Many people see “good enough” as the enemy.
But, “good enough” is precisely what gets you to publish; to produce; to share.
Without “good enough”—when does anything ever reach completion?
The real enemy is “until perfect.”
Perfect is a forever fleeting finish line that moves further from us the more we learn and grow. Which, hopefully, will be for the rest of our lives.
This, in a nutshell, is the perfectionist’s paradox.
The place where the desire to do it better is constantly met with an increase in competence which forever perpetuates the things we’re working on into the future (because we can do what we’ve done better now that we’re better and so we do it again until we’ve grown and gotten better all over again). Did you catch that?
This is precisely why so many beautiful creations haven’t been published; produced; or shared.
…Don’t let this be you.
Eventually, you must accept that what you’ve done is “good enough.”
And what’s more is this… whoever said typos/ mistakes/ issues with your creations are inherently a bad thing?
What if, as Catherine Toops points out on Twitter, “…your typos are just a trail of inspiration for writers who want to believe they can do what you’ve done?”
Maybe sharing imperfect work is inherently better than “perfect” work?
I know I light up when I catch a professional writer’s typo(s).
Not because it’s a mistake… but, because it’s a sign that they’re human.
And maybe I can actually do what they’ve done, too.