Stay in the sandpit

Something a little serendipitous happened at Mojo HQ this week.

Within the space of 24 - 48 hours, the same video arrived in our inbox. From different people, completely different channels, all sharing the same message.

The video is called The Gap — a short film by director and filmmaker Daniel Sax, built around an audio excerpt from Ira Glass' On Storytelling series. The piece is actually 12 years old, but somehow found its way to us 3 times over in 2 days.

Now, for context: Ira Glass is the legendary creator and host of This American Life, one of the most celebrated storytelling programs ever made. In this interview excerpt, he speaks candidly about what it feels like in the early stages of building anything, when your vision or 'taste' outpaces your ability.

There's so much we love about this piece. The playful, visual storytelling Sax brings to an already extraordinary interview. And Ira's subtle masterclass on triple A mindset muscles: learning to accept where you are in the process, to appreciate the opportunity to keep exploring and iterating, and to find the agency to choose to keep going... Whatever that task or project may be.

The gap Ira describes is the distance between how good you know something could be, and where it currently sits:

If you've ever wondered why something isn't clicking, the doubt is totally normal. Some of the skills, connections or experiences you’re needing may not be there yet - and 'yet,' to quote Dr. Carol Dweck and her brilliant work on Growth Mindsets, is the operative word. The skill or the fluency you're after takes time to catch up with your vision. That's not a flaw in you, that’s just how this works.

Often when you're in the gap, it's easy to assume that it's population: 1, or that the struggle means you're not cut out for the task. That's part of what makes it so hard to stay.

But this isn't just relevant for writers, designers or filmmakers. It's for anyone building or refining something. The gap is universal, it shows up anywhere you're exploring your potential.

The key to surviving this, according to Ira?

Volume and momentum.

That is to say: keep trying. Keep making things. Keep experimenting. Give yourself the grace of quantity, because that's usually the best path to quality. Unfortunately we can't think our way across the gap, it takes practice, patience and consistency to move forward. And we have to work our way through the messy stages with self-compassion as a travelling companion.

What makes this piece even more powerful is the connection it holds with Dan Sullivan's Gap and Gain principle, or something we often think of as Mindful Time Travel at Mojo. Ira is describing exactly what it feels like to live in ‘the gap’ in this video, and in doing so, nudging us toward ‘the gain.’

The gain isn't some distant destination.

It's the recognition of how far you've already come. Every piece of work you finish, every wrong turn, every time you show up despite the doubt: you're gathering evidence and discovering simple but profound mindset muscles. It’s a perspective shift that builds resilience and helps to celebrate all the mini milestones, rather than only ever measuring how far there still is to go.

So, whatever you're working on or towards right now, dare to stay a little longer in the sandpit. You’re exactly where you need to be, it might just require a little more play and/or patience than you first expected.

"It's going to take you a while," as Ira shares. "It's normal to take a while. And you just have to fight your way through that."