Forget Perfection. Just Do It
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Perfectionism [noun]: refusal to accept any standard short of perfection — Google
Have you ever tried writing an article but felt somehow that what you’re about to write doesn’t quite measure up to standard? Let me try again. Have you ever tried to do something, say a project or an assignment but found out that the only reason you couldn’t finish (or start) was because you felt your approach just wasn’t quite it?
If you’re like me, you‘ve probably experienced the paralyzing feeling that comes with trying to do what’s best for a project. In many cases, it takes a fast approaching deadline to knock you off your intellectually comatose state into productive action, by which time the thought of perfection has evaporated under the intense pressure of submission deadlines. Now, considering that you want to do an excellent job, wouldn’t it be a blessing that you have decided to take your time to come up with the very best idea? The answer is No. In fact, it is a curse!
The thought of waiting for the perfect idea to solve that problem is nothing but a glorified form of procrastination. It’s so easy to surrender the responsibility for the commencement of (and the completion of) a task to an unknown ‘big idea’ which cannot be called into account in eventuality of failure instead of doing the hard work of solving the challenge at hand.
I agree it is important to have a touch of excellence in all we do. However, when the desire for excellence becomes an everlasting pause, then it is no longer excellence at work but laziness. And the only way to deal with this glorified laziness is to use timetables, set deadlines and stick to them. Imagine if Google waited till they had all the high-tech features before launching the search engine, then either the world or Google would have been light years behind in the information age. The curse of perfection is one reason why mediocrity is prevalent in many spheres of life. Because while the ‘mediocre’ guys are getting busy, the ‘perfect’ guys are still musing on and waiting for the ‘big idea’. (I admit I belong in the latter category)
So when next you’re about to fall into the trap of glorified procrastination, remember this:
Just do it anyway. You can always make adjustments on the move.
The End..
