner saying,_
> _"Liquidise your assets! Buy powerball tickets! it works!"_

Bo Burnham, on Conan


And no-one knows what they're doing.
Especially those who haven't failed.

Bo Burnham here understands this, success teaching us nothing.

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## Destruction is a Variant of DONE

When you're done you can move on to other things.
If you destroy the thing, either intentionally or unintentionally, you're still done.

Sometimes experimentation requires destruction.

You've not failed, says Thomas Edison, famously, you've found 10,000 ways in which it doesn't work.

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## If You Have an Idea and Publish it on the Internet, That Counts as a Ghost of DONE

The muses send some ideas to the wrong mind, I think.
Or the right mind, but with the wrong experience, or skills, or tools.

That idea isn't yours to hide if you can't build it.
Send it out into the world in a post, or a video, and you're done.
You've done your part this time round.

Don't hold on it, imagining you'll do it.
Be honest with yourself, and let others build it for you!

Ideas are worthless, give them away.

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## DONE Is the Engine Of More

Being done is wonderful.
Being done is addictive.

Being done is the only way to find out what's next.

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