Don’t make something good, make something fun. 

I’ve been saying this to myself a lot lately: don’t make something good, make something fun. It sounds simple, maybe even careless, but there’s a layer of truth in it that goes deeper than most people are willing to admit.

See, when we aim to make something “good,” we instantly put ourselves in a box. “Good” is subjective. What’s good to me might be average to you. What’s good to you might not even register with me. “Good” becomes this invisible measuring stick, and the problem with measuring sticks is they keep moving. Every time you think you’ve reached the top, someone comes along with a longer stick. Suddenly your work doesn’t feel so “good” anymore.

But when you make something fun…now that’s different. Fun is alive. Fun is personal. Fun doesn’t have a measuring stick because it doesn’t care about validation. It’s about the process, not the approval. Fun puts you in the moment, not in the judgment.

Think about when you were a kid. You didn’t color with crayons to make a good picture, you colored because filling in those lines (and sometimes going outside of them) felt exciting. You didn’t build Legos to be judged by architecture standards…you built them because it was fun to see what you could make with your imagination.

Somewhere along the way, adulthood replaced fun with “good.” We started worrying about the outcome so much that we forgot the joy in the making.

And if we’re being real, chasing “good” can be exhausting. You know the feeling, you finish something and immediately start tearing it apart in your head. “I should’ve done this different. That doesn’t look right. People won’t like this.” That’s the curse of chasing “good.” But fun? Fun doesn’t do that. Fun lets you walk away with a smile, even if the end result looks a little messy.

Here’s the secret: when you make something fun, it usually ends up good anyway. That energy you put into enjoying yourself bleeds into the work. People can feel it. They might not even know why they like it, but they do, because it carries the spirit of fun. That’s the thing about energy, it transfers.

I’ve seen this in my own creative work. The projects I overthink, polish to death, and force into being “good” often end up falling flat. But the ones I do with a little laughter, a little risk, and a whole lot of fun? Those are the ones that stick. Those are the ones people talk about.

Fun also removes the pressure. When the goal is fun, you can experiment. You can try the weird idea. You can fail without it feeling like failure, because the making itself was the win. It’s like going out to shoot hoops with your friends. Nobody cares if you miss, what matters is you showed up and played.

So here’s where I land: stop chasing good. Stop chasing perfection. Start chasing fun. If you’re a writer, write the thing that excites you, not the thing you think will impress. If you’re a painter, splash colors just because they make you smile. If you’re a business owner, create an offer that feels enjoyable, not just “market-approved.”

Fun is sustainable. Good is temporary. Fun makes you want to come back tomorrow. Good makes you want to quit when you don’t hit the mark.

At the end of the day, “good” will get applause, but fun will give you life. And I don’t know about you, but I’d rather live my life making things that make me laugh, smile, or even shake my head and say, “I can’t believe I just made that.” Because if I’m not having fun, then what’s the point?

So next time you sit down to create…don’t ask yourself, is this good? Ask yourself, is this fun? If the answer’s yes, you’re already winning.

Hope this helps,

-B