We live in a culture that glorifies perfection. We set the bar high. We take pride in that. But what happens when we fail to achieve perfection? We can become disillusioned and feel like we’re never going to get closer to where we want to be. We stay stuck. And worse, we are the reason we are stuck. Desire to be as good as we can be is not a bad thing. But getting stuck because of fear stops us from growing. Here’s why you have to choose done over perfect.
How perfection interferes with progress
Striving for perfection is time-consuming, exhausting, and limiting. Fear of failure or not being enough keeps us stuck in a state of paralysis. Fear of needing everything to be just right may lead to a lack of clarity in administration. Lack of clarity leads to overworking, burnout, and well, more fear of not being good enough. It’s a vicious cycle.
“Choosing done over perfect”
It is said that perfection is the enemy of the good. “Good enough” is better than never published, never launched, or never seen. The more functional something is, the better it is.
Adopting an MVP mindset
No, not the “most valuable player,” although you are an MVP in our eyes. Minimum viable products are made dirty and fast. You want to get it out as quickly as possible to test the idea. The goal is to gather feedback to improve upon imperfection. Then you make improvements slowly, testing it in the real world each step of the way.
Consider creating small milestones for yourself to push things out sooner. What is the bare minimum you need to complete in order to feel comfortable showing someone? Can you feel comfortable with less than that? Practice having small achievements towards the end goal to help you move forward. You can always make it better later. What can you do now to get it out?
90% is good enough.
In our agency, we choosing done over perfect. We say that 90% is good enough. What this means to us is that we work the best we can, knowing that it’s not 100% perfect. Chances are, we are the only ones that see the flaws. It might already look flawless to our clients, supporters, and fans. We can always make it better later, but 90% is good enough.
If you constantly strive to fulfill an impossible goal, you’ll never actually complete your work or tasks at hand. When we put too much pressure on ourselves to achieve perfection, we often get discouraged and give up before achieving our goals. This can be frustrating and discouraging when it comes to completing projects. Shoot for “good enough” and done over perfect, see if you can make more progress.
