I know this is a debatable topic and you probably won’t even be interested in reading such a weird topic but hear me out.
Yes, striving for being perfect is a good thing, but understanding that your definition of being perfect will change with time is also something that you need to have in mind.
What you think is perfect right now, might not be even close to your future definition of being perfect. Let’s take an example and understand it better.
You might think that if you lose 10kgs you would look perfect, but after losing 10kgs you might realize or think that now you lack the energy to work efficiently. Now you feel like you should increase your weight by a couple of kgs and increase your calorie intake to be “perfect”.
Perfectionism Causes Delays and Poor Productivity
People tend to keep delaying things and Shaving The Yak in as an excuse to avoid things you possibly will suck at.
Example:
1. A painter who sells paintings for a living might not even release a single artwork for years because they didn’t think that it was good enough. Yes, the wait might be worth it, but not if it causes you to starve and die.
2. Another example would be a software developer entrepreneur who doesn’t release an App because he wants to keep adding new features in order to make it perfect, and by the time he releases the app the market trend has already been shifted.
Similarly, you might not even release your podcast because you think that I need a better mic, better video setup, a proper studio setup, or even a better guest.
This could even get worse when you don’t even make your first podcast episode because you thought that you won’t be perfect at it.
So Perfectionism can be fatal and have two outcomes either
We keep wasting time and not trying new things because the work won’t be “perfect”
We think we are perfect at everything and don’t even start it.
In other words, there are 2 types of perfectionists: One that never starts and the one that has too high expectations.
Taking this further, I would like to add that people usually believe what comes up on social media, without even realizing that they could have been practicing that skill/ art form for years.
So follow the Pareto Principle here and accept that only about 20% of the things that you do will bring 80% of the success while the rest 80% of the things that you do are probably gonna be far from perfect.
So keep trying new things along with things that you are good at, you don’t know how beautiful the outcome can be at times.
References:
[i] https://themarketingcosmos.com/blogs/what-is-shaving-the-yak-and-how-to-avoid-it/business/
[ii] https://themarketingcosmos.com/blogs/what-is-the-80-20-principle/business/