March 25, 2024
Perfectionism and patience look similar, but are different.
Perfectionists and the patient both take a long time to finish what they start. They both scrap progress, start over, go down dead ends, and make lots of tweaks in the last 10%.
But the patient eventually ship. The perfectionists never do.
The patient understand good work takes time. They know not all ideas and approaches will work, much of their exploration will go to waste, and the finishing touches take longer than expected.
When the patient ship, they know it’s not perfect. Yet that’s what stops the perfectionists. To them, to ship imperfect work means they’re imperfect – and that problem goes deep.
Perfectionists pursue the perfect, while the patient pursue the optimal.
“Perfect” assumes you have unlimited time and money. “Optimal” accepts you don’t.
Aphorism: “I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit.” —Ernest Hemingway
Book: In The Fires of Vesuvius (Amazon) Mary Beard unearths myths about Pompeii.
Best,
David
P.S. Sometimes you need to give yourself permission to suck.
P.P.S. I’m visiting Austin March 31–April 3. Want to go hiking with me?
March 18, 2024
It’s possible to be too focused on finishing.
I was interviewing a Love Mondays reader who is a successful contemporary artist. She said as much as she doesn’t want to think of herself as someone who doesn’t finish things, neither does she want to think of herself as someone who does.
She explained that when she teaches someone to draw, oftentimes, “five minutes into it, there’s something amazing there, but they don’t see it.”
We’ve all been in a conversation that started out enjoyable, but went on too long. The other person goes on about something that doesn’t interest you. Or you walk away feeling good but later realize you talked about yourself the whole time.
In your creative work, it’s easy to get too focused on arriving at a pre-conceived result. You need to stop from time to time and look at what you’ve got. Otherwise, that great drawing you have at five minutes may turn into a muddled mess by ten.
Creative work is a conversation. Be a good conversation partner. After you speak, you need to listen.
Aphorism: “When talented people write badly it’s generally for one of two reasons: Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove or they’re driven by an emotion they must express.” —Robert McKee
Cool: Fireflies.ai automatically joins your video meetings and writes transcripts, summaries, action items, and more.
Best,
David
P.S. Can I interview you about finishing projects, for my next book? Book a call.
