Day 73: Perfectionism Is the Enemy
Why?
Nothing in this world is perfect. I am flawed. You are flawed. We all are flawed. Waiting to create the perfect piece of art or to say the most appropriate thing to solve a problem, it’s just not going to happen.
I think that perfectionism is fear in disguise.
We have an easy out by saying that we don’t want to try because we want something to be as perfect as it can be.
But the day that we reach perfection is never going to come.
I wrote my first novel when I was 16-years-old. I then rewrote it and tried for almost twenty years to get the book published. I kept tinkering with the book and rewriting it because I kept looking for an agent or a publisher for validation. I wanted them to say, “You have a great piece of art here. Let’s publish it, and we’ll sell lots of copies for you.”
That dream never came to be.
However, I did self-publish the book. Did I sell lots of copies? No. It was my first book, and I had a lot to learn.
After I published the first book, I realized that I could write another book and then another. I know this might sound really weird that I didn’t understand that I could write another book. Just saying those words now sound odd to me as well.
I grew up in an era in which you wrote a fantasy book, and then you published the sequel. In my head, I had convinced myself that I HAD to sell the first book, and then I’d write a sequel.
I had never considered that I could just write another book that had nothing to do with the first one.
I could free myself of the past and create a new path.
Take the word "book" out of this story and replace it with a job, a relationship, a problem, whatever.
What are you stuck on?
Ask yourself if it has anything to do with perfectionism. Be truthful as no one is looking at your answer. It’s only for you to know.
If you could let go and just try something and become unstuck, what would that be?
Got it?
Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.