Strive for Progress, not Perfection

There's the innate part of us that craves for perfection selfishly-like the super good, spotless, devoid of error kind of perfection. And somehow, this other side tends to hamper a lot of individuals from doing what they ought to do regardless-mostly great things. 

You start writing a piece and somewhere along the line, an uneasiness creeps in, and you suddenly feel it's not good enough; you toss the piece away. You start a design, almost to the finish of it, you spot something odd (or a mistake), instead of correcting, wham! You scatter and flip it across your head, feeling sullen and dejected. 

I have been there, and even as I write this piece, there's a faint nudge on my inside that this wouldn't be good enough. I'm still writing it regardless.

It's not bad to crave perfection. But in actuality, the not-so-good, must-be-perfect mentality hampers us to be better. I've had to write lots of pieces midway and then suddenly  stop; it isn't perfect I had thought then. But, going through the same pieces sometime later, I found how 'amazing' it would've been if I had completed it regardless. 

I can't imagine the lots of us who have had to delete a post, fling an idea, a creativity out of the window, just because we felt it wasn't perfect. Or for some of us who left it midway and completely abandoned it. Believe me, when you go back to such abandoned project, it's difficult to continue. It's either you've forgotten the idea, the intended message or solution, or you're just...Ah, I can't continue anymore. 

The moment you realize the idea is to get 'better' and not perfect, the better it would actually be. If we were all perfect-super good, devoid of error, utopia kind-then, nothing would matter; not even you. 

What if the founders and inventors of most things we use today had wanted them to be perfect ideas initially? Just have a mental picture of Zuckerberg pressing the delete button of his Facemash codes then because of the 'not-good-enough'  mentality. And who knows if someone may have had that same idea before him but tossed it aside because it wasn't perfect to him/her? 

Ever since I realized the subtle harm this innate thirst for perfection could cause, I have had to discipline myself to first finish any idea that comes to mind; I try as much as possible to ignore the voice of perfectionism at first. Then, I begin to rework on it to make it BETTER.  

Most of us had one time had a great idea, but then we tossed it aside because we felt it wasn't good enough; we felt it wasn't perfect, devoid of zero errors. Then, we wake up one morning to find someone else cruising on that same idea, even less better than ours. Does this look like you? 

But really, would it ever be perfect? Like really really perfect? I don't think so. I mean, on a scale of perfection, this post is nowhere near. Probably nonsense to a perfectionist. But duh, my intent is to pass a message. 

So next time when you're feeling giddy and excited with an idea and then the voice of perfectionism creeps in, making it seem it isn't good enough, just remember: it doesn't have to be perfect the first time, it just has to be done first; it will then create the trail for it to be better. 

Progress dear, not perfection!

©Joshua Osarhen Owie