“Progress is more important than perfection.”
— Simon Sinek
What’s the difference between a perfectionist and a high achiever?
Both types are driven to succeed.
However, one is motivated by…
👉Enjoying the process.
👉Learning new things.
👉Seeing progress
While the other is compelled by…
👉Fear.
👉Over-thinking.
👉Doubt.
Perfectionists put unnecessary pressure on themselves to attain unrealistic standards.
At its core, perfectionism is the pursuit of a flawless ideal that technically doesn’t have an end.
I got news, folks—nobody is perfect.
The quest for “perfect” can lead to pits filled with…
👎 Procrastination.
👎 Anxiety.
👎 And a crippling fear of the future.
Trying to create something perfect means living in a world where the tweaking never ends, and projects never reach completion.
If you’re nodding along while reading this, you might be a perfectionist that’s plagued with self-doubt and slow progress.
If that’s the case, you’re probably asking yourself…
When is “good enough”?
How do you know when to stop refining your work?
The answer is simple.
Deadlines.
Lorne Michael, legendary producer of Saturday Night Live, said:
“I say it every week: We don’t go on because we’re ready. We go on because it’s 11:30.”
It doesn’t matter if SNL’s skits are ready or not, they have a show to put on every Saturday night at 11:30, and sometimes that means putting out wonky satire that sometimes falls flat on its face.
So what.
Big deal.
They had a deadline, they met it, and there’s always next Saturday night.
Setting deadlines (and sticking to them) will consistently push you out of your comfort zone.
You’ll be forced to come to terms with the work you create in the time you’re given and then live with the outcome.
Here’s the part where real change happens.
As you meet your deadlines and your work goes out into the world, you’ll learn that even though you release work with imperfections, everything is still ok.
Your life didn’t fall to pieces, and people still enjoyed what you produced.
The more you stick to deadlines, the easier it gets to release your imperfect creations to the world.
And more importantly, you’ll produce large quantities of work over time, ultimately making you better at your craft because you’re spending more time creating, not fretting over minute details.
I challenge you to set a deadline for the project you’re buried in right now.
Then, hit me back at this email to tell me how it went.