“i’ll try again and again”
mural design, illustration
i painted a one wall + a bit mural in a friend’s home gym to transform what was a dark and uninspiring space to create a space that was much more uplifting and encouraging for a home gym.
before:
[felt like an actual cave]
step one:
a quick and rough mock up
step two:
prime the very old brick wall [this was already a huge improvement]
step three: paint in three steps [background image, plant image, words]
i didn’t have access to a projector so i kept the details to a minimum while referring to various mock ups via iPad for a rough guideline and placement.
once the plant was roughly painted [right], i did the final mock up to decide on the final words.
the words were inspired by not just fitness and weightlifting, but also by the process for this mural as it was my first time doing a mural and i was in the home stretch part of the process.
the reason behind the final words:
“i’ll try” seemed to fit the message i wanted to portray better. everyone always seems to think that saying “i/you got this” is a good, encouraging message for the gym [or life]. and it may be encouraging——but in my opinion and experience, this also sets us up for disappointment if and when we often fail. few win on their first try.
this disappointment leads to self doubt, which makes it harder to get up try again; the more times we fail, the harder it is try again.
so instead of saying “i/you got this” say “f*ck it” and then just try it or tell your pal to try without giving a damn about the result. it really takes the edge off and removes the pressure of possibly failing.
and when we are not afraid to fail, we will be in better shape to try again and again… and have a better chance of one day succeeding.
final:
