JUST THE RIGHT LEVEL OF IMPERFECT It’s tempting when you sit down to write, to make art or to do work that matters to agonize endlessly over every single detail to get everything absolutely perfect. But people who do this rarely put their work out into the world. The desire to get everything absolutely perfect is often just fear of judgement, criticism failure and everything that will inevitably show up when you decide to put your work out into the world. Every book on the New York Times Best Seller list has 2-star reviews on Amazon. Every movie has critics, fans and fanatics. Every restaurant on Yelp has someone who loves it and someone who hates it. Every Apple product has people who camp out the night before to get it and critics who write articles and blog posts about what an overpriced and overhyped piece of junk that latest “i-something” is. Every musician has fans and people who hate them. And the difference between all those pieces of art and that ones that are still at their desks, behind the screen or is that they put their work out into the world. As my friend AJ reminds the world, “think about all the things that have yet to be made because somebody somewhere is waiting.” There’s a different between doing shoddy and careless work , and work that’s just the right level of imperfect. At the right level of imperfect you leave some of the edges on. At the right level of imperfect you gamble on things that might not work. I thought about adding entire chapter to my next book titled “things that were created for the trash can.” It was going to be an entire collection of the things from my journal that were never meant to see the light of day. Stream of conscious ramblings about everything and anything. We’ll see if it makes the cut. At the right level of imperfect you bleed a little and leave at least a piece of your heart on stage, if not all of it. At the right level of imperfect, you leave yourself open open to learning, iteration and new possibilities that haven’t been explored yet. At the right level of imperfect you create for an audience on the edges, on the long tail, and in the tribe. At the right level of imperfect, the people who matter most adore what you’ve created, the ones that don’t will likely vilify it. At the right level of imperfect, you create only what you could create in only the way that you could. At the right level of imperfect you realize that it might not work, but believe enough that it will to ship. At the right level of imperfect you create what you want to see exist in the world. If it exists, if you’ve read it, watched it, listened to it, or consumed a piece of art in any way at all, I can assure you that it’s just the right level of imperfect. Figure out what that is for you and ship. -Inspired by a girl I drank a bloody marry with at the San Diego Airport
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 16:17:05 +0000
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