Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy of Very Good
I’ll admit it; I’m a perfectionist.
Sometimes it’s great, and it usually makes projects that I finish come out exactly the way I want them. But occasionally, it’s debilitating. Ever start something and then trash it after 10 minutes because it’s just “not good enough?”
This is a problem that I face all of the time, especially with writing. I’ve always had a goal of writing a novel. I’m not trying to get published or anything like that; it would just be for myself. So, about a year ago I really got inspired to start writing. Sadly, I’m right where I was then. The same idea has been rolling around in my head for over a year, and I’ve written a page so far. And to be honest, I didn’t even like that one page. So I deleted it.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of very good.” What does that mean? To me, it mostly means that on my first try, I’m not going to be perfect. I’ve never written a novel before. The only fiction I’ve ever written was for a creative writing class that I had to do. I realized that the epic 500-page novel that I wanted to write just wasn’t going to happen on the first try. I had to accept the fact that my first work might only be 10 pages, and might not be very good.
You don’t get any better at what your working on if you stop after five minutes and trash it. This goes for anything, whether your trying to get into shape, write a novel, or start a business. There are many stages for every project, and going through the first step and quitting immediately doesn’t teach you how to handle the middle and the ending.
Have a great weekend!
