If you’re a creator of any kind, or if you work hard at your job and yet finish your tasks later than other people, chances are you suffer from perfectionism.
As a fiction author, I’m able to keep rewriting a single sentence for 30 minutes. But when I notice I’m falling into this perfectionist trap, I remember one quote, and that helps me get back on track.
The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists. It rewards people who get things done.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
I found this quote about a year ago, and keeping it in mind has honestly helped me work faster and get more done.
I’m not saying we should publish first drafts. Modern movies feel like first drafts and they suck. And many self-published books have interesting premises, but they’re wrapped in prose so underedited the readers can’t enjoy it despite their best efforts.
I’m also not saying we should half-ass our tasks.
What I’m saying is, we need to learn when to move on.
Perfection, in its purest form, doesn’t exist. Every revision and every polish brings us closer to perfection, but 2 is closer to infinity than 1. Perfection, like infinity, is unreachable.
I’m never satisfied with my writing. When my girlfriend asks me if I finished a WIP, I have the urge to say that it will never be finished, because with each draft there will be a flaw to fix and a sentence to elevate from good to better.
I usually decide not to be a smartass douche and just say how far I am with the current draft. And at some point, I just stop editing and I move on. Otherwise, I’d spend the rest of my life rewriting a single story.
I’d never get anything done. And “The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists. It rewards people who get things done.”
All this should be obvious, but I still see people (including myself) struggling with perfectionism vs. productivity, so I think this topic is still worth talking about.
Harry Potter, Star Wars, Mona Lisa, Red Dead Redemption 2, the Lord of the Rings, the classic Disney movies, they were all worked on until they became masterpieces of their art, but they’re all far from perfect. If their makers decided to keep polishing and tweaking them, these creations would be even better than they are, but we might have never gotten to experience them.
We’re imperfect beings, and our inventions reflect that. But we’re also creative and resourceful, full of love and determination. Our inventions reflect this, too.
It’s okay to be imperfect.
All right, I’m gonna stop rambling before this “article” becomes a book. I hope it helped you in some way. In any way.
And as always, have a wonderful day.
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