I Can Do Better

Say this when you finish a take.

Mike Birbiglia and Jack Antonoff’s wide-ranging conversation about creativity, comedy, music, and life ends with Antonoff writing a new version of the podcast theme song. He does so live in the interview, and at the end of each take, he says “I can do better.”

It fell so easily out of his mouth, I knew that he has said it countless times in writing and recording sessions. He said it with no self-criticism, just an earnest desire to do his best version combined with a willingness to do that work.

That is the right attitude to end at rehearsal. Don’t wait for someone to ask you to do better. Know your capabilities, and then commit immediately to doing better.