If you wait until something is perfect, you will never launch it.
Or, you may never even start creating it in the first place.
Perfection is a powerful block and stops so many people from making something, taking a risk, or trying something for the first time. (It’s pretty much guaranteed that you won’t be perfect, or even very good, the first time you try something.)
Perfectionism can keep you in a constant state of second-guessing or analysis paralysis.
But it is very seductive and can feel like it is a good thing. It can feel like you are being conscientious or virtuous.
Do not be fooled. Striving to do your best or pursuing mastery is great. Perfectionism is toxic.
But don’t believe me. Below are tweets from super-smart, uber-successful people. I started looking for Brené Brown’s tweet and then went down the rabbit hole.
You might want to save these so you can refer back to them when you need them.
Brené Brown
When perfectionism is driving us, shame is always riding shotgun and fear is the backseat driver.
— Brené Brown (@BreneBrown) June 13, 2013
Gary Vaynerchuk
Perfection seeking is a disguise pic.twitter.com/PKGb6k43Yj
— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) January 5, 2019
Marie Forleo
#Perfectionism is poison. Keep creating, sharing and iterating. 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/TL4CBIuZ13
— Marie Forleo (@marieforleo) November 21, 2017
Elizabeth Gilbert
Perfectionism is just fear in fancy dress (fear putting on airs, pretending to be smart.) Ask it to step aside & stop blocking your door.
— Elizabeth Gilbert (@GilbertLiz) October 18, 2013
As Seth Godin writes in his “Abandoning perfectionism” post on his blog:
Perfect lets you stall, ask more questions, do more reviews, dumb it down, safe it up and generally avoid doing anything that might fail (or anything important).
You’re not in the perfect business. Stop pretending that’s what the world wants from you.
So, now what will you do or try?
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash