That I Wasn't A Good Writer?

 

That I Wasn't A Good Writer?

Why Done Is Better Than Perfect

Written By Leon Ho, Founder And CEO For Lifehack

Who doesn't like things to be perfect?

That everything goes exactly like we want things to go.

That every project in our lives goes exactly the way we want it to.

We never turn in work because we believe we just don't deserve it.

So, we delay taking action and showing our project to the world.

All because we are not sure about every single little detail.

I know because it happened to me.

It was 2005, and I was about to launch a project I had been thinking about for a while.

A blog on time management and motivation called Lifehack.

I had been delaying the decision for a while, though.

I always found something that I just didn't like enough and needed to be improved.

So, I kept delaying the launch until "everything was perfect".

Back then, I justified myself by calling myself a perfectionist.

And I was proud of it.

I didn't think it was a problem until I realized what it really was.

Fear.

Truth was, I was afraid.

I was afraid of what others would think of me.

Afraid nobody would care for what I had to say.

Afraid that they would see my errors and didn't think of me seriously.

So, I kept postponing the decision to put myself out there and give the world what I had.

I was anxious.

I didn't feel confident in what I had created.

It got to a point where I almost quit the project before I had even started, and stopped pursuing my dreams.

Can you guess what happened next?

Did I let myself fall victim of all those fears disguised as perfectionism?

Fortunately not.

If I had done that, this email wouldn't even exist.

What I did was quite the opposite, actually.

I decided to start living my life under this statement.

Better done than perfect.

I realized there wasn't going to be a time where everything was like I wanted to be.

At some point, I would just have to face my fears and put myself out there.

So, I decided to put myself together and launch my blog with what I had.

Then, I would learn from my mistakes on the way.

When I did it, something interesting happened.

I realized all my fears were not real.

There were all inside my head.

That fear that nobody would read what I had to say?

Although I did start with a small audience, that quickly changed.

A few months after I started the blog, I already had thousands of readers every month.

That I Wasn't A Good Writer?

As it turns out, the more articles I wrote, the better I got at it.

Plus, I received hundreds of emails from hundreds of readers telling me how much my articles had helped them.

The fear that my audience would notice my mistakes?

Completely false. In fact, barely anyone noticed them. Still, I kept fixing the small details over time.

So, next time you stop yourself from taking action because of "perfectionism", remember this phrase.

Better done than perfect.

Keep that in mind.

Your friend,

Leon