On Perfection

“Done is better than perfect, because perfect is never done” — Sheryl Sandberg

Why do we start things and not finish them? Unfinished projects, unmet goals, unrealized potential. Sounds familiar. Those who pursue perfection are embarking on a fool’s errand. I think perfectionism is often a way to avoid starting something that you don’t really want to do, or are afraid of doing (or it at least causes the avoidance). Maybe it’s something new that you haven’t tried yet, and so you put it off until you have time for it to be perfect.

Think about it this way: would you rather complete a project in 1 month and get it 80% of the way to “perfect” or take 6 months and get it to 95%? That last 15% suffers from what’s called “diminishing returns.” This is the idea that you gain smaller profits or benefits from something as more time, money, or energy is invested into it. This is essentially where perfectionists will spend most of their time (if they ever get started). What’s perfect about that?

I had this problem after starting this blog — or should I say setting up the website? I never actually wrote anything until now. I wondered if the name was right or the best one I could come up with. Maybe I should spend more time preparing, changing it, and then I’ll get started. But what should I write about? What if it’s the wrong topic? What if my post sucks and nobody reads it? Doesn’t my domain name have to be related to the topic? If so, I’ll have to figure that out first. And it has to be perfect.

Analysis paralysis.

I realized there are simple solutions to all of these problems, as long as you’re alright with 80%.

For the name: change it later, or migrate your content to the new domain (if this is even necessary, it may never actually be a problem).

For the topic: write about whatever you’re interested in. Pick a few broad areas (for me it was book reviews, startup/product ideas, projects, and a deep-dive/research section) and get started. You can write about a variety of topics and you will naturally focus on some of them later. I’ll probably end up changing these areas later. And that’s fantastic because it means I’m actually working on the blog.

For the post quality: You can edit or delete a post later. It’s not set in stone, and you’ll have nothing to edit if you don’t write first.

Don’t be a perfectionist, be a performer who gets things done. Focus on making progress and getting things 80% of the way there. After all, 80% is far better than the 0% you will likely have if you only focus on perfection.